Dick King (American football)
Encyclopedia
Richard Stewart Cutter "Dick" King (February 9, 1895 - October 16, 1930) was an All-American and professional football player. He played college football for Harvard University
and was selected as an All-American at halfback)
in 1915. In 1916, he signed with the Pine Village professional football team, becoming one of the first eastern football stars to play professional football. He also played professional football for the Hammond Pros
, Milwaukee Badgers
, Rochester Jeffersons
and St. Louis All-Stars in 1923.
before enrolling at Harvard University
. He was 5 feet, 8 inches in height and weighed 175 pounds. At the time of his selection as an All-American in 1915, King was not the typical Harvard athlete. He was married and had two children (a two-year-old daughter and six-month-old son), and was working his way through college. He first tried out for the freshman football team in 1912. At that time, he knew little or nothing about the game and "did not even threaten to 'make' the team." He failed to make the varsity team as sophomore and was also rejected by the baseball team and crew. In 1914, King made the cut for Harvard's varsity football team, but saw limited playing time as a substitute.
King did not start a game for Harvard until his senior year, and was selected as an All-American in his first full year playing the game. He played halfback)
for the 1915 Harvard team that boasted one of the best backfields in the early years of college football with King, Eddie Mahan
and Hardwick. With Harvard's opponents focused on stopping three-time All-American Mahan, King was able to score the only touchdown on a 30-yard run in Harvard's 1915 victory over Princeton. After King's "long leap in the lair of the Princeton Tigers," one writer noted King's progression from scrub to star: "Stubborn Dick King, once the lowliest of scrubs, now stands full flush at the entrance to the Harvard gallery of big football heroes."
At the end of the 1915 season, Walter Camp
and Fielding H. Yost both named King to their first-team All-American squads, and Chicago football expert Walter Eckersall
selected him as a second-team All-American.
In 1916, the Pine Village team consisted of King and a group of former players from Indiana University
. By signing King, Pine Village hoped to bring the sophistication of Eastern football to Indiana.
In December 1916, Pine Village played a highly-anticipated game against the Hammond Pros
for the championship of Indiana. In the build-up to the game, one Indiana newspaper focused on Pine Village's acquisition of King:
King continued to play for Pine Village from 1917–1919, and was known both for his coaching and his "line-plunging" skills. In 1919, a Fort Wayne newspaper noted:
King also played for the Hammond Pros
from 1919–1921, the Milwaukee Badgers
the Rochester Jeffersons
in 1922, and the St. Louis All-Stars in 1923.
The 1919 Hammond Pros
featuring King (and a rookie named George Halas
) had a payroll of $20,000 for eleven players, said to be one of the highest team payroll in the history of professional football to that time. Also in 1919, an Indiana newspaper called King "one of the greatest backs who ever wore moleskin
s" and noted: "As a line plunger, King ranks with the best in the game, while his ability to place kick from anywhere within the 50-yard mark makes a score possible for his team whenever the ball is advanced into enemy territory."
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and was selected as an All-American at halfback)
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
in 1915. In 1916, he signed with the Pine Village professional football team, becoming one of the first eastern football stars to play professional football. He also played professional football for the Hammond Pros
Hammond Pros
The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team...
, Milwaukee Badgers
Milwaukee Badgers
The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side...
, Rochester Jeffersons
Rochester Jeffersons
The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925.Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of the century , the team became known as the Jeffersons in reference to the locale of their playing...
and St. Louis All-Stars in 1923.
Athlete and All-American at Harvard
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, King attended the Boston Latin SchoolBoston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is both the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States....
before enrolling at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He was 5 feet, 8 inches in height and weighed 175 pounds. At the time of his selection as an All-American in 1915, King was not the typical Harvard athlete. He was married and had two children (a two-year-old daughter and six-month-old son), and was working his way through college. He first tried out for the freshman football team in 1912. At that time, he knew little or nothing about the game and "did not even threaten to 'make' the team." He failed to make the varsity team as sophomore and was also rejected by the baseball team and crew. In 1914, King made the cut for Harvard's varsity football team, but saw limited playing time as a substitute.
King did not start a game for Harvard until his senior year, and was selected as an All-American in his first full year playing the game. He played halfback)
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for the 1915 Harvard team that boasted one of the best backfields in the early years of college football with King, Eddie Mahan
Eddie Mahan
Edward William "Eddie" Mahan was an American football player. While playing halfback for Harvard, Mahan was selected as a first-team All-American three consecutive years from 1913–1915...
and Hardwick. With Harvard's opponents focused on stopping three-time All-American Mahan, King was able to score the only touchdown on a 30-yard run in Harvard's 1915 victory over Princeton. After King's "long leap in the lair of the Princeton Tigers," one writer noted King's progression from scrub to star: "Stubborn Dick King, once the lowliest of scrubs, now stands full flush at the entrance to the Harvard gallery of big football heroes."
