Elza Williams "Elgie" Tobin (May 7, 1886 – September 3, 1953) was a professional

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 with the independent Youngstown Patricians, and a player-coach with 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 ...

of the American Professional Football Association (renamed 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 ...

in 1922) where he wore number 8. Prior to playing professional football, Tobin 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 ...

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 campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. He

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in football for the Mountaineers in 1907. At Penn State, where records list him as "Yegg Tobin", he lettered for three years (1912, 1913, 1914). The 1912 Penn State team compiled a record of 8-0, and has retroactively been recognized as national champion by the National Championship Foundation, though most other selectors have named the 9-0 Harvard team as national champion. He was team captain of the 1914 Penn State team. Tobin played with Patricians from 1915 until 1919, while serving as an assistant coach for West Virginia. When the Patricians folded, Tobin joined the Akron Pros of the newly formed AFPA. In

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

, Tobin coached the Pros to a record of 8 wins, 0 losses and 3 ties, winning the first ever

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 ...

. The very next season, he split the team's coaching duties with

Fritz Pollard Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the ...

, making Pollard the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

coach in the NFL. The 1921 Akron Pros started the year 7–0, but finished in third place with an 8–3–1 record. Tobin left the Pros after 1921 and was slated to coach a new Youngstown team in the National Football League, but the project died in the planning stages. He later served as player-coach of the semi-professional Elco Sterlings and worked at Republic Steel. Including his time as co-head coach of the Pros in 1921, Tobin holds a winning percentage of .842, the highest of all APFA/NFL coaches to coach at least two seasons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Elgie 1886 births 1953 deaths American football quarterbacks American football fullbacks Akron Pros players Akron Pros coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football players Youngstown Patricians players People from Washington County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania