1895 Oregon Agricultural College (Oregon State)

 Here is a very clear large cabinet photo of the 1895 OAC (later Oregon State) football team.  As discussed in a previous post about Washington State, what makes this image truly special is the lack of football images from the west.  I am also blown away by the sheer number of players on the squad for such an early team.  The team itself went 0-2-1 with their only tie against Pacific.  An interesting note is that Paul Downing who is pictured top right was the head coach.  He was the captain of the 1894 Stanford team that had Herbert Hoover as their manager.  This was his only year coaching.

Bill Warner c.1900 Cornell Cabinet photo

Bill Warner was the brother of Glenn “Pop” Warner.  He himself had an important football career at Cornell and later coaching.  He played guard for Cornell from 1899-1902 and was captain his last two years.  In 1902 he played and won in the World Series of football and the first indoor football game for the Syracuse Athletic Association.  He was inducted into the college football HOF in 1971.

1873 Yale football imperial photo

 Here is one of the oldest college football photos in existence.  It is Yale’s “first eleven” who ended up playing Eton in 1873.  This was the first game of this nature that included these 11 Yale students playing a picked team of old Eton players.  Yale went on to win the contest 2-1.  William Halstead was the captain for Yale this year in only their second year in existence.

Charlie Gelbert cabinet photo UPenn Star and early pro football player

 Here is a nice photo from Charlie Gilbert’s estate.  He was one of the best football players in the 19th century.  He was a part of University of Pennsylvania’s undefeated championship teams of 1894 and 95.  He was selected an All- American 1894, 1895, and 1896.  He was later inducted into the College Football HOF.

After graduation he was a practicing veterinarian.  What is most interesting is his part in some of the first early pro football teams.  He was on Duquesne Country and AC for their championship teams in 1898 and 1899 and also Homestead Library and AC championship team of 1900.  He was also on the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York team in the World Series of Football.

William J. Leggett cabinet photo first college football captain 1869 game

 Here is one of my favorite images, a cabinet photo of William J. Leggett.  He was captain for Rutgers in the first college football game in history when they played Princeton on November 6th 1869.  They ended up winning this game 6-4.

1887 Lafayette College football team photo

 Here is a great imperial sized photo of the 1887 Lafayette football team.  They went 7-2 this season led by Captain Frederick Paye.