Both in his college career and as a professional, Ernest Alonzo Nevers (1903-1976) achieved fame as a "one-man team," a versatile player who could do it all, including running, passing, tackling and kicking.

Nevers was a star athlete at Stanford University, earning 11 letters in four sports. Although Stanford lost the famous 1925 Rose Bowl against Notre Dame and its renowned "Four Horsemen," Nevers is nonetheless remembered as the game's hero. Although he was recovering from two broken ankles, Nevers played the game's full 60 minutes while wearing special braces. He carried the ball 34 times, made four out of five tackles, and earned an impressive net gain of 114 yards against the net gain of 126 yards by all Four Horseman combined. From 1926 to 1927, Nevers played for the Duluth Eskimos, which also became known as "Ernie Nevers's Eskimos." During the 29 games of the 1926-1927 tour, Nevers was on the field for nearly all of the season's 1,740 minutes. From 1929 to 1931, Nevers played for the Chicago Cardinals, serving as a player-coach in 1930 and 1931.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1929, the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Bears - who had Red Grange on the field - by a score of 40 to 6. Nevers scored all 40 points, a one-game professional scoring record that remains the longest-standing record in the NFL. Interestingly, Nevers also played professional baseball from 1926 to 1928 and briefly played professional basketball as well.