Perfect Duluth Day: Lost Footage of Ernie Nevers

The supposed lost footage of Ernie Nevers on YouTube is a hoax, as suspected. If I had looked closer at the credits before I originally posted this, I would have seen that it plainly says Curtis Nelson plays the part of Ernie Nevers.

"This video was made for reasons of getting me noticed by the producers of a new film based on the Duluth Eskimos in 1926," Nelson posted this afternoon. "So you are correct. It isn't a hoax just not real footage of Ernie Nevers. That is me and my son."

Hmm. I thought the guy in the video looked like more of a baby face than the Ernie Nevers I've seen photos of. And the soccer goal in the background was a little strange, since no self-respecting American in the early 20th Century played soccer.

Nevers was born in Willow River and played professional football for the Duluth Eskimos and later the Chicago Cardinals. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

George Clooney is making a film about the 1927 Eskimos ("Leatherheads") written by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly.