Paul G. Goebel
Encyclopedia
Paul Gordon Goebel was an American football
end who played for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
, and New York Yankees
. He was named to the NFL
All-Pro
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten Conference
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
in World War II
. He was active in Republican Party
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to the University of Michigan
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke at the University of Michigan
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
.
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
.
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
, and the coaches of the Big Ten Conference
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
of the Chicago Bears
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
on an aircraft carrier
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Goebel was a friend of Gerald R. Ford's mother and stepfather in Grand Rapids
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to the University of Michigan
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
.
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
Paul Gordon Goebel (born May 28, 1901 – January 26, 1988) was an American football
end who played for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
, and New York Yankees
. He was named to the NFL
All-Pro
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten Conference
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
in World War II
. He was active in Republican Party
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to the University of Michigan
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke at the University of Michigan
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
.
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
.
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
, and the coaches of the Big Ten Conference
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
of the Chicago Bears
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
on an aircraft carrier
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Goebel was a friend of Gerald R. Ford's mother and stepfather in Grand Rapids
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to the University of Michigan
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
.
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
Paul Gordon Goebel (born May 28, 1901 – January 26, 1988) was an American football
end who played for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
, and New York Yankees
. He was named to the NFL
All-Pro
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten Conference
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
in World War II
. He was active in Republican Party
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to the University of Michigan
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke at the University of Michigan
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
.
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
.
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
, and the coaches of the Big Ten Conference
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
of the Chicago Bears
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
on an aircraft carrier
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Goebel was a friend of Gerald R. Ford's mother and stepfather in Grand Rapids
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to the University of Michigan
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
.
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
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...
end who played for 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...
Wolverines
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...
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
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...
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
. He was named to the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten 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...
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
in 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...
. He was active in Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to 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...
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke 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...
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
Football player at the University of Michigan
Goebel enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1919. He studied engineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
Goebel's steel knee brace
Prior to the 1922 season, Goebel "threw out his knee" and was fitted with a steel hinge – an early version of a knee brace. However, the steel contraption required oiling and overheated when the oil dried, thus limiting Goebel's ability to play a complete game in 1922. One 1922 newspaper article described Goebel's knee brace this way: "To enable Goebel to play, the Michigan trainers devised a steel brace – a hinge. This apparatus attached above and below the knee gave Goebel fairly good leg action because of the hinge. Before each game, Goebel liberally oiled the hinge to get free action because of the hinge." Goebel's playing time was limited because "the constant action would dry the oil and then the steel would become so hot that Goebel could not continue playing." During the 1922 game against IllinoisIllinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
Dedication Day at Ohio Stadium
Despite the limitations of the knee brace, Goebel led the Wolverines to victory in the first game played at Ohio StadiumOhio Stadium
Ohio Stadium is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is located on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974...
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
"No end in recent years has played a greater game (than) that which Goebel put up against Ohio State. For three periods Goebel was the mainspring of the Michigan eleven. He seemed to be in every play. It was always Goebel who was gumming things up for State. No man could go through an entire game at the speed with which Goebel played in the first three quarters. It was beyond the power of any human being. With a few minutes to play in the third period the big fellow practically collapsed. Even when three or four of his teammates were carrying him off the field the old spirit was still there. He tried to induce his teammates that he was able to play, and tried to break away from their grasp, but the punch was gone and he was forced to give way as the big crowd cheered him to the echo. If any one man made possible the defeat of State by Michigan, it was Captain Paul Goebel."
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
The tradition of the #1 jersey at Michigan
Goebel was particularly adept as a pass receiver. A 1923 wire service report in the Capital Times noted that Goebel was "considered one of the best ends in the country and his work on receiving forward passes hasn't been excelled on the gridiron." In what would become a tradition at Michigan 60 years later, Goebel was the first All-American receiver at Michigan to wear the #1 jersey. Others to follow that tradition are Anthony Carter, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and Braylon EdwardsBraylon Edwards
-Cleveland Browns:-2005:Edwards began his rookie season as Cleveland's third wide receiver – he would have started higher, but a hold-out caused him to miss the beginning of training camp. Early in the season Edwards revealed that he had a staph infection, and missed a few weeks as a result of it....
