Ever Hear of 'Swede' Youngstrom? Here's Why You Should

 By John Turney 

Adolf Frederick ("Swede") Youngstrom was a formidable presence in the nascent years of professional football, a lineman whose skill and determination etched a lasting legacy in the game. However, the passage of time has obscured his name, and that's more than an unjust oversight. It's one that should change.

During the NFL's rough-and-tumble early era, "Swede" stood out as one of the league's premier guards. In fact, his prowess was so notable that Jeffrey Miller, author of "Buffalo’s Forgotten Champions: The Story of Buffalo’s First Professional Football Team;" considers him Hall-of-Fame worthy.

"It could be argued," Miller wrote, "that had the team he’s most closely tied to—the Buffalo All-Americans—secured a league championship, Youngstrom might have been Buffalo’s inaugural inductee into Canton’s revered Hall."

That's a striking claim, yet it carries a ring of truth. Youngstrom was remarkable, durable, decorated and a league champion. What he isn't is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hopefully, after reading this, you may understand why I, too, believe his case should be revisited. 

So let's start at the beginning, where Youngstrom’s introduction to football was anything but conventional. 

Born on May 24, 1897, in Waltham, Mass., he attended Waltham High School, where the football team practiced after classes. But because he weighed just 140 pounds, his parents were afraid he might get hurt. So they forbid him from playing. But by his senior year, Youngstrom defied their wishes and joined the team. Not only did he play, he played so well that a local newspaper highlighted his exploits ... which, in turn, provoked his father to covertly watch a practice. Rather than reprimand his son, he was so impressed by his performance that he gave him his blessing -- effectively helping to launch a storied career.

After high school, Youngstrom enrolled at Dartmouth College where he honed his skills in a robust football program and developed into a formidable guard. So skilled was he that, by his senior year in 1919, he earned consensus All-American honors by blocking an astonishing nine punts -- a testament to his athleticism and instincts. 

After graduating, he briefly ran a candy store in Hanover, N,H., with teammate and future Hall-of-Fame lineman Ed Healey, before joining the Buffalo All-Americans in 1920. The team was part of the newly formed American Professional Football Association (APFA), which became the NFL in 1922 and where Youngstrom made an immediate impact. He blocked nine punts in his rookie season, three of which were returned for touchdowns.

Yes, you read that right -- NINE blocked punts in a single season - and that was no aberration. 

Drawing from newspaper accounts, historian Nick Webster credits Youngstrom with 16 punts blocked punts during his pro career. However, he confirmed only four in Youngstrom’s debut season ... which means if the five additional blocks reported elsewhere hold true, Youngstrom's career total would climb to at least 21. And that’s a conservative estimate. Some feats went unrecorded, lost to the gaps in early football documentation.

So, what's the real total? Twenty-five? Thirty? Either is possible, even likely. Youngstrom was that good at rejecting punts, and it was no small accomplishment in his era. Teams then often punted on early downs, not just fourth, making someone with Youngstrom's talent a prized asset.

But he was more than that. He was one of the game's difference makers, a reputation that bolsters Miller’s assertation that Youngstrom deserves a bust in Canton.

His tenure with Buffalo—first with the All-Americans, later the Bisons— highlighted his reliability and talent. He anchored a squad that twice came close to an NFL title. In 1920, the All-Americans posted a 9-1-1 record, only to be overshadowed by the undefeated Akron Pros. With a 9-1-2 record the following year, they fell just short again -- this time edged out by George Halas’ Chicago Staleys at 9-1-1.

However, Youngstrom was first noted as an All-Pro that year.

After those near-misses, Buffalo's team was not quite as good ... but Youngstrom was. Starting in 1923, he earned All-NFL honors three years running. Moreover, as the only guard to make first-team All-NFL in 1923-25, he cemented his status as an elite interior lineman.

In 1926, he left Buffalo for the Frankford Yellow Jackets where, under Hall-of-Famer Guy Chamberlin, he finally claimed a league championship. Then he stepped into a player/coach role the next year, steering the team through a solid season, before retiring at the age of 30 after an eight-year career.

Youngstrom’s durability was remarkable. He played 96 games without missing a snap, and his career spanned the Buffalo All-Americans, Canton Bulldogs, Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Bulldogs, and Frankford Yellow Jackets. Beyond the NFL, he also moonlighted with independent teams like the Millville Big Blue and Haven-Villa of Winter Haven, often suiting up on Saturdays before NFL Sundays.

In 2012, the Professional Football Researchers Association inducted the 6-foot-1, 187-pound lineman into its Hall of Very Good, but the Pro Football Hall of Fame hasn't acted on him. Youngstrom has never been a finalist for Canton.

"Youngstrom was actually the best guard of the era," said Miller, "since the only two guards in the Hall of Fame who played in the ‘20s—Michalske and Kiesling—actually played the majority of their careers in the 1930s. And Swede had as many All-Pro berths as any other guard during the ‘20s."

So that raises the question: Should Youngstrom have claimed one of those all-decade spots? Bob Carroll, who founded the Professional Football Researchers Association, thought so. He tapped him for his 1920s' all-decade team, a view echoed more recently by Ken Crippen of The Football Learning Academy.

Had that happened ... or had he been a multiple NFL champion ... maybe his name would have resonated with the Hall in the 1960s when it had more recognition. It’s impossible to know. What is clear is that he's been unfairly ignored. A perennial All-Pro, punt-blocking dynamo and linchpin on title-contending teams, Youngstrom has a resume that demands consideration.

He died on Aug. 5, 1968, at 71, leaving behind a legacy as a football trailblazer. From swatting punts at Dartmouth to Buffalo ... to dominating the pros ... to lifting a championship trophy with Frankford ... Youngstom epitomized the rugged brilliance of football’s formative years, an era all but forgotten by football fans and Hall-of-Fame voters.

And that's a shame. Adolf Frederick "Swede" Youngstrom deserves more, much more, than that.