McNally, John V. Jr.
("Johnny Blood")
Football
b. Nov. 27, 1903, New Richmond, WI
d. Nov. 28, 1985
McNally played football for the first time at little St. John's College in Minnesota and he attended Notre Dame briefly, but didn't make the team there because the coaches wanted him to play tackle and he wanted to play halfback.
In 1924, he and a friend were riding on McNally's motorcycle to try out for a semi-pro team in Minneapolis. Since they both had college eligibility left, they needed assumed names. When they passed a theater where the Rudolph Valentino movie, Blood and Sand, was playing, McNally said to his friend, "That's it. I'll be Blood and you be Sand." For the rest of his long career in football, he was known as Johnny Blood.
He entered the NFL with the Milwaukee Badgers in 1925, played with the Duluth Eskimos in 1926 and 1927, and spent the next season with the Pottsville Maroons. In 1929, McNally joined the Green Bay Packers and was a key player when the Packers won three straight championships from 1929 through 1931.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound McNally had sprinter speed and great leaping ability. Though best known as a pass receiver, he was an outstanding all-around player who could run, pass, kick, and play defense. In 1931, he caught 10 touchdown passes, still a record for a running back, intercepted 6 passes and return 1 for a touchdown, scored 2 touchdowns from scrimmage, and threw a touchdown pass. His 78 points on 13 touchdowns led the league.
McNally was named to the first official All-Pro team that season. He was also on unofficial All-Pro teams from 1928 through 1930.
The flamboyant McNally was celebrated for his off-the-field exploits. He rode the rods on a train to get to Green Bay for the 1932 season and a Milwaukee sportswriter wanted to nickname him the "Hobo Halfback." Packer Coach "Curly" Lambeau objected and the sportswriter changed it to the "Vagabond Halfback."
Lambeau sent McNally to the Pittsburgh Pirates (now the Steelers) in 1934, but he returned to the Packers in 1935 and played for another championship team the following season. McNally became player-coach at Pittsburgh in 1937 and remained there into the 1939 season, when he was replaced.
His 15 seasons in the NFL is a record for the one-platoon era. Complete statistics are not available for his early years, but he's credited with at least 297 points.