TENAFLY - The Tenafly football program has had a long history and they reached a couple of milestones this past season. First, the Tigers celebrated 100 years of varsity football with a ceremony and their 77th game against Ridgefield Park on September. 29. Then, at the beginning of the holiday season, they played their 74th Thanksgiving Day game against Dumont.

Playing during those 100 years of football, including several of the Turkey Day football games, were the Nelsons - an uncle and five brothers - who suited up for the Tigers between 1942 and 1967, but the Nelson family got its first taste of football a couple of decades before Tenafly had ever played a down.

George W. Nelson played football in 1897 for Jersey City High School (now William L. Dickinson HS) and became a banker in his adult life. He worked for 10 years at Mechanics and Metals National Bank in New York City before joining Union Trust and Hudson County National Bank in January 1923, where he was put in charge of the new business department. 

George and his wife Ethel, née Orr, raised three sons, Alfred W., Oswald (Ozzie) and Donald R. in Ridgefield Park. George was active in the civic affairs of Ridgefield Park and he coached his eldest son, Alfred W., on the Ridgefield Park Club Team in 1923. George died prematurely of a protracted illness at age 48, leaving his three sons to continue his legacy. 

And continue it they did!

Alfred W. Nelson studied at Rutgers and NYU Dental School, eventually becoming Chief of Oral Surgery at Holy Name Hospital. He met and married Kathryn O’Driscoll, who was a nurse at the hospital. They had five sons, all of whom went on to play sports for Tenafly High School in the 1950s and 1960s.

Alfred’s younger brother, Ozzie Nelson, is best known as the lead performer in the The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television programs. The show ran for 24 years, 10 seasons on radio, 14 seasons of television with 2 overlapping years. (You younger readers might want to check out Ozzie Nelson on Google).

What is not generally known is that in his youth Ozzie was the youngest Eagle Scout in America (13-years-old). He and his 15-year-old brother Alfred were selected to represent the United States at the first Boy Scout Jamboree in London, England. Later, the two met the King of Belgium at the 1920 Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium. 

In high school Ozzie was a 3-year starter at quarterback, earning All-State honors in 1922. At Rutgers he excelled in football, lacrosse and swimming and won a boxing championship (middleweight division), while captaining the debate team and getting elected to the Student Council and Cap and Skull, the senior honor society.

Later, he was a football coach and band singer in NYC while he was a law school student at Rutgers. After he graduated from law school he started a dance orchestra. With Ozzie singing and playing the saxophone they were soon broadcasting nationwide and making records. He met Harriet Hilliard in 1932 and she joined the orchestra as a singer. They married and raised two sons, David and Ricky. Ozzie and Harriet got their big break in 1944 when comedian Red Skelton (more Googling youngsters) got drafted and Ozzie was asked to fill Skelton’s radio time slot.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was born and Ozzie and family moved to California to do the show. They sold their house in Tenafly to Ozzie’s brother and the Alfred W. Nelson, Sr. family was established in Tenafly.

Meanwhile, a third son of George and Ethel, Donald R. Nelson, was born while Alfred and Ozzie were away at college and he was only a couple of months old when George died in 1927. “Uncle Don,” as he is known by his five nephews, became the first Nelson to play football for Tenafly, beginning in 1942. He captained the 1944 team but instead of graduating in June 1945 he joined the U.S. Navy shortly after his 18th birthday in January of that year.
“He had a bad back so instead of waiting to be drafted into the Army where he would have to carry a backpack, he joined the Navy,” said Rob Nelson, a classmate of mine and the last of the Nelson clan to play Tenafly football. 

Once in the Navy Don was asked if he had any “special talents.” He told them he played the saxophone for the Ozzie Nelson Band so he was assigned to a Navy band, which entertained troops in the Pacific.
After the war Don returned to Tenafly and was awarded a war degree which was equivalent to being a high school graduate.

Later he moved to California and became a screenwriter. He co-wrote more than 200 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet show and penned some scripts for the The Good Guys, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Nanny and the Professor and Bridget Loves Bernie television programs. He worked for Universal Studios, Fox Studios and Hanna-Barbera Productions. He also co-wrote four films for Disney Studios. 

He died at age 86 in 2013.

