Updated: June 1, 2016 Published: February 1, 2015
George Nix, left, played for the Hominy Indians, a legendary all-Indian professional team from Oklahoma, before joining the Buffalo Rangers and becoming Alaska's first NFL player. Nix was a Haida Indian from the Southeast Alaska village of Howkan. At far right is Frank Peratrovich, a Tlingit from Klawock who also played football at Haskell. Peratrovich served as vice president of the Alaska Constitutional Convention and was a prominent Alaska Native civil rights leader.
In the roaring '20s, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound Haida Indian became Alaska's first National Football League player during a largely forgotten era that saw a group of Native American athletes -- including some Alaskans -- briefly dominate the gridiron.
His name was George Nix, and he was about as stout as a Sitka spruce. As a young man Nix wrestled, boxed, ran track, played basketball and was an interior lineman on some of the best college and pro football teams in the United States.
Read more: George Nix, Alaska's NFL pioneer