Robert Cook Folwell Jr. (February 17, 1885 – January 8, 1928) 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 coach. He served as the head coach at Lafayette College (1909–1911),
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
(1912–1915), the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(1916–1919), and the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
(1920–1924), compiling a career
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 ...
record of 106–29–9. Folwell then moved to the professional ranks, coaching the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
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 ...
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. ...
in 1926, and the
Atlantic City Roses
The Melrose Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey from 1921 until around 1927. The club which was also known as the Atlantic City Roses and the Atlantic City Atlantics was arguably the most popular foot ...
of the
Eastern League of Professional Football
The Eastern League of Professional Football was an american football minor league formed in 1926 by independent clubs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey (separate from the ''" Eastern Pennsylvania Football League"'' which played in the late 1930s a ...
in 1927.
Early life and playing career
Folwell was born in the
Mullica Hill
Mullica Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Harrison Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP's population was 3,982.Harrison Township, New Jersey in 1885. He attended Haverford Grammar School, where he made prep football All-American. He married Elizabeth Pennock in 1913 and had three sons: Robert III, George P. and William Nathan. He attended the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, where he set several school football records that stand to this day.
He also starred as a wrestler. He won the Intercollegiate Wrestling Association's 175-pound title in 1907.
College coaching career
Lafayette
Folwell coached Lafayette College from 1908 through 1911, amassing a 19–2–1 record.
Washington & Jefferson
After hearing rumors that Folwell was unhappy at Lafayette, Robert "Mother" Murphy personally recruited him to coach for Washington & Jefferson College, where he coached from 1912 to 1915 and post a 36–5–3 record and was named coach of the year in 1913.
In Folwell's first season,
Washington & Jefferson
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
held the legendary scorer
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
and the
Carlisle Indians
The Carlisle Indians football team represented the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in college football, intercollegiate football competition. The program was active from 1893 until 1917, when it was discontinued. During the program's 25 years, th ...
to a scoreless tie. In 1913, the team posted a 10–0–1 record and were the highest scoring team in the nation. That season featured a scoreless tie of
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
that broke the Nittany Lions' 19-game winning streak, earning the entire school a day off to celebrate. Sportswriter Walter S. Trumbull of ''
The New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...
'' suggested that the Michigan Aggies, Washington & Jefferson, Chicago University, and Notre Dame were the new "Big 4 of College Football" instead of the traditional grouping of
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
, Yale,
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, and Penn. Folwell's 1914 squad lost at Harvard in front of 15,000 fans by a score of 10–9. If not for an errant kick that hit the crossbar, W&J would have won the same and at least a share of the mythical national championship. That squad saved face by becoming only the seventh team to ever defeat Yale, with a decisive 13–7 victory. The game received national press coverage, and the team received a personal note of congratulations by
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 ...
.
Penn
Folwell then coached at
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
from 1916 to 1919, where he posted a 27–10–2 record. During the 1918
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
, Folwell was hospitalized for the virus.
Navy
Folwell was the 17th head football coach at the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
and he held that position for five seasons, from 1920 until 1924. His coaching record with
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 ...
was 24–12–3.
Professional coaching career and death
Folwell was the first head coach for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
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 ...
Atlantic City Roses
The Melrose Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey from 1921 until around 1927. The club which was also known as the Atlantic City Roses and the Atlantic City Atlantics was arguably the most popular foot ...
of the
Eastern League of Professional Football
The Eastern League of Professional Football was an american football minor league formed in 1926 by independent clubs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey (separate from the ''" Eastern Pennsylvania Football League"'' which played in the late 1930s a ...
in 1927, but was forced to retire to his farm in New Jersey after one season. A hip infection, which began while he was coaching the Philadelphia Quakers, worsened, forcing him to walk with a cane. In January 1928, he had a hip operation at
Jefferson Hospital
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc, branded as Jefferson Health, is a multi-state non-profit health system whose flagship hospital is Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City, Philadelphia. The health system's hospitals serve ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. The surgery was initially successful, but he took a turn for the worse and died January 8, 1928.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...