Football Players and Celebrities
October 10, 2023
Now I rarely focus on the NFL but I've been hearing about these pro players getting involved with women who hang out in skyboxes and watch the game. I guess the latest one is former Georgia star and current Philadelphia Eagle D'Andre Swift and some girl named Kelcee.
This is a tradition that goes way back. Michigan great Tom Harmon even married an actress.
Columbia's Sid Luckman was pretty popular with the ladies as a pro in Chicago but faced scandal when he got involved with one of Al Capone's gals. Sid managed to avoid the old cement shoes treatment when he gave Al the scoop on the use of the T formation and Al won on his 100-1 Bears -60 bet in the NFL championship game when Chicago beat Washington 73-0.
One of the most famous football player celeb relationships involved Stanford star Ernie Nevers and a noted Hollywood actress. Ernie wasn't just a great player, he joined the Marines in World War II and his actress girlfriend Mary Jane sent him off to battle with some of her undergarments as reminders of their hot and heavy romance. While fighting in the South Pacific Ernie disappeared just off an island. He was using a piece of wood to tread water while holding his supply bag. He managed to avoid drowning because he pulled out some thread and a needle and sewed several of Mary Jane's extra large brassieres shut. As he put the improvised air-filled device around his upper body he floated his way to shore.
After learning of this incident the US Department of War started providing all their men with life preservers to prevent drowning. In honor of Mary Jane's undergarments and Ernie's quick thinking the devices were named after Mary Jane's stage name, which is how the US military began referring to life preservers as "Mae Wests".
And now you know the rest of the story.