Len Charpier

{{Short description|American football player (1897–1947)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox NFL biography | name = Len Charpier | number = | position = [[Fullback (American football)|Fullback]], halfback, guard | birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|2|17}} | birth_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1947|10|3|1897|2|17}} | death_place = [[Evergreen Park, Illinois]], U.S. | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 10 | weight_lbs = 235 | high_school = | college = [[Illinois Fighting Illini football|Illinois]] | pastteams = * Pullman Thorns (1918-1919) * Chicago Thorns-Tornadoes (1920) * [[Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59)|Chicago Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1920}}) | highlights = * [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1919 Illinois Fighting Illini football team|1919]]) | statlabel1 = Games played | statvalue1 = 1 | pfr = CharLe20 }} '''Leonard Louis Charpier''' (February 17, 1897 – October 3, 1947) was an American [[American football|football]] player. He was sometimes known by the nickname "'''Tank'''" and was "rated as one of the hardest hitting fullbacks who ever donned a moleskin."<ref>{{cite news|title=Bucheit Heads List of 'I' Comebackers|newspaper=The Daily Illini|date=October 28, 1920|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113760147/charpier/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Charpier was born in 1897 in [[Chicago]]. He attended the [[University of Illinois]] where he played freshman football as a guard in 1915 and varsity football, again as a guard, in 1916. He was selected by [[Walter Eckersall]] on the 1916 all-conference team.<ref>{{cite news|title=All Critics Pick Macomber For All-Conference Captain|newspaper=The Daily Illini|date=November 28, 1916|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113759454/1917-all-conference/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In 1917, he played at the fullback position for Illinois.<ref>{{cite news|title=Badgers Beaten by Lack of Punch|newspaper=The Wisconsin State Journal|date=October 21, 1917|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113759587/badgers-beaten-by-lack-of-punch/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> ''The Daily Illini'' noted at the time: "Being almost as broad as he is tall he is rather hard to tackle and it must be an almost perfect tackle to bring him down. . . . The real superiority of Charpier lies in his ability to run ends. The opponents are never sure when he intends to punt or run."<ref>{{cite news|title=Zuppke Holds Advantage Over Coach Stagg's Men|newspaper=The Daily Illini|date=October 31, 1917|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113759740/chapier/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

He later played semipro football as a [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]] position for the Pullman Thorns from 1918 to 1919 and the combined Chicago Thorns-Tornadoes team in 1920.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pullman Thorns Bump Gary, 22-0 Charpier, Former Illinois Star, Sparkls at Fullback for Winning Eleven|newspaper=The Times|date=November 25, 1918|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113759928/charpier/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Charpier Bucks Thorns To Win|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 20, 1919|page=19|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113759991/charpier/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

He also appeared in one game for the [[Chicago Cardinals]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) at the end of the 1920 season.<ref name=PFA>{{cite web|url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/char01200.html|title=Len Charpier|work=Pro Football Archives}}</ref> He appeared as the right halfback position for the Cardinals in a loss to the [[Chicago Staleys]] on December 5, 1920.<ref>{{cite news|title=Staleys Defeat Cardinals, 10-0|newspaper=The Dispatch|date=December 6, 1920|page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113760354/staleys-defeat-cardinals/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Charpier later became a medical doctor, working in the [[Roseland, Chicago|Roseland]] section of Chicago for more than 25 years. He died in 1947 of a heart attack at the [[Little Company of Mary Hospital (Evergreen Park)|Little Mary of Hospital]] in [[Evergreen Park, Illinois]].<ref name=PFA/><ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Leonard Louis Charpier|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 4, 1947|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113760581/charpier/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==See also== * [[List of players who appeared in only one game in the NFL (1920–1929)]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charpier, Len}} [[Category:1897 births]] [[Category:1947 deaths]] [[Category:Players of American football from Chicago]] [[Category:American football fullbacks]] [[Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football players]] [[Category:Chicago Cardinals players]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]