James Cooney (American football)
Encyclopedia
James Lawrence Cooney was an All-American football player. He played tackle
for Princeton University
football team and was selected as an All-American in 1904. He also was a star catcher for Princeton's baseball team from 1903-1906. Cooney was 5 feet, 10 inches in height and weighed 195 pounds.
The son of a coal miner who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania
, Cooney enrolled at Exeter
at age 21, where he played both football and baseball. Cooney was a coveted blue-chip player who was initially committed to enroll at Harvard. A Princeton alumnus, Charles Patterson, recruited Cooney to attend Princeton with offers of scholarships and opportunities to earn money. He became the manager of an eating club at Princeton and was granted exclusive rights to sell scorecards at Princeton baseball games. In his freshman year, he played left tackle for Princeton's championship team that defeated Yale 11-6. In November 1904, Cooney scored all of Princeton's points, consisting of two touchdowns and two goals, in a 12-6 win over West Point.
Cooney was selected as captain of the Princeton football team for 1905 and president of the senior class of 1907.
Cooney later went into a business career. He became superintendent of International Salt Co. in Ithaca, New York
, and later headed the Scranton Coal Company. In his later years, he operated a newsstand until he was taken to the hospital three weeks before his death.
Cooney died in October 1964 at Scranton State General Hospital.
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....
for Princeton University
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....
football team and was selected as an All-American in 1904. He also was a star catcher for Princeton's baseball team from 1903-1906. Cooney was 5 feet, 10 inches in height and weighed 195 pounds.
The son of a coal miner who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
, Cooney enrolled at Exeter
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
at age 21, where he played both football and baseball. Cooney was a coveted blue-chip player who was initially committed to enroll at Harvard. A Princeton alumnus, Charles Patterson, recruited Cooney to attend Princeton with offers of scholarships and opportunities to earn money. He became the manager of an eating club at Princeton and was granted exclusive rights to sell scorecards at Princeton baseball games. In his freshman year, he played left tackle for Princeton's championship team that defeated Yale 11-6. In November 1904, Cooney scored all of Princeton's points, consisting of two touchdowns and two goals, in a 12-6 win over West Point.
Cooney was selected as captain of the Princeton football team for 1905 and president of the senior class of 1907.
Cooney later went into a business career. He became superintendent of International Salt Co. in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, and later headed the Scranton Coal Company. In his later years, he operated a newsstand until he was taken to the hospital three weeks before his death.
Cooney died in October 1964 at Scranton State General Hospital.