Louis Jordan (American football)
Encyclopedia
Louis John Jordan was an American football
player. He played for the University of Texas from 1911 to 1914 and was the first Texas Longhorns
player to be selected as an All-American. Jordan was killed by German artillery while serving in France during World War I
. He was among the first four individuals, and the first athlete, inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor. He was also selected as the honorary captain for the all-time University of Texas football team in 2009.
, near Fredericksburg, Texas
. He was the son of William J. Jordan and Auguste (Keller) Jordan. He received his early education in the local public schools, and worked on the family's ranch in Live Oak, Texas
. He received his state teaching certificate at age 16 and taught at the Honey Creek school. After teaching school for two sessions, Jordan enrolled at the San Antonio Academy
, also known as the West Texas Military Academy, in 1910. He graduated from the San Antonio Academy in 1911 and won the scholarship medal and a scholarship to the University of Texas.
. However, he won his greatest acclaim as a football player.
When Jordan enrolled at the University of Texas in 1911, he reportedly had to be coaxed and dragged into playing football. He "learned the rudiments of the game" while playing for Texas and played for the Texas Longhorns football
team from 1911–1914. He became known as "the greatest Longhorn player of the early era of Texas football."
As a junior in 1913, Jordan led the Longhorns to a one-loss season, with the only loss coming to a Notre Dame Fighting Irish
team featuring College Football Hall of Fame
rs Knute Rockne
, Gus Dorais
and Ray Eichenlaub
. His performance in the loss to Notre Dame became a Texas legend. According to a Texas newspaper account, Notre Dame sought to drive Jordan from the field by using four guards against him and subjecting him to the pounding of fullback Ray Eichenlaub. Prior to the Notre Dame game, Jordan had played every minute of every game on offense and defense, and he did not want to quit against Notre Dame. However, Texas coach Dave Allerdice
"would not let the big fellow take any more punishment" and finally pulled him from the game.
After the 1913 season, Jordan was voted by his teammates to serve as the captain of the 1914 Texas Longhorns football team. As a senior and team captain in 1914, Jordan led the Longhorns to an undefeated and untied season with a record of 8–0. The 1914 team outscored its opponents 358–21, held opponents scoreless in five games, and allowed only a single touchdown in its three other games. After defeating a strong Haskell Indian
team, 23–7, Hakell's manager praised the work of the Texas line, and the Galveston Daily News reported: "Louis Jordan proved his right to the claim that he is one of the best guards Texas has ever produced, the big blond captain of the orange fighting throughout the game like a demon."
During the 1914 Texas–Oklahoma game, Oklahoma's Hap Johnson ran the opening kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown, but Jordan gathered his teammates around him. Teammate Clyde Littlefield
later recalled that Jordan "told us in no mincing words, with a few cuss words in German and some in English, 'nobody leaves this field until we beat the hell out of them.'" Texas scored 32 unanswered points and won the game, 32–7. In Jordan's four seasons as a player for the Texas football team, the Longhorns had a record of 27–4 and outscored their opponents 875–158.
Jordan was the first University of Texas football player to be named as an All-American. He was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Camp
at the conclusion of the 1914 season. Camp was notorious for overlooking football players who did not play for the Ivy League
schools of the East, and Jordan's selection, even to Camp's second team, was seen as a major concession to Jordan's talent. Damon Runyon
, the New York sports writer, saw Jordan play and said, "Were that man in the East playing with Harvard or Yale he would be heralded from coast to coast as one of the greatest guards of all time."
University of Texas football historian and media relations director Bill Little later wrote of Jordan's contributions in the early years of Longhorns football:
Jordan also won praise for his abilities as a student. Professor T.U. Taylor, head of the engineering department, said of Jordan, "He was one of the most brilliant men who ever graduated from this department."
Jordan was the only athlete included in the initial group of four individuals inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1957. In September 2009, Jordan was selected as the honorary captain of the all-time University of Texas football team as chosen by the Austin American-Statesman.
in the Spring of 1917, Jordan left his job with the Public Service Company and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He entered the First Camp for Reserve Officers
at Leon Springs, Texas
, and received his officer's commission as a first lieutenant in August 1917. Jordan was selected as "one of the first quota of officers to go to France." He arrived in France in October 1917 and was assigned the 42nd Infantry Division in January 1918. Under the command of Douglas MacArthur
, the 42nd Division entered the line in the Lunéville
sector on the Western Front in February 1918.
