The Incredible Bob Murphy
by E. Lee North
    

Football began at Washington & Jefferson College in 1890.  For whatever reason, this small college (under 500 students through its glory days) would always present a tough, Pennsylvania-type football aggregation. But a young fellow matriculated to W&J in 1902 who would move the college to the heights of the football world.

 1905 W&J Football Squad 

Robert Martin Murphy not only attended and graduated from the College, he so loved W&J that as a student he beat the bushes to find recruits -- not just athletes -- to keep the school solvent.  Frankly, W&J needed students so badly that they were often in danger of closing their doors.  Murphy used his spare time, as student solicitor and then graduate manager starting in 1906, to convince other men and boys to come to W&J.

The position of graduate manager in those days was akin to "athletic director" today.  He somehow convinced great players and coaches to come to W&J -- Pete Henry, Coach Bob Folwell, the great players of the Folwell and Tournament of Roses eras... He even saved the football program in 1910 when it was about to be shut down for lack of funds.  He proposed a one-dollar student levy and then sold it to the student body. 

Robert "Murph" Murphy

As Graduate Manager, Murphy scheduled games with the best teams in the country-- Pitt, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Notre Dame, Army, Navy, Penn, Penn State, Syracuse...  To do battle, he somehow encouraged super players and coaches to come to little Washington, Pa.-- his coaches read like a Who's Who from the Hall of Fame -- Earl "Greasy" Neal, John W. Heisman, Andy Kerr, Sol Metzger, Dave Morrow, and perhaps the greatest of all, Bob Folwell.  His recruits Pete Henry and Bill Amos served as coaches later on, and Henry was athletic director for many years. 

The Folwell Years

Bob Murphy went beyond the expected throughout his career -- one year he somehow had Forbes Field snowplowed before a big Pitt game.  Other times, to get the team away from distraction, he had them transported to the beautiful, spacious 365-acre estate of his in-laws, the Wylies in Canton Township, a few miles outside Washington.  The Wylies hosted this "secret hideaway" several times, e.g.; before big Pitt games and the Tournament of Roses. 

1922 Tournament of Roses Program

When the team was invited to the Rose Bowl, did Bob Murphy sit back and gloat like a modern-day CEO to wallow in publicity and credits?  Murph mortgaged his house to take his family to California and not charge the cost to the W&J program. 

   
Unfortunately Bob Murphy developed pernicious anemia and died in 1925, at the age of 46.  He left a loving family of widow Marion and youngsters James B. Wylie Murphy and Helen Margaret Murphy (Donnan). 

 MURPHY JR.
 ASST. MGR.

One tribute Murph might have appreciated above all others was presented to W&J at  half-time of the 1925 Pitt game.  The Athletic Council of University of Pittsburgh said... 

Murphy's tradition has been nurtured by W&J presidents through the years -- in particular Rev. Dr. James D. Moffat (1881-1914), who introduced this new game of "foot-ball" at the college in 1890; and others through Howard J. Burnett (1970-1999) and now Dr. Brian Mitchell (1999- ). 

Bob Murphy's W&J football tradition lives on. 

Washington, Pa.
College Park Athletic Field

   
Webpage background:
November 24, 1923
Saturday Evening Post cover

E. Lee North is the author of "BATTLING THE INDIANS, PANTHERS, AND NITTANY LIONS"
   

THE FOOTBALL SEASON of 1921
By Lawrence R. Stewart
January 19, 1922

   
    The season of 1921 will stand out as one of the most successful periods in the history of football at Washington and Jefferson College. Many regard it as the greatest year the Presidents ever had on the gridiron, but whether this is true or not, even the most lukewarm supporters of the Red and Black will admit that not for a long time has Wash.-Jeff. achieved such fame and distinction as that which accompanied the season ending on January 2 in the scoreless tie with the University of California. 
    Wash.-Jeff. won every game of its regular season ending on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since 1892. Then followed two post-season contests, one with Detroit and the other with California, the game at Detroit being won and the clash at Pasadena, as has been indicated, ending without either team scoring, but with the advantage resting entirely with the Pennsylvanians. 