.
The death of Bernard Kirk
Across the field from right end Goebel, Bernard KirkBernard Kirk
Bernard "Bernie" C. Kirk was an American football player who played for Notre Dame in 1919 and for Michigan from 1921-1922. He was selected as an All-American at the end position in both 1921 and 1922...
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
Frank Steketee
Frank W. Steketee was an All American football halfback and fullback who played with the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1918, 1920, and 1921...
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
Alex Groesbeck
Alexander Joseph Groesbeck was an American politician who served as Attorney General and the 30th Governor of the State of Michigan.-Early life:...
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920....
, and the coaches of the Big Ten 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...
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
Professional football
In February 1923, Goebel refused an offer to become the head football coach at Wichita State UniversityWichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
Oscar Knop
Robert Oscar Knop was a professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Chicago Tigers, the Hammond Pros, and the Chicago Bears....
of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
Ed Healey
Edward Francis Healey, Jr. was a professional football player for the Rock Island Independents, and best known with the Chicago Bears.-College years:...
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
Football official and sporting good businessman
After retiring from professional football, Goebel worked in his sporting good business in Grand Rapids, and also worked during football season as a game official for the Big Ten ConferenceBig 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...
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Relationship with Gerald R. Ford
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to 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...
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
Mayor of Grand Rapids
Goebel himself ran for office in 1950. He ran for mayor of Grand Rapids as part of the same anti-McKay reform movement that brought Gerald Ford to office. According to one newspaper account, Goebel "spearheaded a reform movement which brought him into office in 1950," ousting incumbent George W. Welsh, who had been elected mayor five times and also served as the state's lieutenant governor. At the time, Goebel was the partner in a sporting goods store and was described in the press as tall and rangy, a candidate "who looks like a blond Abraham Lincoln without a beard." Goebel was re-elected in 1952 for a second two-year term. In October 1953, Goebel announced he would not run for a third term, saying he had no further political ambitions and would devote his time to his family and business. Within a short time, however, he changed his mind and ran for a third term with the support of the reformist Citizens Action Group. In February 1954, Goebel received the most votes of any candidate in his third race for mayor (19,564 for Goebel to 10,831 for George Veldman), but he failed to secure a majority, and a runoff was held. Veldman defeated Goebel in the runoff by a margin of 203 votes. Goebel requested a recount, but he was unsuccessful. In 1956, he won re-election as mayor of Grand Rapids and served a final term from 1956-1958. In 1957, Goebel was included in published lists of potential candidates to run as the Republican candidate for governor. In January 1958, Goebel announced that he would not seek re-election as mayor. He said he had no plans to seek another political office.University of Michigan Board of Regents
In 1962, Goebel returned to politics, winning a seat on the Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of Michigan
The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
Other civic and political roles
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Goebel also occupied himself with other civic and political projects, including serving as a member of the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
George W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America. It honors engineering students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity...
.
Family
Goebel's wife, Margaret Goebel, was a graduate nurse, a columnist for a Grand Rapids newspaper, and Chairman of Governor George RomneyGeorge W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
Honors and accolades
Goebel's honors over the years include the following:- Selected as an All-American in 1921.
- Voted captain of the 1922 Michigan Wolverines football team.
- Named to the NFL "All-Pro" team in 1923 and 1924.
- In 1968, several donors made gifts to the University of Michigan College of Engineering to establish an endowed chair for the Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering. The gifts came from donors who sought to honor Goebel for his contributions to the University. In April 1993, Yoram Koren was named as the Goebel Professor of Engineering.
- In 1971, Goebel was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The award, which is presented annually, recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves "by reason of services performed on behalf of the University of Michigan, or in connection with its organized alumni activities." The Distinguished Alumni Service Award is the highest honor the Alumni Association can bestow upon an alumna/us on behalf of the University.
- Inducted into Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.