Alfred W. Nelson, Jr., the oldest of the Nelson brothers, was the first of Alfred and Kathryn’s sons to play for Tenafly High School. Although he played football and baseball for all four years his best sport was basketball. He captained the 1953 team and set the then school record with 35 points in a game and finished third in league scoring. In football he was the punter, placekicker and a defensive back.

After high school Al went to Rutgers, where he played freshman football. He served in the U.S. Army and, after being discharged, went back to school to earn his degree at Northeast Missouri State College (now Truman State University). Later he taught Physical Education and Health at Ridgefield Park Junior High School. He moved up to the Catskills where he was a teacher and the soccer, basketball and baseball coach before he became the athletics director at Margaretville (N.Y.) High School.

The Nelson Soccer Tournament, named for Al, has been going on for more than 25 years. After he retired from teaching, Al was elected mayor from 1992-96. When Al he died in 1996 the school was closed for the day so everyone could take part in the funeral service.

George W. Nelson might have been the best and most versatile athlete in the family. He starred in football, basketball and baseball in all four years of high school. He quarterbacked the 1954 championship football team, was captain of the 1955 basketball team and was All-League, All-County and All-State in baseball. He was inducted into the Tenafly Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

In 1954 George won The Record’s Athlete of the Week award after an outstanding performance in a 20-20 tie against powerful Hackensack. He scored all 20 points with 83- and 85-yard kickoff returns, a touchdown catch and he kicked two extra points.

When George finished college at Truman State University in Missouri, he got a job as Physical Education/Health teacher at Tenafly Junior High School (now the condominium complex on Clinton Avenue at the foot of George Street), where he taught and coached from 1959 to 1965. 

When Rob was about to enter middle school he asked his older brother what he should call him in school, should someone see them together in the hallway.

“Just call me Coach Nelson,” George told his amused younger brother. 

George coached the undefeated 1959 Tenafly freshman team, which featured Ken Miller, a standout performer in football, wrestling, baseball and track. Miller earned 11 varsity letters and was an All-State tackle, two-time wrestling District Champion, an All-State catcher and a discus thrower. He earned the Newark Athletic Club High School Athlete of the Year award and was designated The Record’s Athlete of the Decade. He is also a member of the Tenafly Athletic Hall of Fame.
Before the Tigers 100th anniversary celebration Miller was interviewed by The Record about his remembrances of being an athlete at Tenafly High School.

Miller said he got “friendships and determination” out of playing football.

“Our whole neighborhood played sports,” he said. “We had the Nelsons - five brothers who went through Tenafly. Two are in the Hall of Fame. And there were other kids in the neighborhood. There was always a game.”

Boaz “Buzz” Firkser was named  head coach in 1961, Miller’s junior year.

“He was very disciplined, fair and intelligent,” Miller said of the hall of fame coach. “He knew football.”

Miller advised current players to “get in condition and have the attitude you’re going to win. Don’t accept defeat. There is another game tomorrow.” 

George met his wife Judy at Northeast Missouri State College . As Judy was from Hannibal, Mo., George moved his family from Tenafly to Quincy, Ill. (25 miles south of Hannibal) in the spring of 1965. They raised five children, including four boys, none of whom played football. Instead they played soccer.
George died in 2011 at age 73.

Next up to don the black and orange was Richard V. Nelson, a solid, all-around athlete, who played three sports for four years. Rich was the first baseman on the baseball team and earned Second Team All-League honors in basketball. He was an excellent shooter and tallied 22 points in a state tournament game. He and Russ Beisswanger scored 75 per cent of the Tigers points in their senior season.

In football, under Tigers legend Eugene “Red” Littler, Rich played quarterback, halfback and was the team’s placekicker. He was one of the captains of the 1957 team. As a result of his participation in three of the major sports he was voted “Most Athletic” by his senior class.

Rich married and had four children - one girl and three boys - one of whom, wide receiver Brett Nelson, played high school football in the early ’80’s at Blair High School in Pasadena, CA. Rich coached football at North Hollywood High School and worked as assistant director with CBS and Fox Sports for more than 25 years with the Pat Summerall/John Madden broadcast team. Rich is currently living in St. Louis.

