Max was born August 15, 1912, in Russia to Jewish parents. He was the oldest of three children. At Stivers, Max excelled in both football and basketball. He was an All City end in 1929 and 1930.
In 1929, sportswriter Si Burick picked Daytons best high school football players by position from the time he came to the Dayton Daily News in 1919 until 1929. Max was easily one of the two best ends during that decade.
Max was also a regular on two of the three state basketball championship teams from 1928, 1929 and 1930. In the 1930 state tournament, Max, a forward, scored 12 points in a 25-18 victory during the semi-final round. He also scored 4 points in the championship game and was named to the All Ohio Tournament Team along with teammate Bill Hosket.
In the fall of 1930, Max along with Coach Floyd Stahl, Bill Hosket and Carl Cramer followed two other Stivers greats, Bob Colburn and Herb Brown, to Ohio State University.
He was a varsity end at Ohio State for two years and was on the 1933 basketball team that tied for the Big Ten Title. After graduation in 1934, he played professional football for the Cleveland Rams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the original Cincinnati Bengals in 1937.
Max was a teammate of Sid Gillman at Ohio State and Cleveland. When Gillman was coaching the San Diego Chargers in a game at Cincinnati, he saw Max, put his arm around him and said, “Here is one of the great football players; one of the real greats.”
Max worked as an inspector for the Ohio State Highway Department and unfortunately was killed in an automobile accident on North Dixie Drive on August 17, 1971. He was 59 years old.