- In 1984, Goebel was the fourth recipient of the Ufer Award. Since 1981, the Ufer Award has been presented each year to a Letterwinners “M” Club member in recognition for his or her outstanding service to the University of Michigan Athletic Program.
- Inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1981. Only seven football players (Bennie OosterbaanBennie OosterbaanBenjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
, Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, Tom HarmonTom HarmonThomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
, Willie HestonWillie HestonWilliam Martin "Willie" Heston was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North...
, Germany SchulzGermany SchulzAdolph George "Germany" Schulz was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited with having invented the spiral snap and with developing the practice of standing behind the...
, Ron KramerRon KramerRonald J. Kramer was a multi-sport college athlete and professional American football player. Before embarking on a career in the National Football League, he lettered in football, basketball, and track at the University of Michigan in the 1950s...
, and Benny FriedmanBenny FriedmanBenjamin "Benny" Friedman was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan , Cleveland Bulldogs , Detroit Wolverines , New York Giants , and Brooklyn Dodgers .He is generally considered the first great passer in professional football...
) were inducted into the Hall of Honor before Goebel. - The U-M Club of Grand Rapids each year awards the Paul G. Goebel, Sr., Distinguished Alumni in Athletic Awards. Past recipients include Julius FranksJulius FranksDr. Julius Franks, Jr. was a civil rights leader and an All-American guard who played football at the University of Michigan from 1941 to 1942. Franks wore #62 as a varsity letterman in 1941 and #63 in 1942...
.
See also
- 1922 College Football All-America Team1922 College Football All-America TeamThe 1922 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1922.-All-American selectors:...
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
- List of mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan
- List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans
- Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of MichiganThe Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
External links
Paul Gordon Goebel (born May 28, 1901 – January 26, 1988) was an American 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...
end who played for 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...
Wolverines
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...
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
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...
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
. He was named to the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten 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...
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
in 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...
. He was active in Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to 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...
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke 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...
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
Football player at the University of Michigan
Goebel enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1919. He studied engineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
Goebel's steel knee brace
Prior to the 1922 season, Goebel "threw out his knee" and was fitted with a steel hinge – an early version of a knee brace. However, the steel contraption required oiling and overheated when the oil dried, thus limiting Goebel's ability to play a complete game in 1922. One 1922 newspaper article described Goebel's knee brace this way: "To enable Goebel to play, the Michigan trainers devised a steel brace – a hinge. This apparatus attached above and below the knee gave Goebel fairly good leg action because of the hinge. Before each game, Goebel liberally oiled the hinge to get free action because of the hinge." Goebel's playing time was limited because "the constant action would dry the oil and then the steel would become so hot that Goebel could not continue playing." During the 1922 game against IllinoisIllinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
Dedication Day at Ohio Stadium
Despite the limitations of the knee brace, Goebel led the Wolverines to victory in the first game played at Ohio StadiumOhio Stadium
Ohio Stadium is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is located on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974...
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
"No end in recent years has played a greater game (than) that which Goebel put up against Ohio State. For three periods Goebel was the mainspring of the Michigan eleven. He seemed to be in every play. It was always Goebel who was gumming things up for State. No man could go through an entire game at the speed with which Goebel played in the first three quarters. It was beyond the power of any human being. With a few minutes to play in the third period the big fellow practically collapsed. Even when three or four of his teammates were carrying him off the field the old spirit was still there. He tried to induce his teammates that he was able to play, and tried to break away from their grasp, but the punch was gone and he was forced to give way as the big crowd cheered him to the echo. If any one man made possible the defeat of State by Michigan, it was Captain Paul Goebel."
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
The tradition of the #1 jersey at Michigan
Goebel was particularly adept as a pass receiver. A 1923 wire service report in the Capital Times noted that Goebel was "considered one of the best ends in the country and his work on receiving forward passes hasn't been excelled on the gridiron." In what would become a tradition at Michigan 60 years later, Goebel was the first All-American receiver at Michigan to wear the #1 jersey. Others to follow that tradition are Anthony Carter, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and Braylon EdwardsBraylon Edwards
-Cleveland Browns:-2005:Edwards began his rookie season as Cleveland's third wide receiver – he would have started higher, but a hold-out caused him to miss the beginning of training camp. Early in the season Edwards revealed that he had a staph infection, and missed a few weeks as a result of it....
