Alexander Mathias "Babe" Weyand (January 10, 1892 – May 10, 1982) 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, Olympian,

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

sports historian The history of sports extends back to the Ancient world. The physical activity that developed into sports had early links with ritual, warfare and entertainment. Study of the history of sport can teach lessons about social changes and about the ...

. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1974.

Biography

Weyand was born on January 10, 1892, to Alexander Nicholas Weyand and Mary C. Lieberman in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Jersey City High School (since renamed

William L. Dickinson High School William L. Dickinson High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Jersey City Public Sch ...

), where he did not earn a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

in any sport, as he chose to place priority on his education.

College career

At the

United States Military Academy at West Point 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 ...

from 1911 to 1915, Weyand starred at tackle and was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 1915 team. Nicknamed during his "yearling" (sophomore) year at West Point "Babe" by his teammate

Dwight David Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, he was described in ''The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation'' (Jenkins, S., Random House 2007) as a "tireless, one-man wrecking crew." In 1913, Army lost one game—against Notre Dame and its legends

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

and

Gus Dorais Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais (July 2, 1891 – January 3, 1954) was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. Dorais played college football at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913 at quarterback ...

. They were undefeated in 1914 with a 20–7 win over the Irish. And they beat

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

in 1913, 1914 and 1915, the same years Weyand was selected to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

. An all around athlete, Weyand played for the 1912 West Point Basketball and 1915 Ice Hockey squad, and was a member of the class fencing and swimming teams in 1916, runner up to Bob Neyland for Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Academy and Heavyweight Wrestling Champion of the Academy 1913, 1915 and 1916.

Military career

After graduating from West Point, Weyand served with distinction in

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 ...

, where he earned a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

(gallantry),

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

(wounded in action) and

battlefield promotion A battlefield promotion (or field promotion) is an advancement in military rank that occurs while deployed in combat. A standard field promotion is advancement from current rank to the next higher rank; a "jump-step" promotion allows the recipient ...

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and

battalion commander A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

. After World War I, he competed in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

class in

wrestling at the 1920 Summer Olympics At the 1920 Summer Olympics, ten wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were five weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and five classes in Catch as Catch Can, predecessor to freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style ...

. Due to severe hearing loss caused by frontline duty in World War I, Weyand could not serve in combat in World War II. He retired from active duty in 1946 at the rank of Colonel.

Sports historian

In retirement, Col. Weyand wrote a series of acclaimed sports histories, including the seminal ''Saga of American Football'' (New York: MacMillan, 1955), foreword by

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

who described him as probably the then foremost living authority on the sport, winner of the 1955 Helms Athletic Foundation Award, and "Football Immortals" winner of the 1962 Helms Award. Sports historian John Sayle Watterson in his book ''College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) described the "Saga" as follows " ccinct and fast-paced, Weyand's history masterfully depicts the game's origins, its early stars and teams, the geographic expansion of football, and the changes in its rules." In 1965, Weyand and former

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

lacrosse coach Milton Roberts wrote ''The Lacrosse Story'', the first full-length history of the sport of lacrosse based on nine years of research.

Death

Weyand died on May 10, 1982, in

North Bellmore, New York North Bellmore is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 19,941 at the 2010 census. North Bellmore, along with Bellmore, are referred to collect ...

. He is interred next to his wife, Marie, at

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and early ...

. Alex "Babe" Weyand

. Accessed June 27, 2013. His son, Lieutenant General Alexander Mulqueen Weyand (1928-2011), graduated from West Point in 1952 and was a member of the 1951 National Championship Lacrosse team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weyand, Alex 1892 births 1982 deaths American football tackles Army Black Knights football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Olympic wrestlers for the United States Wrestlers at the 1920 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers American military personnel of World War I United States Army colonels Recipients of the Silver Star William L. Dickinson High School alumni Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey Military personnel from New Jersey Burials at West Point Cemetery