Ernest Allmendinger
Encyclopedia
Ernest "Aqua" Allmendinger (August 25, 1890 – May 7, 1973) was an All-American
college football
player.
, Allmendinger played right guard
and right tackle at Ann Arbor High School, for teams that lost one game in three seasons. He acquired the nickname "Aqua" after working as a waterboy for railroad building crews.
from 1911–1913. In November 1913, Allmendinger helped Michigan to a 17–0 win over Cornell
leading The Washington Post
to report: "Allmendinger played a brilliant game on the defense. Three hundred Michigan rooters, headed by their brass band, paraded and snake-danced after the game." At the end of the 1913 season, Allmendinger was picked as an All-Western guard on nearly all of the honorary All-Western teams. A newspaper account in the summer of 1917 described Allmendinger's progression as follows:
entered World War I
, Allmendinger enrolled in the U.S. Army, I Company, 31st Michigan Infantry, becoming "another University of Michigan athlete to answer his country's call." Allmendinger was one of several prominent football players commissioned at Fort Sheridan in the fall of 1917; others included former Michigan All-Americans Albert Benbrook
and James B. Craig
. On Thanksgiving Day 1917, with the country's top players in the military, an All-Star game between the country's top Army and Navy players was held at Stagg Field
in Chicago
. Almmendinger was the starting right tackle on the Army team. Because of the war, Walter Camp
did not select an All-America
team in 1917. Instead, Camp named an All-America service team in 1917, recognizing the country's top football players serving in the military. Allmendinger was named to Camp's 1917 All-Service team. Allmendinger rose to the rank of captain before being discharged in 1919. He also worked as an assistant football coach at Michigan during the 1919 season.
degree from the University of Michigan
and worked in the western forests after graduating. He later worked for 34 years as an engineer for the Washtenaw County
Road Commission from 1921–1954, and after that for the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority.
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
college 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...
player.
Early years
A native of Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, Allmendinger played right guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
and right tackle at Ann Arbor High School, for teams that lost one game in three seasons. He acquired the nickname "Aqua" after working as a waterboy for railroad building crews.
University of Michigan
Allmendinger played the guard position at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
from 1911–1913. In November 1913, Allmendinger helped Michigan to a 17–0 win over Cornell
Cornell Big Red football
The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Championship Subdivision college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the oldest and most storied football programs in the nation...
leading The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
to report: "Allmendinger played a brilliant game on the defense. Three hundred Michigan rooters, headed by their brass band, paraded and snake-danced after the game." At the end of the 1913 season, Allmendinger was picked as an All-Western guard on nearly all of the honorary All-Western teams. A newspaper account in the summer of 1917 described Allmendinger's progression as follows:
"Allmendinger, a young giant in perfect physical condition tried unsuccessfully for two years to make the varsity elevenVarsity teamIn the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
. His quiet temperament was the handicap and during these years Coach Yost declared that if Allmendinger 'could get good and mad once, he would be one of the greatest linemen in the game.' The third season Yost became desperate. He used third degreeThird degree-Third degree:* Third degree , colloquially an intensive rough interrogation* The degree of Master Mason in Freemasonry, often written as 3°* In USA law, the least serious of the three classifications of felonies such as murder or burglary...
methods, and finally the giant awoke, Allmendinger became a demon on the gridiron, nearly every western critic put him on their all-star elevens and some experts thought he should have made the All-American."
Service in World War I and Walter Camp's All-Service Team
In July 1917, as the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Allmendinger enrolled in the U.S. Army, I Company, 31st Michigan Infantry, becoming "another University of Michigan athlete to answer his country's call." Allmendinger was one of several prominent football players commissioned at Fort Sheridan in the fall of 1917; others included former Michigan All-Americans Albert Benbrook
Albert Benbrook
Albert "Benny" Benbrook was an American football guard who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1908-1910. He was chosen by Walter Camp as an All-American in 1909 and 1910 and was the team’s captain in 1910...
and James B. Craig
James B. Craig
James B. "Jimmy" Craig was an All American football halfback and quarterback who played with the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1911 to 1913. He was named an All-American in 1913...
. On Thanksgiving Day 1917, with the country's top players in the military, an All-Star game between the country's top Army and Navy players was held at Stagg Field
Stagg Field
Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is the name of two different football fields for the University of Chicago. The earliest Stagg Field is probably best remembered for its role in a landmark scientific achievement by Enrico Fermi during the Manhattan Project. The site of the first nuclear reaction received...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Almmendinger was the starting right tackle on the Army team. Because of the war, 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...
did not select an All-America
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
team in 1917. Instead, Camp named an All-America service team in 1917, recognizing the country's top football players serving in the military. Allmendinger was named to Camp's 1917 All-Service team. Allmendinger rose to the rank of captain before being discharged in 1919. He also worked as an assistant football coach at Michigan during the 1919 season.
Career outside football
Allmendinger received a forestryForestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
degree from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and worked in the western forests after graduating. He later worked for 34 years as an engineer for the Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County, Michigan
Washtenaw County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 344,791. Its county seat is Ann Arbor. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines the county as part of the Detroit–Warren–Flint Combined Statistical Area...
Road Commission from 1921–1954, and after that for the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority.