Ambrose "Amblin' Amby" Schindler (April 21, 1917 – December 30, 2018) was an American

collegiate 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 ...

player, coach, and on-field official. He played college football for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Sports career

Schindler prepped at

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sch ...

. A star

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 ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, during the 1937 season he led the team in rushing, scoring and total offense and was named to all-conference honors.1997 Inductees for USC Athletic Hall of Fame
USCTrojans.com, November 30, 1996, accessed July 12, 2011. His senior year, he led the Trojans to a share of the 1939

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

: At the

1940 Rose Bowl The 1940 Rose Bowl was the 26th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 1. In a matchup of undefeated teams, the third-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific Coast Conference (PC ...

, capping the 1939 season, Schindler ran for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

and passed for another in a 14-0 victory over a Tennessee Volunteers team that had previously gone undefeated for 23 games and unscored upon for the previous 16 games (including the entire 1939 regular season); he was named the game's most valuable player. He went on to be the MVP in the 1940

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

, held at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

.Jerry Crowe
Ambrose Schindler followed his own road to success at USC and beyond
''Los Angeles Times'', July 10, 2011, accessed July 12, 2011.
''Time'', September 9, 1940, accessed July 12, 2011.

Film and stunt work

During the end of his college career, he appeared in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) as a Winkie guard and as

Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1897 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 1939 Metro-G ...

's Tin Man stunt double. At the time of his death, Schindler was one of the last surviving living people working on the film classic. He also appeared in ''

Sailor's Lady ''Sailor's Lady'', also known as ''Sweetheart of Turret One'', is a 1940 film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Nancy Kelly and Jon Hall. The supporting cast includes Joan Davis, Dana Andrews, and Buster Crabbe. Football player Amby Schindler ...

'' (1940).

Later sport career and honours

Although selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the

1940 NFL Draft The 1940 National Football League Draft was held on December 9, 1939, at the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected George Cafego. Player selections Round one Round ...

, Schindler did not play 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 ...

. At the time, coaching at high school and college offered more financial security than the low pay NFL of the early 1940s; he would later admit that he had lifelong doubts about his decision. His first offer out of college was to coach at Glendale High School, so chose it over a professional career. He served in the

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and returned to move into a long career as coach and instructor at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

. In addition, Schindler also was a longtime football game official, working for years in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

and later officiating high school and college games. He was inducted into the

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...

Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1973.Breitbard Hall of Fame
, San Diego Hall of Champions, June 25, 2008, accessed July 12, 2011. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, and the

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

in 2002.USC'S Ambrose Schindler Named to Rose Bowl Hall Of Fame
USCTrojans.com, November 1, 2002, accessed July 12, 2011.

Personal life

Schindler was one of three children born to Charles Anthony Schindler (1880–1961) and Nellie Ethel Parks (1880–1957). Schindler married his wife, Lucille Frances West (1917–1984), on August 29, 1943, and they together had two children. He did occasionally think about what his life would have been like if he played professional football, but part of his decision to select a more, at the time, stable career was because of his wife. His descendants noted that Schindler had suffered several concussions during his college career and that his short-term memory during his 90s had deteriorated rapidly compared to his sister's at a similar age; thus not going professional as a football player may have spared him from worse

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

. Schindler loved

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

and

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bike ...

and was an active surfer until age 75. He drove a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

with a vanity license plate reading "X USC QB." He turned 100 in April 2017 and died in December 2018 of undisclosed causes at the age of 101.

References

External links