Jordan kept a diary during his service in France. On March 1, 1918, five days before he was killed, Jordan wrote in his diary: "I do not want you to think for a moment that I am taking this thing entirely light-mindedly. No, not at all, but my attitude is this: Do the best you can and know how and then keep on smiling." On March 2, 1918, he made his last entry: "This fighting we are doing now is the real thing. A man gets to be quite a fatalist in this game. If somehow or other they get me -— all well and good. If not —- still better. But somehow I feel safe."
On the afternoon of March 5, 1918, Jordan was in front of a gun position when the German forces opened fire. Jordan ordered everyone into a dugout, and a German artillery shell landed at the opening of his dugout. The force of the explosion killed Jordan instantly. He was the first Texas officer and only the third United States officer to be killed in action during World War I.
Jordan's death was reported in Texas newspapers as a major story. The Galveston Daily News opened its account of the event as follows:
Jordan was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre
, and resolutions in his honor were passed by the Texas legislature.
, France, but his body was returned to Texas in 1921 for burial in Der Stadt Friedhof
at his hometown of Fredericksburg. Before the reburial, Jordan's remains lay in state at the county courthouse, "the coffin draped with an American flag and under a profusion of flowers." Hundreds of Texans filed past the casket "paying silent respects" to Jordan. As his flag-draped casket was taken to the cemetery, a uniformed honor guard accompanied the casket, as an "immense concourse of citizens followed." Professor T. U. Taylor of the University of Texas spoke at the funeral, and the services were closed with the firing of guns over the grave and the playing of taps by a bugler from Camp Travis.
The flagpole remained in place at the south end of the stadium until it was removed in 1972 for the installation of a new scoreboard. In November 2000, at a dedication ceremony before the Texas-Texas A&M football game, a replica of the flagpole memorial was installed in the southeast corner of the stadium. At the dedication, the honor guard wore World War I uniforms and a lone trumpeter from the marching band played taps in memory of Jordan's service. The memorial continues to be known as the Louis Jordan Flagpole. An exhibit featuring Jordan's 1914 letter sweater, part of his World War I uniform and his shrapnel-pierced diary is on display in a hall beneath the stadium's grandstand.
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. He played for the University of Texas from 1911 to 1914 and was the first Texas Longhorns
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
player to be selected as an All-American. Jordan was killed by German artillery while serving in France during 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...
. He was among the first four individuals, and the first athlete, inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor. He was also selected as the honorary captain for the all-time University of Texas football team in 2009.
Early years
Jordan was born and raised in Gillespie CountyGillespie County, Texas
Gillespie County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 24,837. It is located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Gillespie is named for Robert Addison Gillespie, who came to Texas in 1837. He was a Texas Ranger, an Indian fighter, a...
, near Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
. He was the son of William J. Jordan and Auguste (Keller) Jordan. He received his early education in the local public schools, and worked on the family's ranch in Live Oak, Texas
Live Oak, Texas
Live Oak is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,156 at the 2000 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Live Oak is located at ....
. He received his state teaching certificate at age 16 and taught at the Honey Creek school. After teaching school for two sessions, Jordan enrolled at the San Antonio Academy
San Antonio Academy
The San Antonio Academy is a private military school for boys located in San Antonio, Texas, offering instruction from prekindergarten through the eighth grade for day students.-Early history:...
, also known as the West Texas Military Academy, in 1910. He graduated from the San Antonio Academy in 1911 and won the scholarship medal and a scholarship to the University of Texas.
University of Texas
Jordan enrolled at the University of Texas in the fall of 1911 as an engineering student. While he was a student at Texas, Jordan was a star athlete in both football and track and field. As a member of the track and field team, Jordan broke the state record for the hammer throwHammer throw
The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...
. However, he won his greatest acclaim as a football player.
When Jordan enrolled at the University of Texas in 1911, he reportedly had to be coaxed and dragged into playing football. He "learned the rudiments of the game" while playing for Texas and played for the Texas Longhorns football
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
team from 1911–1914. He became known as "the greatest Longhorn player of the early era of Texas football."
As a junior in 1913, Jordan led the Longhorns to a one-loss season, with the only loss coming to a Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
team featuring 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...
rs Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
, Gus Dorais
Gus Dorais
Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913, and then professionally with the Fort Wayne Friars and Massillon Tigers...
and Ray Eichenlaub
Ray Eichenlaub
Ray "Iron Eich" Eichenlaub was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972....
