Alfred Russell Cobb (June 7, 1892 – September 12, 1974) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. Cobb played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and later played professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Cobb attended Syracuse University, where he played for the

Syracuse Orange football The Syracuse Orange football team represents Syracuse University in the sport of American football. The Orange compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the ...

team. In 1917 he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American at the tackle position, having received first-team honors from International News Service (INS), News Enterprise Association (NEA), and ''Collier's Weekly'' (as selected by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

).''2014 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 4 & 14 (2014). Retrieved August 17, 2014. Cobb played in the early days of the NFL, when it was still known as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), including for the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter mem ...

and the

Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner S ...

. As a member of the 1920 Akron Pros, Cobb was a member of the very first

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

team. Over three APFA/NFL seasons, Cobb played in 21 games as a lineman, starting 16 of them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Alf 1892 births 1974 deaths American football tackles Akron Pros players Cleveland Bulldogs players Syracuse Orange football players All-American college football players People from Athol, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Waltham, Massachusetts Players of American football from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Players of American football from Worcester County, Massachusetts