Oscar Lambert
Encyclopedia
Oscar Parmenas "Paddy" Lambert (October 25, 1890 – May 27, 1970) was an American football
and baseball
player. He played college football
for West Virginia Wesleyan College
from 1912 to 1913 and was captain of the school's 1913 football team. He also played at first base for the West Virginia Wesleyan baseball team. While attending law school at the University of Michigan
, he played for the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
and was selected as a second-team All-American and a first-team All-Western player. Lambert later practiced as a lawyer in Ohio
.
in 1890. He was the son of Isaac H. Lambert (born May 1847) and Mary A. Lambert (born March 1853). At the time of the 1900 Census, Lambert was living with his parents and two older brothers on a farm in Clay, West Virginia
. In 1910, he was living in Clay, West Virginia, with his mother and one older brother (a brakeman for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad).
in Buckhannon, West Virginia
. Between 1912 and 1914, he played first base for the school's baseball team and center
for the football team. College
and Pro Football Hall of Fame
inductee Greasy Neale was Lambert's teammate on the West Virginia Wesleyan football and baseball teams.
In 1912, the West Virginia Wesleyan football team, with Lambert and Neale in the lineup, compiled a perfect 8–0 record and outscored opponents 380 to 14. Seven of the eight games were shutouts, including a 59–0 victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd
, a 103–0 victory over Davis & Elkins College, and a 95–0 victory over Fairmont State
. The only team to score on the 1912 Wesleyan team was West Virginia
, a game Wesleyan won by a score of 19–14.
At the end of the 1912 season, Lambert was elected as the captain of the 1913 team. In 1913, the Wesleyan team defeated West Virginia (21–0), Marshall (13-0) and Georgetown
(16–6), but lost games against college football powerhouses, including a Carlisle Indians
team coached by Pop Warner
and a Washington & Jefferson Presidents
that was ranked as one of the new "Big 4 of College Football."
There are some sources indicating that Lambert may have also played football for Marshall College and West Virginia. A September 1915 article in The Sun of Baltimore noted that "Paddie Lambert, the old Marshall College star, has made himself solid at centre" for the West Virginia Mountaineers
. Additionally, West Virginia's list of football letterman indicates that Oscar Lambert from Charleston, West Virginia
played at center for the Mountaineers in 1915. Further, the roster for the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
refers to Lambert as having previously attended Marshall College.
Lambert may have also played baseball in the Cleveland Amateur Association League for a portion of the summer of 1916, before returning to West Virginia in mid-June.
. He was president of the law school class of 1919. Lambert was often referred to by the nickname "Paddy" while attending Michigan.
With Lambert's enrollment at Michigan, the press anticipated that he would play for Fielding H. Yost's Michigan Wolverines football
team. The Boston Evening Transcript wrote about the prospects for Michigan's 1915 football team: "It will be necessary to develop a new centre, and for this post there is Lambert, a new-comer to Ann Arbor from Wesleyan University of West Virginia, where he made an enviable reputation." Although he played for Michigan's All-Freshman team in 1915, Lambert did not play varsity football at Michigan until 1917.
At the start of the 1917 football season, Michigan's football coach, Fielding H. Yost, had only four veterans returning from the 1916 team
. He found Lambert among the university's law students. The Michigan Alumnus noted: "He dug up Lambert and made him report." Another press report noted that Lambert, who had played on the All-Freshman team in 1915, was a surprise addition to the team in mid-October: "Lambert played at West Virginia several years ago and was a member of the All-Fresh in 1915. He did not play on the varsity this fall and has been in a uniform only a little over a week. He is light, but an accurate passer and a fighter." Lambert was reportedly the lightest man on the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
at 160 pounds.
Yost did not play Lambert until the season's fourth game against the University of Detroit on October 17, 1917. Lambert had a strong showing in his first game for Michigan. The University of Michigan yearbook reported on his performance against Detroit: "The West Virginian managed to make about 50 percent of the tackles and would have made more but for the fact that the rest of the players got jealous and started to work." The same publication noted that Michigan's game with Cornell
(a 42–0 win) found "Weston
[Michigan's quarterback) and Lambert feeling like the historical million dollars." The Detroit Free Press credited Lambert with "opening inviting holes" for Michigan's backs in the Cornell game.
Prior to the final game of the 1917 season against Northwestern
, Lambert, Archie Weston
and two other Michigan players were declared ineligible. In Lambert's case, the ruling was due to a Western Conference
rule limiting players to three years of varsity sport, which Lambert had used while at West Virginia Wesleyan. The Michiganensian noted: "Several little matters, like Conference rules and studies, kept several Michiganders out of the Northwestern fray ... It was decided that Lambert had played enough football, although he was ranking high in his studies." The Michigan Alumnus noted: "Since Weston had gained about 75 percent of the ground gained by Michigan this fall, and Lambert had secured nearly 90 percent of the tackles made by the defense, the loss of these men was a serious blow." On losing to Northwestern without Lambert in the lineup, Coach Yost complained that "the defense was in the law library."
