Eddie Mahan
Encyclopedia
Edward William "Eddie" Mahan (January 19, 1892 – July 22, 1975) was an American football
player. While playing halfback
for Harvard
, Mahan was selected as a first-team All-American three consecutive years from 1913–1915. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest football players in the first 50 years of the sport and was named by Jim Thorpe
as the greatest football player of all time. In 1951, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
as part of the first group of inductees.
. He was of Irish ancestry and reportedly spoke with "the brogue of a full-blooded native of Erin." Mahan first gained attention for his football skills while playing at Andover
. Mahan later recalled his days at Andover, "Well do I recall those wonderful days at Andover and the games between Andover and Exeter. There is intense rivalry between these two schools. Many are the traditions at Andover."
Mahan played his first varsity game for Harvard in 1913 against the University of Maine
and scored two touchdowns, including a 67-yard run. And in the 1915 Harvard-Princeton
game, he threw a pass for a 61-yard gain on a fake punt.
As a senior and team captain in 1915, Mahan climaxed his college football career by scoring four touchdown
s and kicking five extra points in a 41-0 win over Yale
, the worst defeat in Yale's 44 years of college football to that time. In the biography of Mahan at the College Football Hall of Fame
, it is said that Mahan electrified the crowd in the 1915 Harvard-Yale game with "one of the greatest individual performances of the game's Pioneer Era."
Harvard's sole loss during Mahan's three years on the team was a 10-0 loss to Cornell
in 1915. After the game, Mahan apologized to Harvard coach Percy Haughton
. Haughton reportedly responded, "Mahan, you are the greatest football player God ever made."
Mahan later described his technique for evading tacklers as follows: "I simply give them the foot—right or left—and then take it away."
was asked to choose the greatest football player of all time, he selected Mahan. He explained his choice as follows:
In his book about the early days of football, Bill Edwards
wrote the following about Mahan: "If the future football generals develop a better all-around man than Eddie Mahan, captain of the great Harvard team of 1915, whose playing brought not only victory to Harvard but was accompanied by great admiration throughout the football world, they may well congratulate themselves."
In November 1925, football writer W.B. Hanna compared Red Grange
to Mahan:
Mahan was frequently mentioned among the greats of the game. In 1927, George Trevor of the New York Sun selected an all-time backfield made up of Mahan, Walter Eckersall
, Jim Thorpe
, and Willie Heston
of Michigan
. In 1928, Grantland Rice
named Mahan to his all-time team and wrote, "Mahan lacked the crashing force of a Heston or a Coy
, but he was one of the smoothest running backs anyone ever saw." Western football expert Walter Eckersall
added, "Mahan is awarded the honor of being Harvard's greatest football player, a terror to the opposition offensively and defensively. As a line plunger he ranks with the greatest in history."
In 1951, Mahan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
as part of the first group of inductees.
team for three years. In an exhibition game in the spring of 1916, Mahan pitched a shutout
against the Boston Red Sox
, the year after the Red Sox team featuring Babe Ruth
and Tris Speaker
won the 1915 World Series
. Mahan was offered a contract by several major league
clubs, but none was willing to meet his demand for a salary of $6,500. Mahan described his negotiations in an interview with the Oakland Tribune:
during the summer of 1916 and also worked as the head of the Woodrow Wilson
clubs in New York state.
In August 1916, Mahan accepted a position as assistant football coach at the University of California
. After one season at Berkeley
, Mahan returned to the East. Press accounts at the end of the 1916 season reported that Mahan and Cal's head coach (an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania
) had vastly different styles of coaching, and Mahan was never given an opportunity to play an active role in coaching the team.
During World War I
, Mahan served as a first lieutenant with the U.S. Marine Corps. At the end of the war, Mahan remained in Europe for a time working for Herbert Hoover
's Food Administration
. In a January 1919 game played in France, Mahan led a Navy football team to a 12-0 win over a U.S. Army team. A press account reported that Mahan was the star of the game, running 65 yards for the first touchdown:
After the war, Mahan returned to Harvard as the coach of the team's halfbacks. In August 1924, he was also appointed head coach of the Harvard baseball team.
. He also served as director of athletics at the Newman School
in Lakewood, New Jersey.
After retiring from athletics, Mahan worked in the investment banking
field and later worked for the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources. He made his debut in investment banking in August 1927, accepting a position with the Wall Street
firm Hornblower & Weeks
. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II
.
