Dakota Datebook: North Dakota's first pro football player

North Dakota has produced a number of outstanding professional athletes. One of the very first to claim North Dakota as home was Lawrence (Larry) J. Steinbach.

Larry Steinbach was born and raised on a farm near New Rockford, in Eddy County, N.D. One of 11 children in the Steinbach family, Larry was a tough kid who loved to play football. At the "old age" of 22, he enrolled in high school at New Rockford, to restart his high school education.

Two years later he became a student at St. Thomas High School in Minnesota and earned his diploma. From there he attended St. Thomas College and became a "Tommie" football player. Two of his coaches on this team were protégés of the famous Knute Rockne. In 1929 he was named to the All-State team; the same year the Tommies won the Minnesota Conference.

One of Larry's coaches was Joe Boland. Joe was contacted by a friend of his, George Halas, the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Halas told Joe that he needed a good tackle, and was wondering if he might know of one. Before long, Larry Steinbach was a teammate of the Chicago Bear's famous Bronko Nagurski and the "Galloping Ghost," Red Grange.

Larry went on to play four years with the Chicago Bears, from 1930-1934. A highlight of those years was beating the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the NFL's first championship game. His most memorable experience however, was playing on an after-season "pick-up" team that beat the Notre Dame All-Stars on this date in 1932.

After professional football, Larry returned to North Dakota to farm and operate heavy equipment. During this time, he was offered several attractive jobs within the area of professional sports, but his heart was in farming. Larry fondly remembered his 3,400 acre farmstead, where he later spent his years actively supervising a profitable grain and cattle operation.

Larry was doing what he loved, farming, when he passed away in 1967 after a two-week illness. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Jamestown, N.D.

Although a farmer at heart, Larry Steinbach was North Dakota's pioneer professional football player, and played an integral part in making professional football what it is today.

Doherty, Ed, "Larry Steinbach, North Dakota's First Professional Football Player," North Dakota Horizons, Fall Edition 1971, Volume 1, Number 4, The Greater North Dakota Association. Knight Printing Company, Fargo, N.D.