At the end of the 1917 football season, Lambert was selected as a second-team All-American by Walter Eckersall
of the Chicago Tribune
. Eckersall also placed Lambert on his All-Western team.
While attending Michigan, Lambert was also a member of the Griffins, the Archons, the Barristers, Sigma Chi
, Phi Delta Phi
, and Michigamua
. He was also chosen to serve as a student member of the university's Board in Control of Athletics for the year 1918–19.
and working as an attorney for a steel corporation. In his later years, Lambert lived and practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio
. In his draft registration card completed following the U.S. entry into World War II
, Lambert indicated that he was living in Cleveland and self-employed. Lambert never married and died in 1970 at St. Luke's Hospital
in Cleveland; he was a resident of Lakewood, Ohio
at the time of his death.
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...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. He played 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...
for West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College is a regionally accredited private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of...
from 1912 to 1913 and was captain of the school's 1913 football team. He also played at first base for the West Virginia Wesleyan baseball team. While attending law school at 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...
, he played for the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1917 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost...
and was selected as a second-team All-American and a first-team All-Western player. Lambert later practiced as a lawyer in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
.
Early years
Lambert was born in Pennsboro, West VirginiaPennsboro, West Virginia
Pennsboro is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,199. The city is located at the junction of U.S...
in 1890. He was the son of Isaac H. Lambert (born May 1847) and Mary A. Lambert (born March 1853). At the time of the 1900 Census, Lambert was living with his parents and two older brothers on a farm in Clay, West Virginia
Clay, West Virginia
Clay is a town in and the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 593 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated town in Clay County.-History:...
. In 1910, he was living in Clay, West Virginia, with his mother and one older brother (a brakeman for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad).
West Virginia Wesleyan
Lambert attended West Virginia Wesleyan CollegeWest Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College is a regionally accredited private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of...
in Buckhannon, West Virginia
Buckhannon, West Virginia
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,725 at the 2000 census. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival,...
. Between 1912 and 1914, he played first base for the school's baseball team and center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
for the football team. College
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...
and Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
inductee Greasy Neale was Lambert's teammate on the West Virginia Wesleyan football and baseball teams.
In 1912, the West Virginia Wesleyan football team, with Lambert and Neale in the lineup, compiled a perfect 8–0 record and outscored opponents 380 to 14. Seven of the eight games were shutouts, including a 59–0 victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd
Marshall Thundering Herd football
The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Conference USA Eastern division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the Division 1 Bowl Subdivision...
, a 103–0 victory over Davis & Elkins College, and a 95–0 victory over Fairmont State
Fairmont State University
Fairmont State University is a public university located in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA. Enrollment of the university is about 7,700 and offers masters degrees in business, education, teaching, criminal justice and nursing in addition to 90 baccalaureate and 50 associate degrees...
. The only team to score on the 1912 Wesleyan team was West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
, a game Wesleyan won by a score of 19–14.
At the end of the 1912 season, Lambert was elected as the captain of the 1913 team. In 1913, the Wesleyan team defeated West Virginia (21–0), Marshall (13-0) and Georgetown
Georgetown Hoyas football
The Georgetown Hoyas football team represents Georgetown University in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level of college football. Like other sports teams from Georgetown, the team is named the Hoyas, which derives from the chant, Hoya Saxa...
(16–6), but lost games against college football powerhouses, including a Carlisle Indians
Carlisle Indians football
The Carlisle Indians football team represented the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in intercollegiate football competition. The program was active from 1893 until 1917, when it was discontinued. During the program's 25 years, the Indians compiled a 167–88–13 record and 0.647 winning percentage,...
team coached by Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
and a Washington & Jefferson Presidents
Washington & Jefferson Presidents football
The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team represents Washington & Jefferson College in collegiate level football. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is affiliated with the Presidents' Athletic Conference...
that was ranked as one of the new "Big 4 of College Football."
There are some sources indicating that Lambert may have also played football for Marshall College and West Virginia. A September 1915 article in The Sun of Baltimore noted that "Paddie Lambert, the old Marshall College star, has made himself solid at centre" for the West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
. Additionally, West Virginia's list of football letterman indicates that Oscar Lambert from Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
played at center for the Mountaineers in 1915. Further, the roster for the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1917 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost...
refers to Lambert as having previously attended Marshall College.
Lambert may have also played baseball in the Cleveland Amateur Association League for a portion of the summer of 1916, before returning to West Virginia in mid-June.
University of Michigan
After attending college in West Virginia, Lambert attended the University of Michigan Law SchoolUniversity of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
. He was president of the law school class of 1919. Lambert was often referred to by the nickname "Paddy" while attending Michigan.