In 1975, after a long illness, Mahan died of cancer at Glover Memorial Hospital in Needham, Massachusetts
. At the time of his death, Mahan was a resident of his hometown, Natick, Massachusetts. He was survived by his wife, Beryl Boardman Mahan, two daughters, and six grandchildren.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. While playing halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Mahan was selected as a first-team All-American three consecutive years from 1913–1915. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest football players in the first 50 years of the sport and was named by Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
as the greatest football player of all time. In 1951, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as part of the first group of inductees.
Early years
Mahan was a native of Natick, MassachusettsNatick, Massachusetts
Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 33,006 at the 2010 census. Only west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area...
. He was of Irish ancestry and reportedly spoke with "the brogue of a full-blooded native of Erin." Mahan first gained attention for his football skills while playing at Andover
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
. Mahan later recalled his days at Andover, "Well do I recall those wonderful days at Andover and the games between Andover and Exeter. There is intense rivalry between these two schools. Many are the traditions at Andover."
All-American football player
Mahan enrolled at Harvard in 1912 and played halfback for Harvard's varsity football team. Although he weighed only 165 pounds, Mahan played every minute of every football game for Harvard from 1913–1915. Mahan was selected as a first-team All-American in each of those years, leading Harvard to a three-year record of 24-1-2.Mahan played his first varsity game for Harvard in 1913 against the University of Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
and scored two touchdowns, including a 67-yard run. And in the 1915 Harvard-Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
game, he threw a pass for a 61-yard gain on a fake punt.
As a senior and team captain in 1915, Mahan climaxed his college football career by scoring four touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s and kicking five extra points in a 41-0 win over Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, the worst defeat in Yale's 44 years of college football to that time. In the biography of Mahan at the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
, it is said that Mahan electrified the crowd in the 1915 Harvard-Yale game with "one of the greatest individual performances of the game's Pioneer Era."
Harvard's sole loss during Mahan's three years on the team was a 10-0 loss to Cornell
Cornell Big Red football
The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Championship Subdivision college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the oldest and most storied football programs in the nation...
in 1915. After the game, Mahan apologized to Harvard coach Percy Haughton
Percy Haughton
Percy Duncan Haughton was an American football and baseball player and coach in the United States. He served as head football coach at Cornell University from 1899 to 1900, at Harvard University from 1908 to 1916, and at Columbia University from 1923 to 1924, compiling a career college football...
. Haughton reportedly responded, "Mahan, you are the greatest football player God ever made."
Mahan later described his technique for evading tacklers as follows: "I simply give them the foot—right or left—and then take it away."
Recognition as one of the greatest football players of all time
When Jim ThorpeJim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
was asked to choose the greatest football player of all time, he selected Mahan. He explained his choice as follows:
"Eddie Mahan of Harvard was the greatest football player I have ever seen. He had everything, he could run, pass and kick. He was big, weighed 190 pounds, was smart enough to play quarterback and also good enough to play in the line. To me that's proof enough that Mahan was the tops. He was a specialist in all lines."
In his book about the early days of football, Bill Edwards
Big Bill Edwards
William Hanford "Big Bill" Edwards was an American football player who played guard at the Princeton University from 1896 to 1899...
wrote the following about Mahan: "If the future football generals develop a better all-around man than Eddie Mahan, captain of the great Harvard team of 1915, whose playing brought not only victory to Harvard but was accompanied by great admiration throughout the football world, they may well congratulate themselves."
In November 1925, football writer W.B. Hanna compared 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...
to Mahan:
"In the writer's opinion, Grange and Mahan are the greatest backs he ever saw, from the standpoint of advancing the ball. Grange seems to run with more power than Mahan and a trifle more laboriously, because he is not quite so light-footed. It may be doubted whether he is as fast, but that is mere guesswork. Football, carrying the ball, seemed play to Mahan. Grange does not do his work in quite that effortless manner."
Mahan was frequently mentioned among the greats of the game. In 1927, George Trevor of the New York Sun selected an all-time backfield made up of Mahan, Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
, Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
, and Willie Heston
Willie Heston
William 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...
of Michigan
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...
. In 1928, Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
named Mahan to his all-time team and wrote, "Mahan lacked the crashing force of a Heston or a Coy
Ted Coy
Edward Harris "Ted" Coy was an American football player. Coy was selected as a first-team All-American three straight years from 1907 to 1909 and was later selected as the fullback on Walter Camp's All-Time All-America team. He also served as Yale's head football coach in 1910...
, but he was one of the smoothest running backs anyone ever saw." Western football expert Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
added, "Mahan is awarded the honor of being Harvard's greatest football player, a terror to the opposition offensively and defensively. As a line plunger he ranks with the greatest in history."
In 1951, Mahan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
as part of the first group of inductees.
