MAY 13, 1892

LUISENO PEDRO “PETE” CALAC BORN–CARLISLE & NFL FOOTBALL PLAYER

Born in Valley Center, California, Pete attended Sherman Indian School in Riverside before being sent to Carlisle Indian School in 1908 at age 15. Despite having no prior knowledge of football, he was made fullback on & captain of the Carlisle football team in 1914 & 1915. A friend of Jim Thorpe’s, after attending West Virginia Wesleyan, he joined Thorpe on the Canton Bulldogs who were Ohio League pro football champions in 1916 & 1917. After serving in Belgium with the Army’s 91st (“Wild West”) Division during World War I, he & the Bulldogs were champs again in 1919 after adding future Hall of Famer Joe Guyon. In 1921, Calac & Guyon played for both the Union Quakers & Washington Senators. In 1922, they joined the Oorang Indians—an NFL traveling team composed only of Native Americans. Calac joined the Buffalo Bisons in 1924 before playing with the Bulldogs again for 1925 & 1926. After football, Calac served as a policeman in Canton, Ohio. He died there on January 30, 1968.

Sources: 
 “Pete Calac,” Tom Benjey's Weblog.  Retrieved 7/28/2022, Pete Calac | Tom Benjey's Weblog
Wikipedia
Photo: Bain News Service, circa 1910-15. Public Domain.  Source: George Grantham Bain collection, United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID  ggbain 14561, Peter Calac, Carlisle (loc.gov).