Howard Eugene "Cap" Edwards (born May 1888) was a National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 and player

Player (game)

A player of a game is a participant therein. The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in game theory and in ordinary recreational games....

 in American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

's earliest years. In the early 20th century, football in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 was just beginning to catch on, with professional

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

 teams popping up in numerous cities, and at the time college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 was more popular.

Edwards attended and graduated from the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

, where he played football as an offensive lineman. His professional coaching career did not begin until he was 51 years of age, and was short-lived, but nonetheless noteworthy as he coached in the pioneering days of football with such greats as Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe

Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...

 and Guy Chamberlin

Guy Chamberlin

Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin was a professional American football player and coach in the National Football League . He played at Nebraska Wesleyan University and then at the University of Nebraska, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated from Nebraska in 1916...

. He first coached the Canton Bulldogs

Canton Bulldogs

The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...

 in 1921

1921 NFL season

The 1921 APFA season was the 2nd regular season of the National Football League, which was then called the American Professional Football Association....

, which ended in a 5–2–3 record. In 1923

1923 NFL season

The 1923 NFL season was the 4th regular season of the National Football League. For the first time, all of the clubs that were considered to be part of the NFL fielded teams. The new teams that entered the league included the Duluth Kelleys, the St. Louis All Stars , and a new Cleveland Indians team...

 Edwards coached the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Bulldogs

The Cleveland Bulldogs was a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922...

, with a 3–1–3 record, followed by a 5–8–1 record as coach of the Cleveland Bulldogs

Cleveland Bulldogs

The Cleveland Bulldogs was a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922...

.