.
The death of Bernard Kirk
Across the field from right end Goebel, Bernard KirkBernard Kirk
Bernard "Bernie" C. Kirk was an American football player who played for Notre Dame in 1919 and for Michigan from 1921-1922. He was selected as an All-American at the end position in both 1921 and 1922...
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
Frank Steketee
Frank W. Steketee was an All American football halfback and fullback who played with the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1918, 1920, and 1921...
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
Alex Groesbeck
Alexander Joseph Groesbeck was an American politician who served as Attorney General and the 30th Governor of the State of Michigan.-Early life:...
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920....
, and the coaches of the Big Ten 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...
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
Professional football
In February 1923, Goebel refused an offer to become the head football coach at Wichita State UniversityWichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
Oscar Knop
Robert Oscar Knop was a professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Chicago Tigers, the Hammond Pros, and the Chicago Bears....
of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
Ed Healey
Edward Francis Healey, Jr. was a professional football player for the Rock Island Independents, and best known with the Chicago Bears.-College years:...
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
Football official and sporting good businessman
After retiring from professional football, Goebel worked in his sporting good business in Grand Rapids, and also worked during football season as a game official for the Big Ten ConferenceBig 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...
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Relationship with Gerald R. Ford
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to 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...
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
Mayor of Grand Rapids
Goebel himself ran for office in 1950. He ran for mayor of Grand Rapids as part of the same anti-McKay reform movement that brought Gerald Ford to office. According to one newspaper account, Goebel "spearheaded a reform movement which brought him into office in 1950," ousting incumbent George W. Welsh, who had been elected mayor five times and also served as the state's lieutenant governor. At the time, Goebel was the partner in a sporting goods store and was described in the press as tall and rangy, a candidate "who looks like a blond Abraham Lincoln without a beard." Goebel was re-elected in 1952 for a second two-year term. In October 1953, Goebel announced he would not run for a third term, saying he had no further political ambitions and would devote his time to his family and business. Within a short time, however, he changed his mind and ran for a third term with the support of the reformist Citizens Action Group. In February 1954, Goebel received the most votes of any candidate in his third race for mayor (19,564 for Goebel to 10,831 for George Veldman), but he failed to secure a majority, and a runoff was held. Veldman defeated Goebel in the runoff by a margin of 203 votes. Goebel requested a recount, but he was unsuccessful. In 1956, he won re-election as mayor of Grand Rapids and served a final term from 1956-1958. In 1957, Goebel was included in published lists of potential candidates to run as the Republican candidate for governor. In January 1958, Goebel announced that he would not seek re-election as mayor. He said he had no plans to seek another political office.University of Michigan Board of Regents
In 1962, Goebel returned to politics, winning a seat on the Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of Michigan
The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
Other civic and political roles
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Goebel also occupied himself with other civic and political projects, including serving as a member of the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
George W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America. It honors engineering students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity...
.
Family
Goebel's wife, Margaret Goebel, was a graduate nurse, a columnist for a Grand Rapids newspaper, and Chairman of Governor George RomneyGeorge W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
Honors and accolades
Goebel's honors over the years include the following:- Selected as an All-American in 1921.
- Voted captain of the 1922 Michigan Wolverines football team.
- Named to the NFL "All-Pro" team in 1923 and 1924.
- In 1968, several donors made gifts to the University of Michigan College of Engineering to establish an endowed chair for the Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering. The gifts came from donors who sought to honor Goebel for his contributions to the University. In April 1993, Yoram Koren was named as the Goebel Professor of Engineering.
- In 1971, Goebel was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The award, which is presented annually, recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves "by reason of services performed on behalf of the University of Michigan, or in connection with its organized alumni activities." The Distinguished Alumni Service Award is the highest honor the Alumni Association can bestow upon an alumna/us on behalf of the University.
