…attention seeking proposal for a Duluth based Viking’s stadium. Who better to defend Duluth’s honor from the sophisticates at the Strib than the author of the book, Leatherheads of the North: The True Story of Ernie Nevers and the Duluth Eskimos.
Take it away Chuck:
Duluth became an NFL city in 1923 when Kelley Hardware — then at Lake Avenue and Superior Street and now long gone — put up a bit of financing and came up with red-and-white jerseys. Kelley-Duluth played three seasons, racking up a 9-7 record behind Wally Gilbert, one of Denfeld High School’s greatest ever athletes.
The victories included a stunning 6-3 triumph over the heavily favored Packers on Sept. 28, 1924. That game was played at Athletic Park, in the shadows of Duluth’s ore docks, not far from where Wade Stadium now stands.
The Packers’ Curly Lambeau reportedly was so incensed at losing to lowly Duluth he vowed never to return to our city. And he never did.
As one published author to another, I hope this sells a few books.
