=Photos from late 1950s Linfield Oak Leaves yearbooks: Howard Glenn, Linfield football player/Linfield track & field athlete:
http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2018/07/late-1950s-howard-glenn-linfield.html
He was the first former Linfield football player to play professional football, said Paul Durham, his Linfield head football coach.
Several years ago, researching
Howard Glenn, a Linfield alumnus who became a professional football player, I
got in touch with Ernie Barnes.
Howard Glenn and Ernie Barnes (born in Durham, North
Carolina.) were teammates when they played together for the New York Titans of
the American Football League.
(These Titans went on to become the New York Jets.
Don’t confuse them with the Tennessee Titan of the National Football League.)
June 29, 2018, through March 3, 2019, the North
Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, North Carolina, is having an exhibition
showcasing paintings by Ernie Barnes (died in 2009) and artifacts from his
life.
An online story (May 21 2015, 9:34am) by Alan Siegel
said after Ernie Barnes was cut by the National Football League’s Baltimore
Colts he didn’t join its taxi squad. Instead he signed with the New York
Titans.
But, says the Alan Siegel story, Ernie Barnes was
miserable with the Titans “and with good reason.”
“After all, the world of pro football could be
horrifying,” wrote Siegel.
“During a road loss to the Oilers on a sweltering day
in October of 1960, he watched distressed (New York Titans) teammate Howard
Glenn stagger off the field. In the locker room after the game, Barnes saw
Glenn sitting naked holding a towel to his chest. As members of the Titans
desperately called for a doctor, the 26-year-old offensive guard fell from his
chair.
" ‘He sprawled flat on his back, staring toward a
ceiling’ Padwe. ’I didn't think he could see. Quickly, I went to his side. All
around him, the other players had gathered, water from the shower dripping from
their bodies.’
“An ambulance took Glenn to a local hospital, where he
died. According to an Associated Press article, the Harris County Texas medical
examiner determined that Glenn's death wasn't heat-related but rather
‘accidental’ and ‘caused by a broken neck.’ Barnes didn't buy it. Temperatures
reportedly topped 90 degrees the day his teammate died in Houston, and Glenn
never appeared to sustain a neck injury. The poor medical treatment Glenn
received disturbed Barnes, and he told an assistant coach as much. The Titans
soon released Barnes, who was happy to go.”
::::::::::::::::::::
=See side-by-side photos. Both show Howard Glenn. On
the right hand side photo he’s seen wearing New York Titans uniform #66.
:::::::::::::::
Howard Glenn was born in Louisville (Winston County),
Mississippi, and played high school football in Louisville. He moved to the
Pacific Northwest joining family members and lived in Vancouver, Washington.
He attended two 2-year colleges in Washington state, Grays Harbor in Aberdeen and Clark in Vancouver. He competed in football for Grays Harbor in 1954 and track & field for Clark in 1955. Thus, in one academic year (1954-1955), he played two sports for two different 2-year colleges about 135 miles apart in the state of Washington.
=See Grays Harbor College football team photo. Howard
Glenn: Third row, fourth from the left. #20: Dwight "Yogi" Umbarger.
Both transferred to/played football for Linfield.
At Linfield, Howard Glenn played several football
positions and was the team's PAT kicker. He was a 1957 All-Northwest Conference
football first team selection at end. He competed in track & field for
Linfield in shot put, discus, high jump and broad jump.
He began his professional career in 1959 with the New
York Football Giants of the National Football League. Cut by the Giants, he
went to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He returned to
the Giants in the 1960 season. Cut again by the Giants, he joined the 1960 New
York Titans in the first year of the American Football League.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Posted on Dec 13, 2012, “The Tragedy of Howard Glenn”
…
…includes that Howard Glenn and Ernie Barnes, both
Titan linemen, “found a common thread of interest … Both … shared an interest
and talent in art. Barnes … would go on to accomplish great things in (art),
but Glenn was remembered as quite an artist himself and would often sketch
teammates. Glenn and Barnes became fast friends bonded by art and football.”
:::::::::::::::::::::
Posted by Bill McCurdy on Oct. 12, 2013, “More on
Howard Glenn’s Death in Houston”
:::::::::
HOWARD GLENN, FIRST FORMER LINFIELD FOOTBALL PLAYER EVER TO PLAY
PRO FOOTBALL SAID PAUL DURHAM, HIS LINFIELD HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
See Oregonian sports column of Aug. 27, 1959, posted here.
Sadly, as a member of the New York Titans of the American Football League,
Howard Glenn died of football-related injury/injuries on Oct. 9, 1960, in
Houston, Texas. The Titans played the Houston Oilers on that date. More info
here:
http://talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/the-tragedy-of-howard-glenn
::::
Ex-Linfield gridder (Howard Glenn) died after AFL tilt
Oregon Journal, Portland, Oct. 10, 1960
Neck Hurt Kills (NFL) Titan Howard Glenn in Houston
Oregon Journal, Portland, Oct. 11, 1960