. His performance in the loss to Notre Dame became a Texas legend. According to a Texas newspaper account, Notre Dame sought to drive Jordan from the field by using four guards against him and subjecting him to the pounding of fullback Ray Eichenlaub. Prior to the Notre Dame game, Jordan had played every minute of every game on offense and defense, and he did not want to quit against Notre Dame. However, Texas coach Dave Allerdice
Dave Allerdice
David Way Allerdice was an American football player and coach in the United States. He played football for the University of Michigan from 1907 to 1909 and coached football at Butler University and the University of Texas at Austin .-Early life and playing career:Allerdice was born in...
"would not let the big fellow take any more punishment" and finally pulled him from the game.
After the 1913 season, Jordan was voted by his teammates to serve as the captain of the 1914 Texas Longhorns football team. As a senior and team captain in 1914, Jordan led the Longhorns to an undefeated and untied season with a record of 8–0. The 1914 team outscored its opponents 358–21, held opponents scoreless in five games, and allowed only a single touchdown in its three other games. After defeating a strong Haskell Indian
Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Indian Nations University is a tribal university located in Lawrence, Kansas, for members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States...
team, 23–7, Hakell's manager praised the work of the Texas line, and the Galveston Daily News reported: "Louis Jordan proved his right to the claim that he is one of the best guards Texas has ever produced, the big blond captain of the orange fighting throughout the game like a demon."
During the 1914 Texas–Oklahoma game, Oklahoma's Hap Johnson ran the opening kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown, but Jordan gathered his teammates around him. Teammate Clyde Littlefield
Clyde Littlefield
Clyde Littlefield was the head track & field coach at The University of Texas from 1920 to 1961 as well as its football coach from 1927 to 1933. He became one of the greatest track coaches in NCAA history...
later recalled that Jordan "told us in no mincing words, with a few cuss words in German and some in English, 'nobody leaves this field until we beat the hell out of them.'" Texas scored 32 unanswered points and won the game, 32–7. In Jordan's four seasons as a player for the Texas football team, the Longhorns had a record of 27–4 and outscored their opponents 875–158.
Jordan was the first University of Texas football player to be named as an All-American. He was selected as a second-team All-American by 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...
at the conclusion of the 1914 season. Camp was notorious for overlooking football players who did not play for the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
schools of the East, and Jordan's selection, even to Camp's second team, was seen as a major concession to Jordan's talent. Damon Runyon
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
, the New York sports writer, saw Jordan play and said, "Were that man in the East playing with Harvard or Yale he would be heralded from coast to coast as one of the greatest guards of all time."
University of Texas football historian and media relations director Bill Little later wrote of Jordan's contributions in the early years of Longhorns football:
"One of the most popular students at The University of Texas from 1911 through 1915 was a young man of German heritage from Fredericksburg, Texas, named L.J. 'Louis' Jordan. Jordan was like everybody's big brother. He was a round-faced blond who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed 205 pounds -- that was big for the time ... Jordan, in fact, was so gentle by nature he had to be coaxed to play football. But when he did, he became the greatest lineman, both offensively and defensively, of his era."
Jordan also won praise for his abilities as a student. Professor T.U. Taylor, head of the engineering department, said of Jordan, "He was one of the most brilliant men who ever graduated from this department."
Jordan was the only athlete included in the initial group of four individuals inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1957. In September 2009, Jordan was selected as the honorary captain of the all-time University of Texas football team as chosen by the Austin American-Statesman.
Electrical engineer
Jordan graduated with honors in electrical engineering in 1915. Upon his graduation, Jordan returned to the San Antonio Academy where he taught mathematics and science. After one year in teaching, Jordan was hired as the chief engineer for the San Antonio Public Service Company, referred to in some sources as the San Antonio Traction Company.Service and death in World War I
Shortly after the United States entered World War IWorld 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...
in the Spring of 1917, Jordan left his job with the Public Service Company and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He entered the First Camp for Reserve Officers
Camp Bullis
Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation is a U.S. Army training camp located in Bexar County, Texas, just northwest of San Antonio, USA. The camp is named for Brigadier General John Lapham Bullis ,...
at Leon Springs, Texas
Leon Springs, Texas
Leon Springs is an unincorporated community in Bexar County, Texas, now partially within the limits of San Antonio.The region was settled in the mid-nineteenth century by German immigrants, most notably Johannes von Meusebach, George von Plehve, and Max Aue. Aue founded an inn which became the...
