Wildcat Wilson
| Wildcat Wilson | |
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Position (s): Tailback |
Jersey number (s): - |
| born September 6, 1901 in Everett , Washington | |
| died on December 27, 1963 in San Francisco , California | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1926 - 1929 | |
| College : University of Washington | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Play NFL | 37 |
| as a starter | 35 |
| Touchdown | 10 |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| College Football Hall of Fame | |
George Schly "Wildcat" Wilson (born September 6, 1901 in Everett , Washington , USA ; † December 27, 1963 in San Francisco , California ) was an American football player . He played among other things in the National Football League with the Providence Steam Roller .
Player career
High school and college
Wilson attended high school in Everett , for whose football team he initially acted as a guard before he was retrained to halfback in 1918 . In 1919 his school won the national championship. In 1921 his team was able to repeat the title win. After graduating from school, he studied at the University of Washington from 1923 to 1925 . He played mostly as a tailback for the football team of his college , but also played in other positions, which was common at the time.
Wilson's team won 28 of 34 games during his college career. In 1924, the Washington Huskies were able to move into the Rose Bowl and play a draw against the US Navy team. Wilson scored a touchdown . In 1926, his team moved back to the Rose Bowl. Wilson, who had dropped out of his studies in 1925, returned to his college for this game and therefore initially renounced a professional career. Up to 38 minutes, Wilson was continuously on the field. By this point the Huskies have clearly dominated the game and gained 317 yards of space. After Wilson was eliminated from the game due to an injury, the Huskies were only able to gain 17 yards and suffered three touchdowns. The game was lost at 20:19. Wilson was voted MVP of the game anyway . Along with Red Grange and Ernie Nevers , Wilson was considered one of the best college running backs of the time.
Professional career
Wilson signed a professional contract with the Akron Pros immediately after the Rose Bowl , but they had to stop playing in the same year due to financial problems. He then accepted the offer of the Los Angeles Tigers at 500 dollars against the Chicago Bears of George Halas to play Grange and Red. The Bears decided to go on this tour to earn money for the club, which is notoriously "lacking in money". The game took place in Los Angeles . Wilson attacked Grange, who was involved in winning the guest tour, hard on the first play, but could not prevent the Bears from winning the game in front of 75,000 spectators 17: 7.
Wilson first played a year in 1926 with the Los Angeles Wildcats in the American Football League. He was also the owner of the team and this year showed a keen interest in a young football player by the name of Marion Morrison. Morrison refused to sign a contract with the Wildcats. Morrison suffered a sports accident and then pursued a film career. He went down in US film history under his pseudonym John Wayne .
After the decline of the American Football League, he moved to the Providence Steam Roller, trained by Jimmy Conzelman . The Steam Rollers were willing to pay him a salary of $ 500 per game. With the team, with which the multiple all-pro player Gus Sonnenberg was under contract, he won the NFL championship in 1928 . After the 1929 season, Wilson ended his playing career due to his own financial problems.
After the career
George Wilson started a career as a wrestler in Australia after his playing career . In 1935 he was divorced from his wife and returned to the United States. However, he was not allowed to take the money he had earned in Australia out of the country. He then worked for a friend in the Texas oil fields and after his death returned to Washington to work in a shipyard in his hometown during World War II . As a dock worker in San Francisco , he was completely forgotten. The American public did not notice him again until he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame . Wildcat Wilson is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Everett.
Wilson scandal
After returning from Australia in 1936, Wilson confessed to a newspaper reporter that his old college offered him $ 1,000 if he would play for their team at the Rose Bowl in 1926. But he never received the money. Wilson would have been obliged to report this violation of the rules of the NCAA , which he failed to do. With no evidence to support Wilson's allegation, and teammates and those in charge of his college denying the allegations, the investigation into the incident was closed.
Honors
Wildcat Wilson was once voted All-Pro . He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame , the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame , the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, and the All-Time Pacific Coast Team.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the Rose Bowl 1924 ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ History of the Rose Bowl 1926 ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Annual statistics of the Steam Roller 1928
- ↑ Wildcat Wilson's Tomb in the Find a Grave database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilson, Wildcat |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wilson, George Schly |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 6, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Everett , Washington (State) , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 27, 1963 |
| Place of death | San Francisco , California , USA |