At the end of the 1915 season, Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
and Fielding H. Yost both named King to their first-team All-American squads, and Chicago football expert Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
selected him as a second-team All-American.
Football coach at Wisconsin
After graduating from Harvard in 1916, King accepted a position as the backfield coach for the University of Wisconsin. He served in that capacity for only one year. The Wisconsin State Journal called him one of the school's most important coaches, noting that he had instilled his "fighting spirit" in the Wisconsin backfield. In October 1916, King announced that he had been offered a position as an engineer with a South American mining operation. He planned to leave for South America at the conclusion of the football season.Pioneer of professional football
In November 1916, while still serving as a coach at Wisconsin, King signed with "the famous Pine Village team" -- one of the first professional football teams. King was hired as both a player and coach, and was the highest paid player on the team. In signing with Pine Village, King became "one of the first of the eastern greats to step into the pro ranks." Prior to 1917, professional football had attracted only a narrow following, principally in Ohio and Indiana. Professional football was viewed as unworthy of graduates of major universities, and college stars who played in the early days of professional football frequently used assumed names to hide their identities.In 1916, the Pine Village team consisted of King and a group of former players from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. By signing King, Pine Village hoped to bring the sophistication of Eastern football to Indiana.
In December 1916, Pine Village played a highly-anticipated game against the Hammond Pros
Hammond Pros
The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team...
for the championship of Indiana. In the build-up to the game, one Indiana newspaper focused on Pine Village's acquisition of King:
"The Pine Village aggregation is one of the strongest in the entire country and is composed almost entirely of ex-college players who have won berths on All-American, All-Western and All-Conference elevens. Among the stars with Pine Village are Dick King, of Harvard, All-American halfback in 1915, and the greatest fullback playing today. He is the highest salaried player on the Pine Village team and his stipend per game runs well into three figures. King is a wonderful line plunger and on nearly all of his runs carries from three to five men along with him for several yards."
King continued to play for Pine Village from 1917–1919, and was known both for his coaching and his "line-plunging" skills. In 1919, a Fort Wayne newspaper noted:
"King acts as coach for the Pine Village outfit and local fandom can expect to see some wonderful interference displayed by the Pine Village team. King is a firm believer in interference, profiting by his experience at Harvard, where this branch of the game went a long way in making Harvard teams invincible in the four years preceding the war."The publicity for the fledgling Indiana professional circuit may have peaked in 1919 when Hammond signed another major eastern star, quarterback Eddy from Princeton. King was the star of the Indiana league, and when the teams featuring King and Eddy met in November 1919, one Indiana newspaper noted, "King hits the line like a streak and is seldom stopped before he reaches the secondary defense." In another article, an Indiana paper wrote, "King needs no introduction to local fans, as he is a former All-American back with a country wide reputation and perhaps the greatest line plunger in the game today."
King also played for the Hammond Pros
Hammond Pros
The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team...
from 1919–1921, the Milwaukee Badgers
Milwaukee Badgers
The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee's north side...
the Rochester Jeffersons
Rochester Jeffersons
The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925.Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of the century , the team became known as the Jeffersons in reference to the locale of their playing...
in 1922, and the St. Louis All-Stars in 1923.
The 1919 Hammond Pros
Hammond Pros
The Hammond Pros from Hammond, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team.-History:The Pros were established by Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young who was a boxing promoter, owner of a racing stable and a doctor and trainer for a semi-pro football team...
featuring King (and a rookie named George Halas
George Halas
George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
) had a payroll of $20,000 for eleven players, said to be one of the highest team payroll in the history of professional football to that time. Also in 1919, an Indiana newspaper called King "one of the greatest backs who ever wore moleskin
Moleskin
Moleskin, originally referring to the short, silky fur of a mole, is heavy cotton fabric, woven and then sheared to create a short soft pile on one side. The word is also used for clothing made from this fabric, as well as adhesive pads stuck to the skin to prevent blisters.Clothing made from...
s" and noted: "As a line plunger, King ranks with the best in the game, while his ability to place kick from anywhere within the 50-yard mark makes a score possible for his team whenever the ball is advanced into enemy territory."