Bus Mertes
Bernard James Mertes
Born: October 6, 1921
Chicago, IL USA
Deceased: January 17, 2002
St. Louis Park, MN
Position: B
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 201
College: Iowa
High School: Lane Tech (Chicago, IL)
Career: 1945-1949
Bus Mertes played from 1945 to 1949 during his career with the Baltimore Colts, Chicago Cardinals, Los Angeles Dons and New York Giants. Mertes ran for 1,277 yards in his career on 341 attempts, scoring 6 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 19 passes for 182 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns..
Click on column headings to sort.
Rushing:
| Year | Team | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | NFL Chicago Cardinals | 24 | 111 | 4.6 | 52 | 0 |
| 1946 | AAFC Los Angeles Dons | 40 | 111 | 2.8 | 0 | 0 |
| 1947 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 95 | 321 | 3.4 | 0 | 2 |
| 1948 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 155 | 680 | 4.4 | 0 | 4 |
| 1949 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 11 | 8 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1949 | NFL New York Giants | 16 | 46 | 2.9 | 19 | 0 |
| NFL | 40 | 157 | 3.9 | 52 | 0 | |
| AAFC | 301 | 1120 | 3.7 | 0 | 6 | |
| Totals | 341 | 1277 | 3.7 | 52 | 6 |
Receiving:
| Year | Team | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | NFL Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1946 | AAFC Los Angeles Dons | 5 | 61 | 12.2 | 0 | 1 |
| 1947 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 6 | 56 | 9.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1949 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1949 | NFL New York Giants | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 13 | 0 |
| NFL | 4 | 15 | 3.8 | 13 | 0 | |
| AAFC | 15 | 167 | 11.1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Totals | 19 | 182 | 9.6 | 13 | 2 |
Punt Returns:
Kick Returns:
| Year | Team | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | NFL Chicago Cardinals | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1946 | AAFC Los Angeles Dons | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| NFL | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | |
| AAFC | 3 | 50 | 16.7 | 15 | 0 | |
| Totals | 4 | 62 | 15.5 | 15 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Year | Team | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | AAFC Los Angeles Dons | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| AAFC | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Year | Team | Tackle | Brup | Fum | F Rec | FYds | FTD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | NFL Chicago Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1949 | NFL New York Giants | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NFL | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points |
| 1946 | AAFC Los Angeles Dons | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||
| 1947 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| 1948 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |||||||
| 1949 | AAFC Baltimore Colts | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| AAFC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | |
| Totals | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | |
Playing Career:
| Year | League | Team | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | NFL | Chicago Cardinals | 8 | 3 |
| 1946 | AAFC | Los Angeles Dons | 9 | 3 |
| 1947 | AAFC | Baltimore Colts | 14 | 10 |
| 1948 | AAFC | Baltimore Colts | 14 | 12 |
| 1949 | AAFC | Baltimore Colts | 2 | 2 |
| 1949 | NFL | New York Giants | 8 | 1 |
