Minneapolis quarterback fought in France during World War I


Before the Great War, Reuben John “Rube” or “Ruby” Ursella from Minneapolis played quarterback for the Minneapolis Marines independent professional football team, from the time the Marines were just a sandlot squad in 1907, until 1917, when the team played in front of thousands of fans at home, and they defeated professional teams in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.

In April 1918, Reuben Ursella and his older brother, Harry, reported to the agricultural campus of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. The two men enlisted in the Army to be trained as aviators or aviation mechanics, or so they thought. Instead, the War Department chose to train the roughly 500 men at the farm school in engineering trades, such as blacksmithing, carpentry, electrical, and woodworking. Disappointed about the bait-and-switch, the tongue-in-cheek servicemen in the program called themselves the Farm School Aviators. The group was later designated the 604th Engineering Regiment, which participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

In late November, just over two weeks after the Allies and the Germans had signed the armistice to end the war, Reuben Ursella’s brother, Harry, met his demise. At a barricade near Vauquois, France, 31-year-old Private 1st Class Harry J. Ursella, a bugler, picked up an explosive that he mistook for a medical device. The blast killed him almost instantly.

Two months later, in January or February 1919, while in Villiers-sue-Suize, France, Reuben Ursella played on the 604th Engineers football team in the 5th Army Corps League. He helped the team to beat the 335the Ambulance Train 32-0. According to the regiment’s newsletter, the 604th Engineer, “Rube Ursella was the big gun for the 604th, and the play of the old Marine star was the outstanding feature of the battle. He carried the ball on every other play and never failed to make the distance.”

After the war, Ursella played professional foootball for eleven more years, including in the NFL for the Rock Island Independents, Akron Indians, Hammond Pros, and Minneapolis Red Jackets. 

On the football field, Ursella was an incredible athlete. He scored 101 points with the Minneapolis Marines in 1913 and 106 points with Rock Island in 1919.

In 1974, Okla Eugene “Oak” Smith, who had played end for the Rock Island Independents under player-coach Ursella, wrote about Ursella in the Long Beach, California, Press-Telegram. He said, “Rube Ursella was our quarterback, captain, and coach. He came from the old Minneapolis Marines and was rated by college coaches as the most natural signal caller they ever saw in action at that time. A tactical genius, a superb punter and drop kicker, he was a real leader possessed of great ability and considerable experience.”

Read more in Mill City Scrum, the history of Minnesota's first team in the National Football League.

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