Bert Bell

De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States. For his innovations with the NFL, and his stewardship as commissioner, he was posthumously inducted into the charter class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Bell began his formal days of playing football at the University of Pennsylvania in 1914. As the starting quarterback on the Penn Quakers, he led his team to the 1917 Rose Bowl. His college days were interrupted by a stint in the United States Army during World War I. After resuming,...