William O. “Willy” Nelson played football for all four years, baseball for his first three years and basketball for only his freshman year. But Willy’s true love was entertainment. He was a good singer and formed a band called Willy Nelson and the Dukes during his high school years. He was voted “Best Looking” of his senior class. He recorded for Liberty Records and appeared eight times on the ’60’s music show Shindig and was occasionally on American Bandstand and the Dick Clark Show.

He managed his cousin, Ricky Nelson, from the late ’60’s to early ’70’s, and later managed the “Ragin’ Cajun” Doug Krenshaw for a time. He retired from the music business and became an optician. He died in 2013 at the age of 69.

Robert J. (Robbie), the youngest of the Nelson brothers, closed out the family tradition for outstanding contributions to the Tenafly High School athletic programs. He starred in track at Tenafly in addition to being the All-League quarterback for the 1967 undefeated state champion squad. 

He was part of hall of fame coach Bob Waterman’s first indoor track team, which won the Group 1&2 Individual and Relay state title in 1967 and then again in 1968.

In the spring of 1967 Rob was also a big part of Littler’s outdoor team, which also won a state championship. In all the 1967 team amassed 7 championship titles, 16 meet records and 9 school records. Three coaches and eight athletes from that 1967 track team have made it into the Tenafly Athletic Hall of Fame. 

The 1967 outdoor team also ended a 10-year run for Littler, who finished 92-7-1 in dual meets. He passed the baton to Waterman, who was 449-148-6 in cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track dual meets (for boys and girls) during his 28-year coaching career.

“We were part of the first team Waterman coached and the last team Littler coached,” Rob said.

As a student-athlete, Waterman was an All-County hurdler and 1958 Tenafly graduate. As a coach he headed up teams that won 12 league, 9 county, and 9 state championships. He was named Coach of the Year in 1974, 1977 and 1984. He was inducted into the THS Hall of Fame in 1989. 

Rob continued to use his track skills to successfully compete in college too, winning many more medals and awards. He started at Los Angeles Valley College where he played halfback/flanker in football his freshman year. He injured his knee, which, he said, “thankfully did not require surgery,” but he decided to hang up his cleats and focus on track.

It was a good move as LA Valley College had a quality track and field team. Rob ran the quarter mile and was a member of the record-setting Distance Medley team. They set the school and conference record and just missed the national record at the West Coast relays. His freshman season culminated when he became a California Junior College State Finalist in his specialty. He co-captained the team in his sophomore year and later transferred to Truman State University. He was named captain his senior year and he led the team to the 1972 indoor and outdoor MIAA conference championships. Along the way he set the indoor conference 600-yard record. The team finished third at the NCAA College Division championship (now D2).

The Truman State University Hall of Fame inducted Rob’s track and field team in April 2022.  
Rob was a member of 19 track and field championship teams in high school and college. He is a two-time inductee into the Tenafly Athletic Hall of Fame: in 1990 for his individual prowess and accomplishments in track and football and as a member of the 1967 football championship team in 2019.

He majored in Physical Education in college and after he completed his student teaching at Quincy (Ill.) High School he moved back to California where he landed a position with the Winston Tire Company. He has worked in the tire industry for most of his work life and is still a consultant today. 

Although the Nelson clan ended their Tenafly football playing legacy in 1967 the extended Nelson family has not yet finished playing the sport they love. They have simply picked up and headed to the midwest and way-west. 

Rich and Rob are the only surviving brothers and each passed the football legacy down to future generations. 

Rich’s grandson, Christian Wagner, played for St. Louis (Mo.) Priory School and graduated in 2020. 
Rob’s son Chris starred for Santa Barbara (Calif.) High School in the ’90’s in baseball and football. Rob’s grandson, Landon J. Nelson, followed in his father’s footsteps, playing baseball and football at Santa Barbara. He has just completed his sophomore football season, where he played wide receiver and safety.

So for those of you keeping score it’s been 126 years since the first member of this Nelson family laced up a pair of cleats on a football field to begin the legacy of Nelson football. One family member or another has been on the field a lot of those intervening years and though I’m not sure how many more generations of this Nelson family will continue the tradition; their contributions to the sport thus far have been most impressive.

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JC Baumuller is a Christian, husband, father of 3 sons, Poppy of 7 grandchildren, a New Jersey Press Association award winning sportswriter and columnist and former sportswriter for North Jersey Media Group, This is the first in what will be an occasional series of features and colums highlighting worthy stories from across North Jersey.

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