I published a piece this morning explaining Mike Ditka's role in NFL history...
https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chica ... cago-bears
...and I came upon a term I never heard: "closed end" as a synonym for tight end. George Halas and Bears publicity man Dan Desmond both used it when the team drafted and signed Ditka in '61.
HALAS: “He will play the closed end. We’re counting on his rugged blocking to give our running a big lift.”
DESMOND: “We got a big guy at our closed end position, Mike Ditka. For his size, Mike’s speed amazes everybody.”
Did anyone else know that term?
h/t Tim Brown and John Turney for great citations in my story!
"Tight end" = "Closed end"?
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John Maxymuk
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Re: "Tight end" = "Closed end"?
Another nice article, Jack. Yes, I have run into the term closed end before. I think John T got the analogy just right with the dimmer switch slowly turning up and then fading away in the case of closed end. I am attaching two newspaper pieces with the term. The first From Flint Journal in Jan 1958 refers to Steve Junker as a closed end and superior to fellow rookie Ron Kramer. The second is a preview of the 1960 NFL title game in which Gary Knafelc is given that designation. A third piece from the Green Bay Press Gazette in 1957 refers to Ron Kramer (and Joe Johnson) as slot-back end. I don't know if that corresponded to what we now call a slot back receiver or was another early name for the tight end position.
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- The_Blade_1960_12_26_60.jpg (721.25 KiB) Viewed 7109 times
- Green_Bay_Press_Gazette_1957_09_03_Page_21.jpg (776.11 KiB) Viewed 7109 times
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JohnTurney
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Re: "Tight end" = "Closed end"?
Willard Dewveall was called that, too, at least by someone in the Chicago press when the writer was suggesting or saying Ditka was an upgrade at the position.
And thanks for the mention.
This is like the confusion of Crazylegs being the first "flanker" when that isn't really the case unless definitions are stretched, like you are saying here, to not mean then what we mean now.
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Brian wolf
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Re: "Tight end" = "Closed end"?
Great information and old newspaper articles, guys. Cool reading about the beginning of City Stadium, later to be renamed, Lambeau Field.
"Many pros believe he is harder to tackle at the line of scrimmage than Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns" -- article describing Jim Taylor, from The Blade, 1960.
"Many pros believe he is harder to tackle at the line of scrimmage than Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns" -- article describing Jim Taylor, from The Blade, 1960.
Re: "Tight end" = "Closed end"?
There was a transition over a number of years.
With the Giants in the late 1950s they started calling Bob Schnelker a tight end, but I don't really think he ever was. In the old T formations, Schnelker was a right end. He would line up tight sometimes, but also with a small split or a normal wide split like a wide receiver. Kyle Rote, the left end, would also line up tight. Sometimes one of the halfbacks would line up in the flankerback position.
But Schnelker was always on the right side. He never switched. (He'd been a left end but that was before Rote became a regular at the position.) My guess is that most teams, the strong side was the right side, so the right end wound up the tight end. I don't know how often teams switched the side of the tight end in that era. I'd have to look at some film. But it was an evolving time where teams transitioned from the T to the pro set and never had two halfbacks behind the line, always used the three receiver set.
With the Giants in the late 1950s they started calling Bob Schnelker a tight end, but I don't really think he ever was. In the old T formations, Schnelker was a right end. He would line up tight sometimes, but also with a small split or a normal wide split like a wide receiver. Kyle Rote, the left end, would also line up tight. Sometimes one of the halfbacks would line up in the flankerback position.
But Schnelker was always on the right side. He never switched. (He'd been a left end but that was before Rote became a regular at the position.) My guess is that most teams, the strong side was the right side, so the right end wound up the tight end. I don't know how often teams switched the side of the tight end in that era. I'd have to look at some film. But it was an evolving time where teams transitioned from the T to the pro set and never had two halfbacks behind the line, always used the three receiver set.
Re: "Tight end" = "Closed end"?
Thank you for the kind words, John! Great clips here. I love Turney's "dimmer switch" analogy too.John Maxymuk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 26, 2026 8:36 pm Another nice article, Jack. Yes, I have run into the term closed end before. I think John T got the analogy just right with the dimmer switch slowly turning up and then fading away in the case of closed end. I am attaching two newspaper pieces with the term. The first From Flint Journal in Jan 1958 refers to Steve Junker as a closed end and superior to fellow rookie Ron Kramer. The second is a preview of the 1960 NFL title game in which Gary Knafelc is given that designation. A third piece from the Green Bay Press Gazette in 1957 refers to Ron Kramer (and Joe Johnson) as slot-back end. I don't know if that corresponded to what we now call a slot back receiver or was another early name for the tight end position.
When I saw the quotes from Halas and Desmond saying "closed end," the term immediately made sense to me even though I had never heard it. Thank you for sharing more.