    At the close of the regular season the Presidents stood out as one of four major eastern teams which were undefeated, the others being Cornell, Lafayette and Penn State. Wash.-Jeff. supporters will contend and with good reason that the team coached by Earle A. (Greasy) Neale was superior that that representing the other three institutions. Penn State, hailed by many as the best eleven in the East was twice tied, once by Harvard, which bowed to both Centre and Princeton and once by Pitt, a team that was decisively and signally defeated by the Presidents. Lafayette's chief claim to distinction and to championship honors was its defeat of Pitt, but this game happened to be the first of the season when Pitt was immature. At the same time Pitt registered 12 first downs to but two for Lafayette, so the latter's claims can scarcely be recognized as deserving of as much consideration as those of Wash.-Jeff.  Cornell, while apparently a powerful eleven, had a notably weak schedule. It defeated both Dartmouth and Penn, but neither were strong during the 1921 season, and met other defeats at the hands of teams of no particular strength. While the question of superiority among the four undefeated elevens of the East, consequently, will always be a mooted question, critics both East and West, following the splendid showing of the Presidents on the Pacific Coast, generally agree that no eleven in the eastern district had anything on W.&J. 
    A cursory inspection of the first half of the schedule would indicate that Wash.-Jeff. had not picked a list of hard opponents, such teams as Bethany, Bucknell, Carnegie Tech and other composing the early-season opposition. But those who witnessed these games can testify that these teams, ordinarily regarded as opponents selected to fit the Presidents for the harder combats toward the end of the season, were among the best met during the year. 

Sept. 24 - W&J...14  Bethany...0

    Starting on September 24 the Presidents opened their campaign with the team representing Bethany (W.Va.) college, an outfit that for years had been notably weak, and had never defeated the Presidents but once, having gained a three-point victory in 1910. But the Bethany team of 1921 was a far different aggregation. Composed of big, fast, hustling, experienced players it presented an aggregation that was physically, at least the equal of any met during the season. Had it been as well coached as Wash.-Jeff. the latter might have met disaster at the very beginning of the campaign. But Neale's men managed to win by 14 to 0 through the medium of a brace of touchdowns. This game was played on September 24. 

Oct. 1 - W&J...26  Bucknell...0

    Wash.-Jeff. in its second game on October 1 with Bucknell, showed a flash of its real strength, defeating the Eastern Pennsylvania eleven by 26 to 0. That the Presidents performed acceptably and accomplished some feat in this victory was shown later when Bucknell was defeated by the Navy, one of the best teams in the eastern region, by the slim margin of 6 to 0. 

Oct. 8 - W&J...54  W.VA.W....0

    The third game of October 8 proved perhaps the easiest of the year for the Presidents, West Virginia Wesleyan appearing at College Field and losing by 54 to 0. Usually the Mountain State Methodists give Wash.-Jeff. a hard battle on the gridiron, but the loss of many veteran stars, and a poor coaching system, rendered the Southerners helpless before the Presidents who scored almost at will. 

Oct. 15 - W&J...14  Carnegie Tech...0

    But it was fortunate Neale's men had a breathing spell for they caught a Tartar in the fourth game played with Carnegie Tech on October 15. The Plaid presented a team coached to the minute for this contest, and comprising practically all veterans who the year before had defeated the Presidents by six points to nothing. This game will stand out as the best played at College Field in many years. Tech, attaining after many years to a position among the Class A teams of the district, outplayed the Presidents in the first half, registered numerous first downs and looked extremely good by comparison with the Red and Black. In the second half, however, Captain Stein and his men "found" themselves and through superior line work which enabled Neale's team to recover two fumbled punts, finally succeeded in scoring two touchdowns, and winning by 14 to 0. 

Oct. 22 - W&J...14  Lehigh...7

    Contests of importance came then in rapid succession. Without a chance to recover from the hard Carnegie Tech battle, Wash.-Jeff. journeyed the next Saturday, October 22, to Bethlehem, Pa., where the much-touted Lehigh team was encountered. W.&J. slumped in the contest, outplaying the Brown and White all the way, but winning only by 14 to 7. Lehigh scored the first touchdown of the season on the Presidents, when a Bethlehem player, in the late moments of the contest, intercepted a forward pass and rushed 80 yards along the field for a score. 

Oct. 29 - W&J...17  Syracuse...10

    Following the Lehigh clash, came the memorable Syracuse battle in the Orange stadium, on October 29, which Neale's men won by 17 to 10 after a day of thrills that has seldom been equaled. Syracuse on the previous Saturday had been overwhelmed by Pittsburgh, but it came back, a rejuvenated and fighting machine that forced the Presidents to their supreme efforts to win. The score fluctuated after a scoreless first half until finally the Red and Black went ahead with a field goal. Syracuse evened the count a few minutes later through the same medium. Immediately afterward, West, for Washington and Jefferson, by means of a 98-yard run from a kickoff, the longest sprint of the year on a gridiron, put his team ahead with a touchdown. 

