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Category:Law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania

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{{Short description|American football player (1897–1963)}}
{{about||people with a similar name|Karl Beck (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Carl Beck
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1897|8|8}}
| birth_place = [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1963|4|16|1897|8|8}}
| death_place = Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lbs = 195
| position = [[Fullback (American football)|Fullback]] / [[Halfback (American football)|Tailback]] / [[Offensive tackle|Tackle]] / [[Offensive guard|Guard]]
| high_school = [[Harrisburg Technical High School|Harrisburg Tech (PA)]]
| college = [[Bucknell Bison football|Bucknell]], [[Lafayette Leopards football|Lafayette]], [[West Virginia Mountaineers football|West Virginia]]
| highlights =
* [[Anthracite League]] champion ([[1924 Pottsville Maroons season|1924]])
* Disputed [[List of NFL champions|NFL champion]] ([[1925 Pottsville Maroons season|1925]])
* 1st Team All-Eastern League (1926)
| pfr = BeckCa20
| teams =
* [[Buffalo All-Americans]] (1921)
* [[Pottsville Maroons]] (1922–1925)
* [[Bethlehem Bears]] (1926)
}}
{{Infobox military person
|allegiance = {{flagicon|United States}} [[United States of America|United States]]
|branch = [[File:United States Department of the Army Seal.svg|20px|United States Army seal]] [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
|unit = U.S. Army Ambulance Corps
|serviceyears = 1917-1919
|battles = [[World War I]]
}}

'''Carl Linnwood Beck''' (August 8, 1897 – April 16, 1963) was a professional [[American football|football]] player from [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]. After attending high school, Beck attended the [[West Virginia University]], [[Bucknell University]] and [[Lafayette College]]. He made his professional debut in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) in 1921 with the [[Buffalo All-Americans]]. He played for the All-Americans for 1 year, before leaving the NFL. He later returned to the NFL in 1925 as a star with both the [[Pottsville Maroons]] and the [[Frankford Yellow Jackets]].<ref name="pawrsl.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.pawrsl.com/pfn/wilson_harrisburg19.htm |title=Index.HTM |accessdate=2015-09-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910025847/http://www.pawrsl.com/pfn/wilson_harrisburg19.htm |archivedate=2015-09-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeckCa20.htm|title = Carl Beck Stats| website=[[Pro-Football-Reference.com]] }}</ref> To date, he is considered by sports writers to be one of the greatest running backs ever developed in Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Cite web|last=News|first=Ed Weaver, Circle W. Sports; Billy Splain, PA Football|date=2019-10-17|title=PA Football News - Your #1 Source for Pennsylvania High School Football!|url=https://pafootballnews.com/district3/great-pa-teams-1919-national-champion-harrisburg-tech-high-hbgcougar_fball-hbgcougarcoach/|access-date=2022-01-05|website=PA Football News|language=en}}</ref> When not playing football, Beck worked as a police officer for the [[Harrisburg Bureau of Police]].

==High school==
Beck grew up in [[Allison Hill, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]] and attended [[Harrisburg Technical High School]] located on Walnut Street. In 1918 and 1919 Beck helped the Tech Maroons win back-to-back state championships in football. In 1919 Beck and the Maroons won the high school national championship. At [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] Beck score 34 touchdowns, many on long runs. Beck totaled an amazing 445 points in his three years of high school. He scored six touchdowns in each of three games, and five in four more. He returned four kickoffs for touchdowns. In one 1919 game, Beck scored four touchdowns in the first seven minutes.<ref name="pawrsl.com"/>

==NFL career==
Professionally, he played in the American Professional Football Association, later known as the National Football League, for the Buffalo All-Americans for one season.

In 1922, the then-independent Pottsville Maroons attracted the sponsorship of several area businessmen. These men upgraded the club by luring talented pro players such as [[Benny Boynton]], [[Stan Cofall]] and Beck to the team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Articles/Pottsville_Maroons.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-03-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218173246/http://profootballresearchers.org/Articles/Pottsville_Maroons.pdf |archivedate=2010-12-18 }}</ref> In 1924 Beck helped the Maroons win the 1924 Anthracite League championship. This move placed Carl with his brother, Clarence, on the Maroons team. In 1925 the Maroons entered the NFL. That year Carl played on the Maroons team that won the 1925 NFL Championship, [[1925 NFL Championship controversy|before it was stripped from the team due to a disputed rules violation]].

In 1926 played for the [[Bethlehem Bears]] of the [[Eastern League of Professional Football]]. While with the Bears, Beck scored a touchdown in a game against [[Clifton Heights Black & Orange]] for a 10-0 Bears win. However, he and several other Bears players were mysteriously absent from the very next game against the [[Shenandoah Red Jackets]]. This move was supposedly a walk-out. As a result, manager, [[Gyp Downey]], tried to ban all of the involved players from playing in the league. However, he withdrew his motion the very next week and the players returned to the team.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

In a game against the [[Gilberton Catamounts]] Carl tackled Gilberton's halfback, future-[[Pro Football Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]], [[Fritz Pollard]], in the open field, to preserve a 9-0 win for the Bears. The Bethlehem would finish the season in second place.<ref name="home.comcast.net">{{cite web |url=http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Bethlehem.htm |title=Bethlehem Bears |accessdate=2009-01-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511164834/http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Bethlehem.htm |archivedate=2009-05-11 }}</ref>

Beck went on to receive first-team All-Eastern League honors in 1926. While he only scored two touchdowns, including one in non-league play, for the Bears, his strong running ability was a key component of the team's success.<ref name="home.comcast.net"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{1925 Pottsville Maroons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Carl}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:Bucknell Bison football players]]
[[Category:Buffalo All-Americans players]]
[[Category:Lafayette Leopards football players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Pottsville Maroons players]]
[[Category:Pottsville Maroons (Anthracite League) players]]
[[Category:West Virginia Mountaineers football players]]
[[Category:American police officers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania]]

Carl Beck - Revision history

imported>4meter4: Category:Law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania