Bill Irgens
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | June 26, 1883 Stavanger, Norway | ||
| Died: | October 28, 1947 (aged 64) Hennepin County, Minnesota | ||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Weight: | 175 lb (79 kg) | ||
| Position: | Halfback, quarterback | ||
| Career history | |||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||
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Einar Magnus "Bill" Irgens (June 26, 1883 – October 28, 1947) was an American football player.
A native of Stavanger, Norway, he played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) as a halfback and quarterback for the Minneapolis Marines. He appeared in 11 NFL games, seven as a starter, from 1921 to 1923.[1][2]
Sav Rocca is sometimes cited as the oldest NFL rookie at age 34.[3] Irgens tops Rocca's mark by four years, having made his NFL debut at age 38.[1]
Irgens was also the first Norwegian-born player in the NFL. The second Norwegian-born player, Halvor Hagen, did not debut in the NFL until 1975.[4]
In later years, Irgens worked as a painter in Minneapolis.[5] He died in 1947 in Minneapolis.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Bill Irgens". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "Einar Irgens". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ "NFL's oldest rookie? Divorced college dropout from Owosso finds unlikely new life as a kicker". USA TODAY High School Sports. 13 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Players Born in Norway". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ World War II Draft Registration Card for Einar Magnus Irgens, born June 26, 1883, in Norway. Available at Ancestry.com.