Baseball player
Mahan also played for Harvard's varsity baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team for three years. In an exhibition game in the spring of 1916, Mahan pitched a shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
against the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, the year after the Red Sox team featuring Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
and Tris Speaker
Tris Speaker
Tristram E. Speaker , nicknamed "Spoke" and "The Grey Eagle", was an American baseball player. Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, he compiled a career batting average of .345 , and still holds the record of 792 career doubles...
won the 1915 World Series
1915 World Series
In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.In their only World Series before , the Phillies won Game 1 before being swept the rest of the way. It was 65 years before the Phillies won their next Series game...
. Mahan was offered a contract by several major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
clubs, but none was willing to meet his demand for a salary of $6,500. Mahan described his negotiations in an interview with the Oakland Tribune:
"I had a chance first to go with the Boston Red Sox when I was in my senior year at Harvard. They said to name my price and I named $6500. They thought it was too much. Then the DetroitDetroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
club made an offer to me but they too thought I had a gold-brick scheme. The Chicago White SoxChicago White SoxThe Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
were willing to give me a good contract with a bonus if I made good, but the risk was not worth the undertaking. I considered the BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
more seriously than any other team but my negotiations there too were not satisfactory ..."
Coaching and military service
Mahan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard in the spring of 1916, with a major in political science and economy. He played semi-professional baseball in New HavenNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
during the summer of 1916 and also worked as the head of the Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
clubs in New York state.
In August 1916, Mahan accepted a position as assistant football coach at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
. After one season at Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, Mahan returned to the East. Press accounts at the end of the 1916 season reported that Mahan and Cal's head coach (an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
) had vastly different styles of coaching, and Mahan was never given an opportunity to play an active role in coaching the team.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Mahan served as a first lieutenant with the U.S. Marine Corps. At the end of the war, Mahan remained in Europe for a time working for Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
's Food Administration
American Relief Administration
American Relief Administration was an American relief mission to Europe and later Soviet Russia after World War I. Herbert Hoover, future president of the United States, was the program director....
. In a January 1919 game played in France, Mahan led a Navy football team to a 12-0 win over a U.S. Army team. A press account reported that Mahan was the star of the game, running 65 yards for the first touchdown:
"In spite of the muddy field, speed and generalship on the part of the S.O.S. eleven, largely in the person of Eddie Mahan, ... told the tale. It was the tall, black-haired Mahan with an undershot jaw that broke the deadlock in the second period. He grabbed a short punt ..., eluded two men who barred his path, shook off a third tackler further down the field, and sprinted 65 yards for a touchdown."
After the war, Mahan returned to Harvard as the coach of the team's halfbacks. In August 1924, he was also appointed head coach of the Harvard baseball team.
Later years
In 1926, Mahan went to Choate School in Wallingford, ConnecticutWallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 43,026 at the 2000 census.- History :Wallingford was established on October 10, 1667, when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the "making of a village on the east river" to 38 planters and freemen...
. He also served as director of athletics at the Newman School
Newman School
The Newman School, founded in 1991, is located in Cajica, Colombia. Its first graduating class was in 2003. It is a catholic school.The Bilingual and private School was founded in 1991 by former Anglocolombiano School headmaster Augusto Franco Arbeláez...
in Lakewood, New Jersey.
After retiring from athletics, Mahan worked in the investment banking
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
field and later worked for the Massachusetts Department of Natural Resources. He made his debut in investment banking in August 1927, accepting a position with the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
firm Hornblower & Weeks
Hornblower & Weeks
Hornblower & Weeks was an investment banking and brokerage firm founded by Henry Hornblower and John W. Weeks in 1888. At its peak in the late 1970s, Hornblower ranked eighth among member firms of the New York Stock Exchange in number of retail offices, with 93 retail sales offices located in the...
. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during 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...
.
In 1975, after a long illness, Mahan died of cancer at Glover Memorial Hospital in Needham, Massachusetts
Needham, Massachusetts
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. At the time of his death, Mahan was a resident of his hometown, Natick, Massachusetts. He was survived by his wife, Beryl Boardman Mahan, two daughters, and six grandchildren.
See also
- 1913 College Football All-America Team1913 College Football All-America TeamThe 1913 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1913...
- 1914 College Football All-America Team1914 College Football All-America TeamThe 1914 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1914. The organizations that chose the teams included Collier's Weekly selected by Walter Camp...
- 1915 College Football All-America Team1915 College Football All-America TeamThe 1915 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1915. The organizations that chose the teams included Collier's Weekly selected by Walter Camp.-Key:*WC = Collier's Weekly as...