William Blake Miller (May 3, 1889 – January 9, 1987) 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 wi ...

player and coach. Miller played college football at Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University) from 1912 to 1915. He was selected as the captain of the 1915 team and a first-team

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

on the

1914 All-Western college football team The 1914 All-Western college football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Western teams chosen by various selectors for the 1914 college football season. All-Western selections Ends * Perry Graves, Illinois (CC, CON, D ...

. In November 1915, Miller was declared ineligible to compete further in intercollegiate athletics after it was revealed that he had played in two professional football games with the

Detroit Heralds Detroit had four early teams in the National Football League before the Detroit Lions. The Heralds played in 1920, and had played as an independent as far back as 1905. The Tigers, a continuation of the Heralds, played in 1921, folding midseason ...

. After leaving college, Miller served as the head coach of the

Central Michigan Chippewas football The Central Michigan Chippewas are a college football program in Division I FBS, representing Central Michigan University (CMU). CMU has the 30th highest overall winning percentage of programs playing in NCAA Division I. The Chippewas have pla ...

team in 1916 and compiled a 1–5 record. In 1919, he returned to Michigan Agricultural College as an assistant coach responsible for the backfield. Miller also played professional football in the first two seasons of 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). He appeared in two games for the

in 1920 and in three games for the Detroit Tigers in 1921. Miller died in 1987 from injuries suffered in a fire at his home in Lansing, Michigan at the age of 97. He was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Blake 1889 births 1987 deaths American football ends Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Central Michigan Chippewas men's basketball coaches Detroit Heralds players Michigan State Spartans football coaches Michigan State Spartans football players People from Tonawanda, New York Players of American football from New York (state) Sportspeople from Erie County, New York