Talk:Sam Mason (American football)

Sam Mason & Orin Mason -- What up?

[copied from NFL WikiProejct Talk page]

NFL history mystery of the day: We have an article on Sam Mason (American football) who per Pro Football Reference (here) played fullback for the 1922 Minneapolis Marines. Pro Football Archives does not show Sam Mason as being on the 1922 Minneapolis roster but does show an Orin Mason as a fullback on the team. See here. Different dates of birth, etc., but it seems likely that either PFR or PFA has an error as to which Mason played at the fullback position for the 1922 Marines. A standing ovation for whoever is able to resolve this mystery. Cbl62 (talk) 22:24, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

This is odd. In my newspapers.com search of the Marines in '22 the only other "Mason" mention besides listing in boxscores is about a player from Utah ([1]). PFR lists him from VMI, and PFA doesn't list any school at all. I've found both people in Ancestry.com with the info listed at the stats websites, but could not find which actually played in the NFL. (BTW I see a "Orin Mason" in Minneapolis who was a handball player here). BeanieFan11 (talk) 22:58, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

I found this mention of a Mason in a team photo. I find it interesting that they list whoever this Mason is as a utility back instead of a fullback. I'm still looking for more though. Hey man im josh (talk) 16:54, 4 February 2022 (UTC)

Thank you both. Nice photo too. Cbl62 (talk) 17:24, 4 February 2022 (UTC)

FindAGrave for Samuel Anthony Mason and then there's the FindAGrave for Orin Harold Mason (other site listed his middle name as Harild). The FindAGrave link for Sam Mason shows a picture of him in football equipment. In Sam's bio on that site it mentioned he's in the VMI Hall of Fame so I went to look for their Hall. I found his inclusion in their Hall as a charter member (their Hall being founded in 1972). His inclusion helps to verify he did at least play football at VMI, and did so with distinction.

While not a smoking gun, I found this WW1 draft registration card which gives the proper birthday, location, employer & title (VMI as a student). I then found this draft card for WW2 for Sam Anthony Mason. Sam went to a military school so it wouldn't be a surprise if he registered to fight in WW2. The date of birth, birth place, and weight match up while the height is 1" difference (20 years since he had been in the NFL, people can shrink slightly). Hey man im josh (talk) 17:39, 4 February 2022 (UTC)

Nice work, josh! Cbl62 (talk) 21:37, 6 February 2022 (UTC)

Any luck on Orin Mason? Are we hoping that it's a mistype by somebody? Are we satisfied that Sam Mason is the player that played professionally? It could be worth sending a message to VMI Athletics to see if they'd be able to share any type of record or reason as to why Sam Mason may have been inducted. Typically in inductions like that they'd often reference any type of professional career a player had. At least we were able to verify that Sam Mason was a real person and it's more likely than not him. Hey man im josh (talk) 12:15, 7 February 2022 (UTC)

Haven't had a chance to follow up further as of yet. Will copy this discussion to the article talk page for future reference. Cbl62 (talk) 13:26, 18 February 2022 (UTC)