With Lambert's enrollment at Michigan, the press anticipated that he would play for Fielding H. Yost's Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
team. The Boston Evening Transcript wrote about the prospects for Michigan's 1915 football team: "It will be necessary to develop a new centre, and for this post there is Lambert, a new-comer to Ann Arbor from Wesleyan University of West Virginia, where he made an enviable reputation." Although he played for Michigan's All-Freshman team in 1915, Lambert did not play varsity football at Michigan until 1917.
At the start of the 1917 football season, Michigan's football coach, Fielding H. Yost, had only four veterans returning from the 1916 team
1916 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1916 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1916 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Ferry Field.-Schedule:...
. He found Lambert among the university's law students. The Michigan Alumnus noted: "He dug up Lambert and made him report." Another press report noted that Lambert, who had played on the All-Freshman team in 1915, was a surprise addition to the team in mid-October: "Lambert played at West Virginia several years ago and was a member of the All-Fresh in 1915. He did not play on the varsity this fall and has been in a uniform only a little over a week. He is light, but an accurate passer and a fighter." Lambert was reportedly the lightest man on the 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
1917 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1917 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1917 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost...
at 160 pounds.
Yost did not play Lambert until the season's fourth game against the University of Detroit on October 17, 1917. Lambert had a strong showing in his first game for Michigan. The University of Michigan yearbook reported on his performance against Detroit: "The West Virginian managed to make about 50 percent of the tackles and would have made more but for the fact that the rest of the players got jealous and started to work." The same publication noted that Michigan's game with 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...
(a 42–0 win) found "Weston
Archie Weston
Archie Bruce "Beak" Weston was an American football player who was a quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1917 and a halfback in 1919. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1917 by Chicago Tribune sports editor Walter Eckersall.-Youth in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula:Weston was...
[Michigan's quarterback) and Lambert feeling like the historical million dollars." The Detroit Free Press credited Lambert with "opening inviting holes" for Michigan's backs in the Cornell game.
Prior to the final game of the 1917 season against Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats football
The Northwestern Wildcats football team, representing Northwestern University, is a NCAA Division I team and member of the Big Ten Conference, with evidence of organization in 1876...
, Lambert, Archie Weston
Archie Weston
Archie Bruce "Beak" Weston was an American football player who was a quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1917 and a halfback in 1919. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1917 by Chicago Tribune sports editor Walter Eckersall.-Youth in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula:Weston was...
and two other Michigan players were declared ineligible. In Lambert's case, the ruling was due to a Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
rule limiting players to three years of varsity sport, which Lambert had used while at West Virginia Wesleyan. The Michiganensian noted: "Several little matters, like Conference rules and studies, kept several Michiganders out of the Northwestern fray ... It was decided that Lambert had played enough football, although he was ranking high in his studies." The Michigan Alumnus noted: "Since Weston had gained about 75 percent of the ground gained by Michigan this fall, and Lambert had secured nearly 90 percent of the tackles made by the defense, the loss of these men was a serious blow." On losing to Northwestern without Lambert in the lineup, Coach Yost complained that "the defense was in the law library."
At the end of the 1917 football season, Lambert was selected as a second-team All-American by 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:...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. Eckersall also placed Lambert on his All-Western team.
While attending Michigan, Lambert was also a member of the Griffins, the Archons, the Barristers, Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
, Phi Delta Phi
Phi Delta Phi
Phi Delta Phi, ΦΔΦ, is the world's second largest legal fraternity. Phi Delta Phi is the second oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States and third oldest in North America...
, and Michigamua
Michigamua
The Order of Angell is a senior honor society at the University of Michigan. Known for a brief period as the Hot Air Club and subsequently known throughout the remainder of the twentieth century as Michigamua, the organization officially renamed itself the Order of Angell in 2007 in an effort to...
. He was also chosen to serve as a student member of the university's Board in Control of Athletics for the year 1918–19.
Later years
After graduating from Michigan, Lambert practiced law in Ohio. At the time of the 1930 Census, he was living in Youngstown, OhioYoungstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
and working as an attorney for a steel corporation. In his later years, Lambert lived and practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. In his draft registration card completed following the U.S. entry into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lambert indicated that he was living in Cleveland and self-employed. Lambert never married and died in 1970 at St. Luke's Hospital
St. Luke's Hospital (Cleveland, Ohio)
St. Luke's Hospital is a historic former hospital at 11311 Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, Ohio.The hospital building was constructed in 1927 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.-References:...
in Cleveland; he was a resident of Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and borders the city of Cleveland. The population was 52,131 at the 2010 making it the third largest city in Cuyahoga County, behind Cleveland and Parma .Lakewood, one of Cleveland's...
at the time of his death.