Adam Floy Casad (February 9, 1878 – November 14, 1927) 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 ...

player and an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. A native of Indiana, Casad grew up in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

where he graduated from high school in 1896. He then attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

where he played at the halfback and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

positions for the Army Black Knights football team from 1899 to 1901. He was captain of Army's 1901 team. In announcing Casad's unanimous election as captain, ''The New York Times'' reported: "The new Captain is a short sturdily built young man. He stands high in the Class of 1902 and is a general favorite with the whole corps." In December 1901, Casad was selected by the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' as a second-team halfback on its

1901 College Football All-America Team The 1901 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various individuals who chose College Football All-America Teams for the 1901 college football season. The only two individ ...

. Casad graduated from the Military Academy in June 1902. He was given his diploma by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, who addressed Casad by his athletic, rather than military, rank: "How do you do, Capt. Casad. I have heard of you before." Casad thereafter served for 25 years in the

, attaining the rank of colonel. He was awarded a

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

for his service as Deputy Chief Ordnance Officer for the American Expeditionary Forces during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was sent to study at the

Army Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

in August 1927 and died there in November at age 49. He was buried at the

San Francisco National Cemetery San Francisco National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery, located in the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with Golden Gate National Cemetery, a few miles south of the ci ...

a week later. Though a lieutenant colonel at the time of his death, he was posthumously advanced to colonel in June 1930 having served temporarily at that rank from January 1918 to June 1920 during World War I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casad, Adam 1878 births 1927 deaths People from Delphi, Indiana Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas Military personnel from Wichita, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas American football halfbacks Army Black Knights football players United States Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Burials at San Francisco National Cemetery United States Army colonels