Everett Marlin Sweeley (March 4, 1880 – September 2, 1957) 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 played fullback, halfback and

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 ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1899 to 1902 and was a member of

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

's 1901 and 1902 "Point-a-Minute" teams. He then served as the head football coach at

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

in 1903 and at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

in 1904 and 1905. He also coached

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

at Washington State. After retiring from football, Sweeley became a lawyer and judge in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Biography

Early years

Sweeley was born in

Adel, Iowa Adel ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Iowa. It is located along the North Raccoon River. Its population was 6,153 at the time of the 2020 Census. History Adel is the oldest town within Dallas County. Originally called Pe ...

in 1880.United States Draft Registration Card signed by Everett Marlin Sweeley, April 1942. The National Archives Pacific Alaska Region (Seattle); Seattle, Washington; Fourth Registration Draft Cards (WWII); State Headquarters: Idaho; Record Group Name: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Archive Number: 563870; Box Number: 49. At the time of the 1885 Iowa State Census, Sweeley was living in

Storm Lake, Iowa Storm Lake is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 11,269 in the 2020 census, an increase from 10,076 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Buena Vista County. Storm Lake is home to Buena Vista Universit ...

. He attended high school at

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

University of Michigan

Sweeley enrolled at the

in 1899. He played four years of football at Michigan from 1899 to 1902 at the end, fullback, and halfback positions, but he was best known as one of the game's premier punters and

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

s. Before enrolling at Michigan, Sweeley said he had never seen a college football game. In four seasons, he missed only one game, the result of what Sweeley called "a little row with a math professor." While playing for Michigan, Sweeley set the

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 for the longest kick on record. In 1902, he kicked the football 86 yards before touching the ground. Sweeley also held "an enviable distinction unboasted by any other hero of the gridiron." In four years punting for Michigan, he never had a single punt blocked. Sweeley was known for punts that were both high and long. He would reportedly tell his ends accurately where each punt was to go, "and by this concerted action Michigan gained many yards." Sweeley was also "an expert place kicker," scoring over 100 points for Michigan in this manner. A 1906 newspaper feature reported that his greatest talent was "the running punt trick," a play in which Sweeley would run a ball "until he was hard pressed and then kick, often thus adding many yards to the ground gained." In the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaugu ...

, Sweeley kicked four field goals and punted 21 times for a 38.9-yard average. A newspaper story in 1950 reported on Sweeley's kicking ability: "Sweeley, a truly great kicker in the days when the ball resembled a pumpkin rather than the tapered oblate spheroid now in use, introduced the spiral pant to Coast fans that memorable day n the 1902 Rose Bowl His towering punts outdistanced the end-over-end kicks of the Indians by 20 yards."

Coach

After graduating from Michigan, Sweeley went into coaching. He served as the head football coach at

in Sioux City, Iowa for a season in 1903 and then moved to

in Pullman, Washington for the 1904 and 1905 seasons. His record at Washington State was 6–6.

Later years

After retiring from coaching, Sweeley moved to

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 census. In the Magic Valley region, Twin Falls is the largest city in a radius, and is the regiona ...

where he worked as a lawyer. In September 1907, he married Hazel Jury Brown (1886–1972) at

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. According to the 1920 United States Census, Sweeley and his wife had two children at that time, Jean B Sweeley (age 9) and Anna L. Sweeley (age 6). Sweeley also became an expert trap shooter and ballistics expert. In 1916, he won the interstate trapshooting championship. He was elected prosecutor in 1938. In his draft registration card signed in April 1942, Sweeley listed his residence as Twin Falls, his employer as the County of Twin Falls, and his place of employment as the County Courthouse in Twin Falls. In 1952, Sweeley attended a reunion in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

of the 1902 Rose Bowl team. At the time, Sweeley was a practicing attorney living in Twin Falls, and was recalled as "a great punter back at the turn of the century." He served as a probate judge in the mid-1950s.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeley, Everett 1880 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football ends American football fullbacks American football halfbacks Basketball coaches from Iowa Michigan Wolverines football players Morningside Mustangs football coaches Washington State Cougars baseball coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Washington State Cougars men's basketball coaches Idaho lawyers People from Storm Lake, Iowa People from Adel, Iowa Sportspeople from Sioux City, Iowa People from Twin Falls, Idaho Coaches of American football from Iowa Players of American football from Iowa Baseball coaches from Iowa