Edwin Whitfield "Goat" Hale (January 29, 1896 – March 25, 1983) 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 for the Mississippi College Collegians who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. After playing, he served many years as a coach.

Early years

Hale was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

and played high school football at its Central High School. Hale got the nickname "Goat" playing there against Brookhaven in 1914. He battered through the line, scoring a touchdown, and ran past the end zone until his head hit a wooden building, loosening several planks.

Mississippi College

"Goat" played

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 ...

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

from 1915 to 1916 and again from 1920 to 1921, after serving 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 ...

. He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team. He was elected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1961, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Hale was also inducted into the Millsaps College Sports Hall of Fame in 1970. He is the name sake of the Hale in

Robinson-Hale Stadium The Mississippi College Choctaws football team represents Mississippi College. The school's teams are known as the Choctaws. Its major rivals are Millsaps College in nearby Jackson and Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi in the Delta. After a ...

, wherein Mississippi College plays it home games. He stood 5'11" and weighed 170 pounds.

World War I

During the war he was wounded, reported missing, and found later in a hospital in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

1921

In 1921, Hale scored 161 points and gained 2,160 yards as he was selected All-Southern. "Ten other players are on Hale's teams, but they are there merely to conform with gridiron rules."

Death

Hale died in 1983; he was 87 years old.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Edwin 1896 births 1983 deaths American football quarterbacks College Football Hall of Fame inductees Millsaps Majors football coaches Mississippi College Choctaws football coaches Mississippi College Choctaws football players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Ole Miss Rebels baseball coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Sportspeople from Jackson, Mississippi Coaches of American football from Mississippi Players of American football from Jackson, Mississippi Basketball coaches from Mississippi