On Oct. 9, 1892, Lou Partlow - who in 1920 would score the first touchdown in the first game between two National Football League teams - was born in Miamisburg, Ohio.

As a running back for the West Carrollton Paper Co.'s team in 1913, he was nicknamed the "West Carrollton Battering Ram." Partlow trained by running through woods along the Great Miami River. He usually zigzagged around trees, but occasionally he lowered a shoulder and smashed into one.

He played with the Cincinnati Celts in 1914, then one game in 1915 with the Dayton Gym Cadets. In 1916, he joined the Dayton Triangles. The Triangles were a charter member of the American Professional Football Association, later renamed the NFL. Partlow scored the inaugural touchdown when the Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 in the first NFL game, in Dayton on Oct. 3, 1920.

Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8361