- Inducted into Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.
- In 1984, Goebel was the fourth recipient of the Ufer Award. Since 1981, the Ufer Award has been presented each year to a Letterwinners “M” Club member in recognition for his or her outstanding service to the University of Michigan Athletic Program.
- Inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1981. Only seven football players (Bennie OosterbaanBennie OosterbaanBenjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
, Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, Tom HarmonTom HarmonThomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
, Willie HestonWillie HestonWilliam Martin "Willie" Heston was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North...
, Germany SchulzGermany SchulzAdolph George "Germany" Schulz was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited with having invented the spiral snap and with developing the practice of standing behind the...
, Ron KramerRon KramerRonald J. Kramer was a multi-sport college athlete and professional American football player. Before embarking on a career in the National Football League, he lettered in football, basketball, and track at the University of Michigan in the 1950s...
, and Benny FriedmanBenny FriedmanBenjamin "Benny" Friedman was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan , Cleveland Bulldogs , Detroit Wolverines , New York Giants , and Brooklyn Dodgers .He is generally considered the first great passer in professional football...
) were inducted into the Hall of Honor before Goebel. - The U-M Club of Grand Rapids each year awards the Paul G. Goebel, Sr., Distinguished Alumni in Athletic Awards. Past recipients include Julius FranksJulius FranksDr. Julius Franks, Jr. was a civil rights leader and an All-American guard who played football at the University of Michigan from 1941 to 1942. Franks wore #62 as a varsity letterman in 1941 and #63 in 1942...
.
See also
- 1922 College Football All-America Team1922 College Football All-America TeamThe 1922 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1922.-All-American selectors:...
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
- List of mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan
- List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans
- Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of MichiganThe Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
External links
Paul Gordon Goebel (born May 28, 1901 – January 26, 1988) was an American 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...
end who played for 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...
Wolverines
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...
from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American
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...
in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
. He was named to the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...
team in 1923 and 1924.
After his football career ended, he operated a sporting good store in Grand Rapids. He officiated football games for the Big Ten 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...
for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
in 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...
. He was active in Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, and was one of the organizers of a reform movement to oust the city's political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. As an anti-McKay reform candidate, Goebel was three times elected mayor of Grand Rapids in the 1950s. He was later elected to 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...
Board of Regents, where he served from 1962 to 1970.
Goebel also played an important role in the career of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. Goebel was friends with Ford's mother and stepfather and recommended Ford to head football coach Harry Kipke 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...
. When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee. Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
Football player at the University of Michigan
Goebel enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1919. He studied engineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and received his degree in 1923. While at Michigan, he played football under head coach Fielding H. Yost. He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
receivers and as a tenacious defensive player. At 6-feet, 3-inches, Goebel was a tall player in his era. He started seven games in each of the 1920 and 1921 seasons at right end for the Wolverines, and was limited due to injury to five games in 1922. In 1921, he was chosen as an All-American and was voted the captain of the 1922 team. Goebel also excelled as an honor student in the University's engineering school. Goebel also earned the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in academics and athletics.
Goebel's steel knee brace
Prior to the 1922 season, Goebel "threw out his knee" and was fitted with a steel hinge – an early version of a knee brace. However, the steel contraption required oiling and overheated when the oil dried, thus limiting Goebel's ability to play a complete game in 1922. One 1922 newspaper article described Goebel's knee brace this way: "To enable Goebel to play, the Michigan trainers devised a steel brace – a hinge. This apparatus attached above and below the knee gave Goebel fairly good leg action because of the hinge. Before each game, Goebel liberally oiled the hinge to get free action because of the hinge." Goebel's playing time was limited because "the constant action would dry the oil and then the steel would become so hot that Goebel could not continue playing." During the 1922 game against IllinoisIllinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....
, Goebel's skin was burned by the steel.
Dedication Day at Ohio Stadium
Despite the limitations of the knee brace, Goebel led the Wolverines to victory in the first game played at Ohio StadiumOhio Stadium
Ohio Stadium is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is located on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974...