Pruner West

Syracuse again rallied and tied the tally with a touchdown and then in the final moments the Presidents through blocking a forward pass, registered another and winning touchdown. 

Nov. 5 - W&J...49  Westminster...14

    Wash.-Jeff. got a scare on November 5 when it played Westminster, a weak team, on the home grounds. Right off the reel the visitors scored two touchdowns through a sustained offensive against a W.&J. eleven made up mostly of substitutes. But the Red and Black checked the attack and won by 49 to 14. 

Nov. 12 - W&J...7  Pitt...0

    On November 12, Washington and Jefferson rose to its greatest effort in the sectional championship game with the University of Pittsburgh, at Forbes Field, winning by 7 to 0. The result was the more noteworthy, for the reason that the Presidents had not defeated Pitt since 1914. Wash.-Jeff. in that game appeared, for the first time during the year, as a real champion aggregation. The contest was a hard fought engagement, with Pitt showing its usual strength. The Presidents, however, deserved a victory through a superior brand of football. 

Nov. 24 - W&J...13  West Virginia...0

    Washington and Jefferson closed its regular season with a victory on Thanksgiving Day at Morgantown over West Virginia University by 13 to 0. The game, like that with Pitt, was played on a muddy gridiron, but the Presidents displayed the same high class brand of football that had been offered in the Pitt engagement and through their victory established themselves as undisputed sectional champions. 

Dec. 3 - W&J...14  Detroit...2

    Then came the offer of a post-season game with the University of Detroit, at Detroit, on December 3. While frowning, usually, on post-season engagements, W.&J. arranged the contest, chiefly at the behest of alumni living in the City of Straits. Detroit, an undefeated team, presented a strength and front, that were counted as among the best in the country. But W.&J. continued at high speed in this engagement also, and won by superior all-around play to the tune of 14 to 2. 

Jan. 2 - W&J...0  California...0

    Close upon the heels of the Detroit battle, came the tender from the Tournament of Roses Association for a battle at Pasadena with the University of California, the biggest intersectional contest of the year. The details of the trip to the Coast and the general engagement at Tournament Field, which ended in a scoreless tie, are now history. W.&J. in spite of a 3,000 mile trip across a continent upheld its reputation and the football prestige of the East as no team that had preceded it had ever done and returned home on January 13 with added laurels and the plaudits of a nation. 

Voted the #4 Outstanding Moment in 
Western Pennsylvania Sports History
Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum

    Wash.-Jeff. was a well balanced team in 1921. While it was not a heavy scoring machine in its important engagements, it usually had sufficient "punch" to win when a score was needed. Its defense was its greatest asset, the strength of the resistance being shown when in the last four games of the year, but six first downs were registered against it -- two each by Pitt and California and one each by West Virginia and Detroit. This, it is believed, is a world's football record in major football. 
    Above all, however, the W.&J. team of 1921, will stand out as an aggregation that was successful because of its mental equipment. It has been truthfully said that the Presidents won most of their important battles because they played football "from the neck up". No greater tribute could be paid any football team, and Wash.-Jeff. is satisfied to rest its claims to a championship on that single asset. 

Click to enlarge
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BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT OF ROSES GAME THIS CARTOON APPEARED IN NEWSPAPERS WITH THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE:

Football Note: Brick Muller
Will Play Against W. and J.

   
The following is from the Seattle Times of Seattle, Wash., following the Washington and Jefferson - California game

The California idol has fallen and broken into a million pieces. 
   The wonder team has been outplayed. 
   Brick Muller, the super man, has met a better man and-- 
   Brick Muller has been laughed at. 
   Of all things that came off in Pasadena Monday afternoon that laughing episode gave people here-abouts the most kick. 
   Picture Brick trotting out on the field, picture the "hurrahs" of 45,000 admiring native sons. 
   "It's easy now, Brick's in," they chortle. 
   But what happens?
   A chorus of loud guffaws from the W. & J. players. 
   "So this is Brick," chortles one. 
   "The super man," giggles another. 
   "Ain't he pretty," confides another to a team mate. 

   
   "Let's watch him go," says still another. 
   Muller drops back for a pass. The ball is shot to him. He stands with it poised behind him ready to throw. But there is no one to throw to. Brick hesitates a moment, then runs. 
   Five W. & J. tacklers hit him simultaneously. They smear him in the mud. 
   "So this is Muller," they shout in chorus and their laughs increase. 
   Want to know why California didn't win? 
   Well, there's the answer. 
   A team with the ability to take care of itself, not awed by the publicity given the Bear eleven, in perfect condition, met the Bears and but for one man's toe would have beaten them. 

