Joe Geri (1949-1951)
Joe Geri was selected in the 4th round of the 1948 NFL Draft by the Steelers out of Georgia, where he had earned First-Team All-SEC honors in 1948.
Geri was a versatile player and was used as quarterback, tailback, receiver, and kicker. In his three seasons in Pittsburgh, he started in 21/36 games. As a qb, he completed 101/280 for 1,926 yards, 13 tds and 27 ints. He also rushed for 1,500 yards and 10 tds on 411 attempts, caught 4 passes for 92 yards and 2 tds, and completed 16/19 field goal attempts and 56/58 extra point attempts. While with Pittsburgh, he earned NFL Rookie of the Year honors and was a 2x Pro Bowl selection in 1951 and 1952.
After leaving Pittsburgh, Geri spent one final season in the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals before getting into coaching. He was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and passed away on April 20, 2002.
3 comments
OP… Would really love it if you did John Banaszak on one of these. I worked with his son for a long time and he always downplayed everything when his dad came up. Would love to read anything unique you might come across
Also, thanks for these, I look forward to them.
These are great, thanks for doing them.
OP, has Byron White come up yet? He was with the franchise before they were the Steelers. 1938, still named the Pirates. Man was All-Pro that year.
https://preview.redd.it/yrca3i50iavc1.jpeg?width=219&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cd8b4d31fca9b8ef4ec4e79c742b40579d3f9dd
And you could use his SCOTUS portrait. Which would be kinda funny.