Pete Regnier, one of the first Gophers to play for a Minnesota NFL franchise


Pierre Napoleon “Pete” Regnier (pictured) grew up in Marshall, Minnesota, and lettered with the University of Minnesota Gophers football team in 1919 and 1920. He was one of the first Gophers ever to play pro football for a Minnesota-based franchise in the National Football League. Did Pete Regnier play for the Minnesota Vikings? No, Regnier was born September 10, 1896, and he died young, at age 42. If he had lived longer, he would have been 65 years old when the Vikings first kicked off in 1961. No, Regnier played halfback for Minnesota's FIRST team in the NFL. (The Vikings are Minnesota's THIRD team in the NFL; the second was the Duluth Eskimos.) Minnesota's first team in the NFL was the Minneapolis Marines, which played four years in the NFL (1921-24) and two years as the Minneapolis Red Jackets (1929-30). Regnier played for the Marines in 1921 and then for the Green Bay Packers in 1922. 

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

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