. The official "Dedication Day" for the stadium was October 21, 1922, and the opponent was Michigan. Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes. Michigan shut out the Buckeyes, 19-0, with Goebel and Kipke scoring all the points. In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points. He also penetrated into the Ohio State backfield in the second quarter to recover a fumble. As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment." Football writer Billy Evans described Goebel's performance against Ohio State this way:
"No end in recent years has played a greater game (than) that which Goebel put up against Ohio State. For three periods Goebel was the mainspring of the Michigan eleven. He seemed to be in every play. It was always Goebel who was gumming things up for State. No man could go through an entire game at the speed with which Goebel played in the first three quarters. It was beyond the power of any human being. With a few minutes to play in the third period the big fellow practically collapsed. Even when three or four of his teammates were carrying him off the field the old spirit was still there. He tried to induce his teammates that he was able to play, and tried to break away from their grasp, but the punch was gone and he was forced to give way as the big crowd cheered him to the echo. If any one man made possible the defeat of State by Michigan, it was Captain Paul Goebel."
The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day. Another writer summed up Goebel's 1922 season: "Captain Paul Goebel of Michigan has commanded no little attention this season. He is fast and furious. His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks."
The tradition of the #1 jersey at Michigan
Goebel was particularly adept as a pass receiver. A 1923 wire service report in the Capital Times noted that Goebel was "considered one of the best ends in the country and his work on receiving forward passes hasn't been excelled on the gridiron." In what would become a tradition at Michigan 60 years later, Goebel was the first All-American receiver at Michigan to wear the #1 jersey. Others to follow that tradition are Anthony Carter, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and Braylon EdwardsBraylon Edwards
-Cleveland Browns:-2005:Edwards began his rookie season as Cleveland's third wide receiver – he would have started higher, but a hold-out caused him to miss the beginning of training camp. Early in the season Edwards revealed that he had a staph infection, and missed a few weeks as a result of it....
.
The death of Bernard Kirk
Across the field from right end Goebel, Bernard KirkBernard Kirk
Bernard "Bernie" C. Kirk was an American football player who played for Notre Dame in 1919 and for Michigan from 1921-1922. He was selected as an All-American at the end position in both 1921 and 1922...
played left end for the Wolverines in 1921 and 1922. Kirk was a talented player who was set to graduate with Goebel in 1923. However, Kirk died in an automobile accident on December 17, 1922. Goebel was a pall-bearer along with Harry Kipke, Frank Steketee
Frank Steketee
Frank W. Steketee was an All American football halfback and fullback who played with the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1918, 1920, and 1921...
, and other Michigan football players at Kirk's funeral in Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,362. The city is bounded to the north by the Charter Township of Superior and on the west, south, and east by the Charter Township of Ypsilanti...
. Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck
Alex Groesbeck
Alexander Joseph Groesbeck was an American politician who served as Attorney General and the 30th Governor of the State of Michigan.-Early life:...
, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920....
, and the coaches of the Big Ten 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...
football teams all in attendance.
Goebel also served years later as a pall bearer at the funeral of his coach, Fielding H. Yost, in August 1946.
Professional football
In February 1923, Goebel refused an offer to become the head football coach at Wichita State UniversityWichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
(then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1925, and the New York Yankees
New York Yankees (NFL)
The New York Yankees were a short-lived professional American football team from 1926 to 1928. The team was a member of the first American Football League in 1926, and later the National Football League from 1927-1928. They played their home games at Yankee Stadium...
(the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop
Oscar Knop
Robert Oscar Knop was a professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Chicago Tigers, the Hammond Pros, and the Chicago Bears....
of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey
Ed Healey
Edward Francis Healey, Jr. was a professional football player for the Rock Island Independents, and best known with the Chicago Bears.-College years:...
on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
Football official and sporting good businessman
After retiring from professional football, Goebel worked in his sporting good business in Grand Rapids, and also worked during football season as a game official for the Big Ten ConferenceBig 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...
