The 1903 Wabash football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

as an independent during the

1903 college football season The 1903 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Michigan and Princeton as having been selected national champions. Conference standings Major conference standings ...

. In Ebin Wilson's second year as head coach, Wabash compiled a 9–3 record and outscored their opponents by a total of 274 to 74. Games for the "Indiana football championship" were recognized as against Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, DePauw, Earlham, and Franklin. Wabash compiled a 3–3 record against championship opponents. Samuel S. Gordon, an African American student and varsity lineman for Wabash College, faced numerous instances of discrimination in his inaugural season with the Little Giants. In the season opener against Shortridge High School of Indianapolis, Wabash led 12–0 when Gordon was sent in to replace an injured left tackle. Upon seeing this, Captain Clark, right halfback on the Shortridge team, refused to continue play and left the field. According to The Indianapolis Journal, the rest of Clark's team raised no objections, and agreed to continue playing. The crowd was also "bitterly disappointed at the actions of Clark and he was denounced on all sides." On October 6, Rose Polytechnic sent a telegraph to Wabash that relayed their intention to boycott the game if Gordon was allowed to play. Wabash president William Kane responded by cancelling the game with Rose Poly and threatening to do so against any other team who "drew the color line". Head coach Ebin Wilson asserted that they would play Gordon in every game for the remainder of the season, citing his great importance to the Wabash team. On October 20, Hanover also announced that they would not play with the Wabash team with a black man on their roster. Hearing this latest news, Samuel Gordon resigned from the varsity lineup. Wabash accepted the resignation but insisted that they had the right to play any member of their football team , and would make each of their next opponents agree to this before the game could begin. Gordon's resignation lasted three games. He returned as a reserve against Earlham in the last five minutes, and started the entire game against Notre Dame. Samuel Gordon is officially recognized as a letterwinner for the 1903 season.

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References

Wabash Wabash Little Giants football seasons Wabash football {{Indiana-sport-team-stub