Before World War I, Reuben Ursella played eleven years (1907–1917) mainly at quarterback for the Minneapolis Marines sandlot, semi-professional, and independent professional football teams.

When Rock Island joined the American Football League in 1926, Ursella chose instead to play for the Akron Indians and for one game with the Hammond Pros.

He holds the distinction of having played in the final game for three separate NFL franchises, for the Rock Island Independents in 1925 and for the Hammond Pros and Akron Indians in 1926.

[4] In January 1926, Rube joined the Tampa Cardinals a team put together by Jim Thorpe for the purpose of playing exhibition games in Florida.

[5] During his 22 seasons as a quarterback, captain, and coach, Reuben Ursella stood out as a strategist, field general, and dominating athlete despite the fact he never played high school or college football.

Ossie Solem, who had played for the Gophers under Williams and then later coached the Marines and at Luther College (Iowa), Drake University, Syracuse University, and Springfield College, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1960 that Ursella was “the best kicker football has ever had,"[12] an echo of the sentiment shared by Halsey Hall in the Minneapolis Star in 1954 when he said Ursella was “the greatest kicker of local and possibly national history.