THE 1921 SQUAD

   
WALTER ECKERSALL'S STORY

W. & J.'s game greatest football exhibition of the year, says expert who was one of the officials of the game

Displaying an aggressiveness which could not be denied and playing through the struggle with eleven warriors Washington and Jefferson battle to a scoreless tie with California, undisputed champion of the Pacific coast conference, at Tournament park yesterday in the annual intersectional battle. 
   For hard, clean tackling and almost perfect blocking, the eastern eleven gave an exhibit unequalled on any gridiron in the east or middle west during the 1921 season. It was this aggressiveness combined with an everlasting fighting spirit which enabled W. & J. to win what it may well claim to be a moral victory. 

W. & J. GAINING ON OFF-TACKLE PLAY

   The eastern eleven was better on offense and defense as is shown by the fact that W. & J. made seven first downs against two for California. The Bears, however, had a decided advantage in punting as Archie Nisbet gained several yards on the exchanges. Harold Erickson, the W. & J. back who handled punts, played the ball safe at all times, but it generally took freakish bounds and rolled several yards in baseball fashion. 

BREAKS FAVOR CALIFORNIA

   Breaks of the game favored California and on one if not two occasions, poor judgment was used. Near the end of the first half, there remained but two seconds to play when the ball rested on the eastern eleven's fifteen yard line. Irvin Toomey, the Bear's back, is considered a fairly reliable field goal kicker, but his ability was passed up for a forward pass which was incompleted and the half ended while the ball was in the air. 
   Near the close of the game with less than three minutes to play, Wayne Brenkert, the W. & J. back, punted out of bounds on his twenty-two yard line. California should have known it could not penetrate its opponent's strong defense, but still the forward pass was called upon with the result Brenkert intercepted the throw for W. & J. 

STEIN TAKES CHANCES

In striking contrast were the desperate chances taken by Capt. Russell Stein, of the the Eastern eleven. In the final quarter he attempted a place kick from the 45-yard line, but the attempt went wide of its mark. Shortly afterward he attempted another, but the kick was blocked and recovered by California on its 38-yard line. 
   In fact, Washington and Jefferson tried desperately to score throughout the contest. After the first kickoff the visiting team advanced the ball to the Bear's 30-yard line and the Wayne Brenkert broke loose off California's right tackle and ran 35 yards for a touchdown. 

WAYNE BRENKERT

A W. & J. player was offside when the play started and the team was set back five yards. 

MORAL VICTORY

   Despite this bad break the Eastern eleven kept trying and a forward pass was intercepted by Irving Toomey, who took the ball to midfield. If this player had veered more to the outside of the field instead of cutting back into the center of the gridiron and into the savage arms of the invaders he would have gained more ground. 
   As the game was played it was a moral victory for the Eastern eleven. Gridiron fans in this section had confidently expected the Bears to win by margins ranging from 7 to 35 points. The result plainly shows that two undefeated elevens always put up a great battle and that the winner cannot be determined with any degree of certainty in advance. 
   

The Red and the Black
from 1901 College Songs

   
Tune -The Red, White and Blue.
   

Old Washington and Jefferson forever,
The school of renown and of worth;
Her name is afloat on the breezes,
Her sons are abroad on the earth.
From Maine to mild California,
From Northland to Mexico's shore;
America's Freemen have tasted
And quaffed of her life-living lore.

Chorus: Three cheers for the Red and the Black,
Three cheers for the Red and the Black,
Old Washington and Jefferson forever;
Three cheers for the Red and the Black.

And away o'er old ocean's blue waters,
To all lands that our sun shines upon;
With zeal and with courage undaunted,
Her torch-bearing heralds have gone.
For light and for learning they battle,
Base error they smite to the dust;
Alma Mater has taught them life's lessons--
To be true, to be brave, to be just.

POSTCARD OF WASHINGTON, PA.
CENTENNIAL 1810-1910

   
Chorus: Three Cheers, etc.

So we come with our songs and our garlands,
To greet our dear mother today;
To crown her with laurel and honor,
And to pray that forever and aye,
The God of our Father may keep her
Through the years and the ages adown;
Old Washington and Jefferson forever,
The college of worth and renown.

Chorus: Three Cheers, etc.

--Ole Burroughs, '01
   

Banquet to W&J Football Squad
by Pittsburgh Alumni Club
William Penn Hotel - Jan 21, 1922

Former Coaches at W&J
1890-1932

W&J's first football game
was November 1, 1890
vs. WUP (later PITT)