Jack Weller
Encyclopedia
John "Jac" Weller was an American football player, firearms expert and military historian. He was a consensus All-American in 1935 at the guard
position. He played for Fritz Crisler
's Princeton
teams that went 25-1 during Weller's three years on the team. Weller later became known as a firearms expert and published several works on munititions and military history.
and raised in Jacksonville, Florida
. He attended preparatory school at The Hun School before enrolling at Princeton University
. At Princeton, Weller was a star lineman for Fritz Crisler
's championship teams of the mid-1930s. Crisler began the practice of having players where numbers on their jerseys while Weller was a student, and Crisler assigned the number 99 to his best player—Jack Weller. During Weller's three seasons at Princeton, the football team compiled a record of 25 wins against a single loss. The only loss was a 7-0 loss to rival Yale in 1934. In 1935, Princeton had a perfect record of 9-0, and Weller was recognized as a consensus All-American at the guard position. Weller later recalled, "We had one of the finest bunch of football players ever to come to Princeton...in four years, no major opponent ever scored more than one touchdown on us."
, where he operated a real estate and insurance business. Weller maintained a lifelong interest in firearms and was an honorary curator of the West Point Museum in the 1960s. In 1962, he conducted new ballistics tests that established that Italian anarchist Nicola Sacco was guilty, and Bartolomeo Venzetti
not guilty of the 1920 murders for which both were convicted. He was also the author of several books on military weapons and tactics. His published works include "Guns of Destiny: Field Artillery in the Trenton-Princeton Campaign," "Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Redleg in Disguise," "Revolutionary West Point," "On Wellington: The Duke and His Art of War," "Wellington at Waterloo," "Recollections of John Gale Hun," and "Good and Bad Weapons for Vietnam."
Weller was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1954. Weller was also one of the initial inductees into The Hun School's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Weller died in 1994 in Princeton at age 81. He left his military books, photograph albums, notes, and offprints to the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
at Brown University Library.
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....
position. He played for Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
's Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
teams that went 25-1 during Weller's three years on the team. Weller later became known as a firearms expert and published several works on munititions and military history.
Football player at Princeton
Weller was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and raised in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. He attended preparatory school at The Hun School before enrolling at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. At Princeton, Weller was a star lineman for Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
's championship teams of the mid-1930s. Crisler began the practice of having players where numbers on their jerseys while Weller was a student, and Crisler assigned the number 99 to his best player—Jack Weller. During Weller's three seasons at Princeton, the football team compiled a record of 25 wins against a single loss. The only loss was a 7-0 loss to rival Yale in 1934. In 1935, Princeton had a perfect record of 9-0, and Weller was recognized as a consensus All-American at the guard position. Weller later recalled, "We had one of the finest bunch of football players ever to come to Princeton...in four years, no major opponent ever scored more than one touchdown on us."
Later years
After graduating, Weller settled in Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, where he operated a real estate and insurance business. Weller maintained a lifelong interest in firearms and was an honorary curator of the West Point Museum in the 1960s. In 1962, he conducted new ballistics tests that established that Italian anarchist Nicola Sacco was guilty, and Bartolomeo Venzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
not guilty of the 1920 murders for which both were convicted. He was also the author of several books on military weapons and tactics. His published works include "Guns of Destiny: Field Artillery in the Trenton-Princeton Campaign," "Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Redleg in Disguise," "Revolutionary West Point," "On Wellington: The Duke and His Art of War," "Wellington at Waterloo," "Recollections of John Gale Hun," and "Good and Bad Weapons for Vietnam."
Weller was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1954. Weller was also one of the initial inductees into The Hun School's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Weller died in 1994 in Princeton at age 81. He left his military books, photograph albums, notes, and offprints to the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is one of the largest research collections devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, from circa 1500 to 1945. Formerly a private collection, it was donated to the in 1981.Mrs...
at Brown University Library.
External links
- Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library Photographs, notes, offprints, and military books from the Weller Collection