Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about football and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the football urban legends featured so far.

FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND: A player played professional football under an assumed name so that he could play college football, as well!

John McNally was going into his last year of eligibility at St. John University in 1925 when he hit upon an idea.

Years later, he said it was based on walking past a movie marque with the movie titled “Blood and the Sand,” but who knows if that’s actually true (not me). Whatever his motive, McNally’s plan was to come up with a fake name so that he could play professional football and still play college ball!

John took the name Johnny Blood, and he played the 1925-26 season for the Milwaukee Badgers.

After graduating from college, he played one year for the Duluth Eskimos.

His longest, and most notable stint came with the Green Bay Packers, who he played for for about nine years in total, winning four championships in the process.

He was a fast runner and a great pass receiver.

He was also quite a character, and a lot of his exploits were later worked into the George Clooney film, Leatherheads…

McNally was elected to the Football Hall of Fame in 1963 – as John McNally, not Johnny Blood.

The legend is…

STATUS: True

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future urban legends columns! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com