. For 16 years between 1935 to 1952, he was a Big Ten football official. He also officiated in Rose Bowl, Notre Dame, and Army-Navy games.
Goebel played a role in a famous Ohio State-Illinois game on November 13, 1943. The game was Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
's last game as coach of the Buckeyes. With the score tied 26-26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
as the gun sounded. The game appeared to have ended in a tie, the teams left the field, and the stands emptied. However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty. On hearing the gun sound, Goebel had picked up the handkerchief and put it back in his back pocket. Godfrey confronted Goebel, who conceded that Illinois was offsides. Twenty minutes later, the teams came back onto the field and the Buckeyes kicked a 33-yard field goal to give Coach Brown a 29-26 win in his final game.
During World War II, Goebel served in the U.S. Navy as Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
on an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. His final game as an official was the 1952 Rose Bowl between Illinois and Stanford, in which he was the head linesman.
Goebel was also a fisherman, winning the title of Trout King at the National Trout Festival in 1949.
Relationship with Gerald R. Ford
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. Goebel played an important role in guiding Ford to 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...
. When Ford graduated from Grand Rapids South High School, Goebel recognized Ford’s ability as a football player and recommended him to his former teammate Harry Kipke, who had taken over as Michigan’s head football coach. Kipke recruited Ford, who became Michigan's Most Valuable Player in 1934.
In 1940, Goebel was part of a citizen's group in Grand Rapids seeking to overthrow Grand Rapids' political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
, Frank McKay. McKay had dismissed Ford’s political interest in 1940, and this led to a long political alliance between Goebel and Ford. Ford went to work with Goebel as part of the anti-McKay citizen’s group. Together, they organized the "Home Front," the purpose of which was to throw out Boss McKay. Ford was elected president of the organization, his first experience in political organizing.
Ford and Goebel both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and after the war, Ford urged Goebel to run for Congress against the incumbent, an isolationist named Barney Jonkman. Goebel declined to run, but suggested to Ford that, "if you think he ought to be beaten, why don't you run?" Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group. Ford won the election and won re-election for twelve more terms. In 1960, Goebel was a leader in the movement to nominate Ford as the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon, serving as Chairman of the "Ford for Vice President Committee" at the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in Chicago.
When Goebel's son, Paul G. Goebel, Jr., ran for Ford's Congressional seat in 1974, then President Ford returned to Grand Rapids to campaign for Goebel's son. Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad. His dad knew me when I was back at South High--an inspired if not very competent football player. But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service. Paul, Jr.'s, father was; Paul, Jr., himself is. And I have seen nothing but the finest in that family, and young Paul, he epitomizes all the great characteristics of that family."
Mayor of Grand Rapids
Goebel himself ran for office in 1950. He ran for mayor of Grand Rapids as part of the same anti-McKay reform movement that brought Gerald Ford to office. According to one newspaper account, Goebel "spearheaded a reform movement which brought him into office in 1950," ousting incumbent George W. Welsh, who had been elected mayor five times and also served as the state's lieutenant governor. At the time, Goebel was the partner in a sporting goods store and was described in the press as tall and rangy, a candidate "who looks like a blond Abraham Lincoln without a beard." Goebel was re-elected in 1952 for a second two-year term. In October 1953, Goebel announced he would not run for a third term, saying he had no further political ambitions and would devote his time to his family and business. Within a short time, however, he changed his mind and ran for a third term with the support of the reformist Citizens Action Group. In February 1954, Goebel received the most votes of any candidate in his third race for mayor (19,564 for Goebel to 10,831 for George Veldman), but he failed to secure a majority, and a runoff was held. Veldman defeated Goebel in the runoff by a margin of 203 votes. Goebel requested a recount, but he was unsuccessful. In 1956, he won re-election as mayor of Grand Rapids and served a final term from 1956-1958. In 1957, Goebel was included in published lists of potential candidates to run as the Republican candidate for governor. In January 1958, Goebel announced that he would not seek re-election as mayor. He said he had no plans to seek another political office.University of Michigan Board of Regents
In 1962, Goebel returned to politics, winning a seat on the Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of Michigan
The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
, where he served from 1962-1970. In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours. Goebel was the sole dissenter, saying: "If my judgment is proved wrong, no one will be happier than I." In July 1970, Goebel announced that he would retire from the Regents at the end of his term on December 31, 1970. At age 69, he said the expected strain of another campaign influenced his decision.
