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Gern Nagler

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Gern Nagler
Nagler on a 1955 Bowman football card
Born:(1932-02-23)February 23, 1932
Marysville, California, U.S.
Died:April 9, 2020(2020-04-09) (aged 88)
Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)End
CollegeSanta Clara
NFL draft1953, round: 14 / Pick 167
Career history
As player
1953–1958Chicago Cardinals
1959Pittsburgh Steelers
1960–1961Cleveland Browns
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowls1

Robert Gern Nagler (February 23, 1932 – April 9, 2020) was an American football end who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

Early life

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Nagler was born in Marysville, California and raised in nearby Arboga[1] He attended Marysville High School (class of 1949), where he was an all-league selection in football his junior and senior years.[1][2] He attended the University of Santa Clara (class of 1953), majoring in history,[1] and was a captain of the varsity football team in his senior year.[3]

NFL career

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Nagler was drafted in the 14th round of the 1953 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns.[4] Prior to the season starting, the Browns completed a fifteen-player trade—which set the NFL record for the largest trade ever executed—that sent Nagler and nine other players to the Baltimore Colts.[5] The Colts then waived him prior to the start of the 1953 NFL season. He was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cardinals.[6] In his rookie season, Nagler set the Cardinals team record for receptions in a rookie season, with 43.[7]

Nagler missed the 1954 NFL season due to service in the United States Army. While posted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, lieutenant Nagler helped coach the base football team to a perfect 12-0 record and the All-Service Championship,[8] winning the 1954 Poinsettia Bowl.[9][10]

He returned to the Cardinals in 1955, spending the next four seasons with the club. Nagler earned a Pro Bowl selection in 1958.[11]

Following his Pro Bowl year, Nagler was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers and spent one season with the team.[12] He was moved to the Cleveland Browns as part of a four-player New Year's Eve trade that included Steelers quarterback Len Dawson.[13] Nagler finished his playing career after the 1961 NFL season, after two seasons with the Browns.[12]

Nagler was involved with the early efforts to organize a players' union, and was a key figure in the creation of the first players' pension. Nagler and Cleveland Browns end Billy Howton presented NFL Commissioner Bert Bell with a draft antitrust lawsuit, threatening to file if the NFL did not immediately establish a pension for its players.[14] The gambit worked, and the pension was formally established three years later.[14]

Personal life and death

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Following retirement from the NFL, Nagler worked in various aspects of the farming and agriculture industry, splitting time between southern California and the Hillsboro, Oregon area.[1] Nagler was married three times, to Diana Swift (divorced 1975), Barbara Bertolini (1976-1995), and Jan Anacker (1998-2020).[1] He and Diana had three children together.[2]

He was inducted into the Santa Clara Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Marysville High School Hall of Fame in 2019.[3][1]

Nagler died in his home in Palm Desert, California on April 9, 2020.[15][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Robert Nagler Obituary". Yuba-Sutter Appeal Democrat. April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Diana Swift Nagler". Yuba-Sutter Appeal Democrat. July 9, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Gern Nagler '53". Santa Clara University. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  4. ^ "1953 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "Trick or Trade". profootballhof.com. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  6. ^ "Nagler Joins Football Cards". The New York Times. New York City. September 29, 1953. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Mihoces, Gary (January 5, 1988). "Offensive rookie;R obert Awalt, tight end, St. Louis". USA Today. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Herb (September 13, 2015). "Football Was Once Big Happening At Fort Sill". Lawton Constitution. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Poinsettia Bowl Captured by Ft. Sill". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Associated Press. December 20, 1954. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  10. ^ "Sill Honors Grid Champs", The Lawton Constitution, Lawton, Oklahoma, volume 53, number 118, January 18, 1955, page 10. (subscription required)
  11. ^ "Eastern All-Stars' Last-Period Touchdown Turns Back West in Pro Bowl". The New York Times. New York City. Associated Press. January 12, 1959. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Gern Nagler". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  13. ^ "Steelers, Browns swing 4-man deal; Dawson and Nagler Shipped to Cleveland Eleven for Carpenter and Wren". The New York Times. New York City. United Press International. January 1, 1960. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Canzano, John (August 7, 2006). "Old-timers cast aside by the NFL". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "Former NFL All-Pro, Palm Desert resident Gern Nagler dies at 88". April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
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