In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month 2023, we will discuss NFL legend Benny Friedman.
Mr. Friedman’s story is full of highs and lows and an incredible NFL career despite all the odds.
Modern-day QBs should try throwing that thing (AP). Benny would practice for hours balancing heavy brooms and moving them with flicks of his wrist.
Benny Friedman’s Life:
Benny was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1905 to Russian Jewish immigrants Louis and Mayme Friedman. Baby Benny was one of five children. Ms. Mayme stayed home to take care of them while Louis worked as a furrier and tailor.
Baby Benny grew up to be little Benny. In a tale as old as time, Friedman was not a respected football player due to his size. In high school, Benny was 150 pounds and 5’6′. Coach Sam Williaman of East Technical High School in Cleveland really thought he did something when he attempted to crush Friedman’s football dreams—he’s like that one teacher who said you were too stupid to take Sophomore Honors English (I’m projecting).
No one cares, Coach Williaman. Benny took the insult on the chin and decided to attend Glenville High School on the other side of town with a coach who wasn’t a tool. Coach Sam had no life and met with the Glenville coach, talking down about Benny Friedman, and offered to pay the dinner of every Cleveland high school coach at the end of the season if Friedman was on the first team for the football team at Glenville High School. Let’s just say Sam Williaman put his money where his mouth was at that dinner.
Little Benny became a multi-sport athlete at Glenville and led his team to the city championship in 1922 as a quarterback.
Benny Friedman’s black and white photo in color (Pro Football Journal).
After high school, Benny became the primary breadwinner for his family when his father could no longer work. The young man gave up his dreams of being a lawyer to play ball for money to support both parents, his two little brothers, and his orphaned niece living in his home.
NEA Sports Editor Harry Grayson described Benny very vividly. Friedman apparently was swarthy, had a symmetrical face, was chubby (he gained 20 pounds and looked slim as ever), had muscular “paws,” and would throw passes so good the wide receiver grabbed the ball like they were picking a grapefruit from a tree. Take from that what you will; it paints quite the picture.
Being a University of Michigan Wolverine apparently wasn’t Benny’s cup of tea. The college student had to be convinced to stay after he struggled to make friends due to his “retiring” nature, which, in combination with being ignored his freshman year on the gridiron, had Friedman feeling lonely and disappointed.
The tides would turn sophomore year, and Benny would get on the gridiron as a halfback and, at some point, become the quarterback. The two-time all-American got a reputation for his grapefruit passes, which were also described as “floating through the air like a feather.” Passing wasn’t as common in the 1920s due to the shape and weight of the football, and Friedman was making a name for himself and the sport.
Picking a grapefruit – this time not on the gridiron and not Benny Friedman (ideasRojas).
Friedman’s grapefruit feather talents were a point of pride for the Jewish community as well; the Jewish Times would present the QB with a statue of the young man running down the field in 1926.
Swarthy Benny was moving on to the big leagues post-college as a quarterback. The star would play in the NFL for eight seasons for four different teams: the Cleveland Bulldogs, the Detroit Wolverines, the New York Giants, and the Brooklyn Dodgers, from 1927 to 1934.
It’s difficult to compare Friedman’s statistics with today’s numbers; for one, he used a football that resembled a watermelon crossed with a dodgeball. Record-keeping was also spotty. Benny would lead the league in passing by a landslide for a time and is the only NFL player to lead in passing and rushing before he started to suffer from injury and juggled coaching duties with playing.
In Friedman’s last four years in the NFL, he held coaching positions while playing. In 1932, Benny was the manager, head coach, and player for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was more common for players at that time to wear multiple hats on the team or have side jobs because playing ball was a minimum-wage part-time job.
Benny Friedman winding up a pass (AP).
Friedman continued with the coaching position even after he hung up the cleats. Benny would coach the City College in NYC for seven seasons beginning in 1934 and then hold a one-year position for the Great Lakes Navy team before serving our great country. Post-military service, Friedman would try his hand at selling cars before coming back to the world of sports in 1949.
Ever a multi-tasker, Benny would be the athletic director at Brandeis College from 1949 to 1962 and the head coach for the team from 1950 to 1959. He would also host a quarterback camp for boys until 1969.
Despite being “swarthy” and “retiring,” Benny Friedman found love in his wife, Shirley Immerman, a Brooklyn resident. The lovebirds would stay together for over 50 years before life got a bit too much for Friedman.
Benny struggled with his health towards the end of his life and likely suffered negative consequences both neurologically and in the rest of his body as a result of playing a punishing sport in a time when rules were limited and injuries were endless. One thing that can be used to describe Benny was resiliency; he beat cancer, had back surgery (those were scarily new sciences in his day), and struggled with diabetes and heart disease.
Benny Friedman (center) in his hay day looking suave with Sammy Baugh (left) and Sid Luckman (right) (courtesy of Retroseasons.com).
The final blow against Friedman proved to be too great; the former NFL champion had to have his left leg amputated up to his knee in 1979 due to blood clots and gangrene. He would describe himself as a “sloppy physical specimen” and loathe being ill.
Benny Friedman would be found dead in his New York City apartment in November 1982 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a note indicating how depressed he was. He was survived by his wife, Shirley, and two siblings.
Benny Friedman is a complicated guy. He had to grow up very quickly and support his family from a young age. He was a bit of a loner and a reserved guy. He revolutionized passing and helped form the game we know and love today.
Friedman got a bit of a bad name for his undying self-confidence and frustration over not being acknowledged for the incredible player that he was. His dogged self-promotion directed towards being inducted into the HOF seemed to be the reason he wasn’t allowed. Benny was described as one of the most egotistical players in the league and was labeled a prima donna.
An incredible book written about Benny Friedman that is still available today (Amazon).
Friedman would cite antisemitism as one of the reasons he was underrated and not enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Benny would experience painful stereotypes from the NFL and media, and the racism of the day during his playing career and after would undermine his achievements. He was eventually inducted into the HOF in 2005, posthumously.
Benny was a role model for the Jewish community and was acknowledged as such. He would be inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Friedman took breaking the stereotypes associated with his heritage seriously and was vocal about his pride in his culture. Benny actively worked on inspiring other Jewish athletes to pursue their dreams despite the negativity.
We don’t always get to pick our heroes, and we never get to make them perfect. Benny Friedman had a controversial personality; he had his character flaws and his incredible strengths. He had an amazing career that altered the game of football forever and persisted against all odds. Friendman was not just shouldering the burden of antisemitism, but he was loudly proud of his heritage and made the way just a little bit easier for the next Jewish American talent. Thank you for all you did, Benny!
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