Other civic and political roles
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Goebel also occupied himself with other civic and political projects, including serving as a member of the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
International World Service Committee in the 1960s, representing Governor George Romney
George W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
and the State of Michigan at the 1965 Rose Bowl game, acting as chairman of the national committee of the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s to raise $55 million, acting as a delegate to Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in 1956 and a delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from 1961-1962, and serving as a member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee in 1969. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority, Chairman of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, Director of the U-M National Alumni Association and President of the Varsity “M" Club. Goebel was a Congregationalist and a member of the Freemasons, the Rotary Club, and Tau Beta Pi
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America. It honors engineering students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity...
.
Family
Goebel's wife, Margaret Goebel, was a graduate nurse, a columnist for a Grand Rapids newspaper, and Chairman of Governor George RomneyGeorge W. Romney
George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...
’s Commission on the Status of Women. She also worked with the Grand Rapids Red Cross, the Council on World Affairs, the Urban League and was appointed by President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1962 to the Civil Defense Advisory Council. Goebel and his wife had two children. Their son Paul G. Goebel, Jr., was an aide to Rep. Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Paul Gobel, Jr., also operated an insurance business in Grand Rapids known as the Paul Goebel group.
Honors and accolades
Goebel's honors over the years include the following:- Selected as an All-American in 1921.
- Voted captain of the 1922 Michigan Wolverines football team.
- Named to the NFL "All-Pro" team in 1923 and 1924.
- In 1968, several donors made gifts to the University of Michigan College of Engineering to establish an endowed chair for the Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering. The gifts came from donors who sought to honor Goebel for his contributions to the University. In April 1993, Yoram Koren was named as the Goebel Professor of Engineering.
- In 1971, Goebel was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The award, which is presented annually, recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves "by reason of services performed on behalf of the University of Michigan, or in connection with its organized alumni activities." The Distinguished Alumni Service Award is the highest honor the Alumni Association can bestow upon an alumna/us on behalf of the University.
- Inducted into Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.
- In 1984, Goebel was the fourth recipient of the Ufer Award. Since 1981, the Ufer Award has been presented each year to a Letterwinners “M” Club member in recognition for his or her outstanding service to the University of Michigan Athletic Program.
- Inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1981. Only seven football players (Bennie OosterbaanBennie OosterbaanBenjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
, Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, Tom HarmonTom HarmonThomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
, Willie HestonWillie HestonWilliam Martin "Willie" Heston was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North...
, Germany SchulzGermany SchulzAdolph George "Germany" Schulz was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited with having invented the spiral snap and with developing the practice of standing behind the...
, Ron KramerRon KramerRonald J. Kramer was a multi-sport college athlete and professional American football player. Before embarking on a career in the National Football League, he lettered in football, basketball, and track at the University of Michigan in the 1950s...
, and Benny FriedmanBenny FriedmanBenjamin "Benny" Friedman was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan , Cleveland Bulldogs , Detroit Wolverines , New York Giants , and Brooklyn Dodgers .He is generally considered the first great passer in professional football...
) were inducted into the Hall of Honor before Goebel. - The U-M Club of Grand Rapids each year awards the Paul G. Goebel, Sr., Distinguished Alumni in Athletic Awards. Past recipients include Julius FranksJulius FranksDr. Julius Franks, Jr. was a civil rights leader and an All-American guard who played football at the University of Michigan from 1941 to 1942. Franks wore #62 as a varsity letterman in 1941 and #63 in 1942...
.
See also
- 1922 College Football All-America Team1922 College Football All-America TeamThe 1922 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1922.-All-American selectors:...
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...
- List of mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan
- List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans
- Board of Regents of the University of MichiganBoard of Regents of the University of MichiganThe Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...