, and received his officer's commission as a first lieutenant in August 1917. Jordan was selected as "one of the first quota of officers to go to France." He arrived in France in October 1917 and was assigned the 42nd Infantry Division in January 1918. Under the command of Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
, the 42nd Division entered the line in the Lunéville
Lunéville
Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
sector on the Western Front in February 1918.
Jordan kept a diary during his service in France. On March 1, 1918, five days before he was killed, Jordan wrote in his diary: "I do not want you to think for a moment that I am taking this thing entirely light-mindedly. No, not at all, but my attitude is this: Do the best you can and know how and then keep on smiling." On March 2, 1918, he made his last entry: "This fighting we are doing now is the real thing. A man gets to be quite a fatalist in this game. If somehow or other they get me -— all well and good. If not —- still better. But somehow I feel safe."
On the afternoon of March 5, 1918, Jordan was in front of a gun position when the German forces opened fire. Jordan ordered everyone into a dugout, and a German artillery shell landed at the opening of his dugout. The force of the explosion killed Jordan instantly. He was the first Texas officer and only the third United States officer to be killed in action during World War I.
Jordan's death was reported in Texas newspapers as a major story. The Galveston Daily News opened its account of the event as follows:
"Lieutenant Louis Jordan of Fredericksburg, whose death occurred in action on the American fighting line in France, March 5, was one of the most famous athletes ever produced at the University of Texas. He was the first Texas officer to give his life in the struggle to make the world safe for democracy. Louie, as he was known to his friends,
was a giant both mentally and physically. He measured six feet four inches in height and weighed 225
pounds just before his last football game ... He counted his friends by the hundreds and his admirers were all who met him. Despite his great size, Louie was as gentle and mild mannered as a girl."
Jordan was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
, and resolutions in his honor were passed by the Texas legislature.
Funeral
Jordan was initially buried at a military cemetery in BénaménilBénaménil
Bénaménil is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department...
, France, but his body was returned to Texas in 1921 for burial in Der Stadt Friedhof
Der Stadt Friedhof
Der Stadt Friedhof is a pioneer cemetery established in 1846 along Barons Creek on the corner of East Schubert Street and Lee Street, in Fredericksburg, Texas. It is the oldest known cemetery within Fredericksburg and is the final resting place for many of the original German colonists who arrived...
at his hometown of Fredericksburg. Before the reburial, Jordan's remains lay in state at the county courthouse, "the coffin draped with an American flag and under a profusion of flowers." Hundreds of Texans filed past the casket "paying silent respects" to Jordan. As his flag-draped casket was taken to the cemetery, a uniformed honor guard accompanied the casket, as an "immense concourse of citizens followed." Professor T. U. Taylor of the University of Texas spoke at the funeral, and the services were closed with the firing of guns over the grave and the playing of taps by a bugler from Camp Travis.
The Louis Jordan Flagpole
In 1919, the American Legion post in Fredericksburg was renamed the Louis Jordan Post in his honor. In 1924, the residents of Fredericksburg raised a fund to erect a monument to Jordan in the new Texas Memorial Stadium. The monument consisted of a 100-foot high flagpole with a bronze tablet inscribed, "In memory of First Lieut. Louis J. Jordan, University of Texas, 1911–15, who died in the service of his country in the great World war, 1914–1918. Erected by the citizens of Fredericksburg. Dedicated November 27, 1924, A.D." The Jordan memorial was unveiled on Thanksgiving Day 1924 before the Texas-Texas A&M game and was the first monument to be placed in Memorial Stadium.The flagpole remained in place at the south end of the stadium until it was removed in 1972 for the installation of a new scoreboard. In November 2000, at a dedication ceremony before the Texas-Texas A&M football game, a replica of the flagpole memorial was installed in the southeast corner of the stadium. At the dedication, the honor guard wore World War I uniforms and a lone trumpeter from the marching band played taps in memory of Jordan's service. The memorial continues to be known as the Louis Jordan Flagpole. An exhibit featuring Jordan's 1914 letter sweater, part of his World War I uniform and his shrapnel-pierced diary is on display in a hall beneath the stadium's grandstand.