Emlen Tunnell – The Most Remarkable NFL Player

Emlin “The Gremlin” Tunnell is the most remarkable football player ever for multiple reasons. Read on for why. If you’re wondering why the athlete was nicknamed “The Gremlin,” that appears to be a story lost in time.

Emlen Tunnell’s Most Remarkable List:

The Pro Athlete’s Early Life

1. No one, probably even Emlen, knows exactly what year he was born. There’s no contention over the March 29th date, but the year is unclear. Some sources say 1922; others say 1923, 1924, and even 1925. Tunnell wasn’t trying to clear things up for us (if he could); he joked about his actual age in an interview.
2. Emlen was in college at age 17—the same year he broke his neck and got knocked out during a football game in 1942. His broken neck was so severe that he woke up the following day to a priest administering his Last Rites in his bedroom. Tunnell was warned not to play football; spoiler alert, he didn’t listen.
3. When the safety was told by doctors not to play football anymore due to his neck injury, Emlen switched to basketball. I’m not sure that’s what the medical professionals were thinking.

Emlen Tunnell’s Military Service

1. Despite the draft, the Navy and the Army didn’t want him because of his broken neck. The neck brace he wore for a year may have contributed to the military’s decision. For some reason, the Coast Guard saw Emlen and said, sure, join us, so he did in 1943. Keep in mind that Tunnell had never been on a boat and barely knew how to swim. Continuing on with logical decisions, he also joined their football team.
2. In 1946, Tunnell jumped into 32-degree weather to save a fellow Coast Guard shipmate who fell off the boat. Emlen would experience shock and hypothermia.
3. In another heroic moment, Tunnell saw a shipmate flee from the underbelly of the Coast Guard’s boat on fire that had been struck by an enemy torpedo. Emlen couldn’t see his friend through the flames, but he beat the fire off of him, burning himself in the process. Tunnell then carried his shipmate to safety. The hero didn’t want to make a big deal of saving his friend’s life or the burns.

Emlen Tunnell And Professional Football

1. Emlen Tunnell is the first African American football player to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1967. Tunnell was also the first African American to play for the New York Giants, in 1948.
2. The former safety had one minor heart attack in October of 1974 and died in July of 1975 of a heart attack. Emlen Tullen died at a Giants practice at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York.

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