Canton

The Mysterious Death of Harold R. Carnahan

The headlines read “Tragic End” and “Dies on Way to Bar Exam” via the local newspapers after he was found with a bullet in his head.

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Harold R. Carnahan hanging out somewhere back in the day.

They said it was a .22 caliber revolver and a “target pistol which he had owned for years…” which did him in.

That’s how it ended for Harold R. Carnahan, a 24-year old aspiring legal practitioner bound for Columbus to take the Ohio bar exam.

Was it an accident? Was it intentional? Maybe it was neither, or maybe it was every bit of all of those things.

It was a Wednesday in 1929 at the family home on 15th Street NW in Canton. He was due to leave in 45 minutes when his body was discovered at 9:45 p.m.

Harold’s father, A. Roy, found his youngest son with what was declared to be an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Ken Stabler one of six players to throw 7 interceptions in NFL game

The passing of former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler at the age of 69 is likely to revive old debates over The Snake’s Pro Football Hall of Fame worthiness.

There’s room for argument on both sides of the table. I mean, the Hall’s selection committee named Stabler a second-team member of its All-Decade Team of the 1970s, despite 24 interceptions thrown in 1975 and 30 in 1978. They were clearly impressed once upon a time.

Stabler finished his 15-year NFL career (11 as a starter with three teams) in the shadows of contemporaries such as Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese and Fran Tarkenton, each immortalized in Canton, Ohio.

But what about Kenny? He led Oakland to a 69-26-1 regular season record in the 1970s and finished with 96 wins in all after wrapping up a career with the Houston Oilers and lowly New Orleans Saints.

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Orlando City Soccer Club & Pro Football Hall of Fame

Each year the football season begins with Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend in Canton, Ohio. The inductees for 2014 include linebacker Derrick Brooks, tackle Walter Jones, punter Ray Guy, defensive end Claude Humphrey, wide receiver Andre Reed, defensive end Michael Strahan and defensive back Aeneas Williams.

But who deserves a spot in next year’s class? Maybe names such as Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley and Kurt Warner will be called upon next.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk about Orlando City and Hall of Fame – )

Carnahan Coverage: Warren Sapp Remembers Apopka Upon Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction

Last year former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Warren Sapp took his place among the greats in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Like most former NFL players in Canton, Ohio the week of their induction, Sapp let his guard down while talking to reporters before his big weekend got underway. Below is the story I wrote for The Apopka Chief, Sapp’s hometown newspaper during his playing days at Apopka High School in Florida.

There was one piece of advice that stuck with Warren Sapp throughout much of his ascent from the dirt roads of Plymouth and the playing fields in Apopka to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“My grandmother said something to me a long time ago that I’ll never forget,” Sapp said at the onset of his enshrinement speech Saturday in Canton, Ohio. “She said, ‘boy, don’t you ever forget where you come from’.”

The late Rosie Lykes would be proud. Not only because her grandson was immortalized over the weekend among an elite group of 280 professional football players, but because he’s maintained a genuine compassion for those that helped him reach these heights along the way.

Sapp, who starred for Apopka High School before becoming a first round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of the University of Miami in 1995, spent nearly 12 minutes recognizing family, friends, former coaches and teammates at the Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary gathering.

It was a peak behind the rugged exterior of one of the fiercest defensive tackles in the history of the National Football League.

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