Francis Arthur "Mother" Dunn, (April 15, 1891 – February 1975) 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 as well as head football coach for at

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. While coaching at Dickinson he also played professional football for the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...

. After coaching he served as a corporate attorney in the steel industry until he retired in 1969

Early life

Dunn was born and raised in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

where attended the local schools. After high school, he chose to attend Dickinson College because the school had a law school. While at Dickinson he was member of many organizations including the Student Senate,

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity, as well as serving as president of the Athletic Association. A well rounded student he also sang with the

Glee Club A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...

and sat on the editorial board of the college

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

. He is considered one of greatest all-round athletes in the Dickinson's history earning two

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

for basketball and four letters in football. During his senior year at Dickinson he married and had a daughter. Dunn received the nickname "Mother" while traveling for his first year of college. It was giving to him by two upperclassman that happen to run into the incoming freshman at the

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

train station. After finding out his last name, they started calling him "Mother," in reference to the

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 ...

All-American

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, William Thomas "Mother" Dunn.Gobrecht p. 96 After he graduated in 1914 he was a teacher and coach at Elkins Park High School in

Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Cheltenham is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 19012. It is located directly over the city line (Cheltenham Avenue) of Philadelphia. It also borders Northeast ...

.Gobrecht p. 126 The following year, he returned to Dickinson and entered the School of Law.

College athlete

Dunn played

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

and halfback for the Dickinson College football team from 1910 to 1913. During his freshman year, he started every game and led the team in scoring with 25 points. The next year under new coach Simon F. Pauxtis, Dunn teamed up Hyman Goldstein in Dickinson backfield. The team finished with a record of 4–4. Dickinson started the season with a 17–0 loss to cross town rival

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisle ...

that featured

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 was coached by

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

. Besides Carlisle, Dickinson faced off with National power

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 ...

. Against Penn Dunn scored on a 35-yard interception but Dickinson lost by a score of 22–10. This was the most points that Dickinson had ever scored against Penn. In addition to their scheduled games, Dickinson and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School would play midweek scrimmages throughout the season.Gobrecht p. 99–101 Dunn was elected captain of the 1912 team. The team started slow with losses to Penn and Carlisle but finished with a 4–4–1 record. The highlight of the season was a 0–0 tie against

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

. Dunn ran for 124 yards against a Swarthmore team that had beaten powers Penn,

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 ...

and

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

. For the season Dunn led the team in scoring with 54 points on 9 touchdowns.Gobrecht p. 122Gobrecht p. 133 In Dunn's last year playing for Dickinson, the Red and White finished with a record of 4–5 under new coach

S. W. Harrington Stuart William "Tack" Harrington (April 20, 1889 – March 1975) was an American physician and surgeon, and college football player and coach. Early life Harrington was born in Blossburg, Pennsylvania in 1889. In 1908 he entered Pennsylvania State ...

.Gobrecht p. 134 During a game at Washington & Jefferson, Dunn play was so impressed the opponent's fans they gave him a standing ovation when he left the game in the fourth quarter.Gobrecht p. 123 He finished the season with five games in which he had over 100 yards in offence. When he finished playing football Dunn had numerous Dickinson College records including most points in one game (30), most points in a season (84), most yards rushing in a season (114 carries for 959 yards), along with most of the other rushing and scoring records.

College coach

To earn extra money while attending law school, Dunn took a part-time job as the head football coach for the

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

. He held this position for the 1915 and 1917 seasons. The 1915 season did not do well for the Red and White. Due lack of talent and size the team finished with a record of 0–9–1. Seven of the eleven starters weighed less than 150 lbs. The team did not score in the first five-game and only scored 44 points total for the season. Dunn's team did manage a 0–0 tie with

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...

in the first game of the season. For the 1916 season

Forrest Craver Forrest Eugene "Cap" Craver Sr. (September 24, 1875 – October 18, 1958) was an American college football player and coach and athletic director who helped to pioneer physical education programs at the collegiate level including the introduction o ...

, who had been serving as an advisor to the team, returned as head coach but hired Dunn as his field coach. He also hired J. Reap, a former Villanova football player, to assist with the line. In addition the team talent got a boost when Dunn convinced

Gus Welch Gus is a masculine name, often a diminutive for Angus, August, Augustine, or Augustus, and other names (e.g. Aengus, Argus, Fergus, Ghassan, Gustav, Gustave, Gustafson, Gustavo, Gussie). It can also be used as the adaptation into English of ...

, considered one of the best players at

, to join the team. The team finished with a 4–3–2 record.Gobrecht p. 127–8 One of the ties was against

, a team that had beaten national powers Penn and Columbia. Dickinson came from behind when Welsh tied the game with five seconds remaining.Gobrecht p. 129 Dunn returned as head coach for the 1917 season after Craver and took a coaching position at the

Tome School The Tome School is a private school in North East, Maryland, North East in Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County in the U.S. state of Maryland. Founded in 1894 by Jacob Tome, it is one of the oldest schools in Maryland. It enrolls grades K–12. As ...

Port Deposit, Maryland Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located a ...

. Due to

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 ...

, few members of the 1917 team returned, many choosing to join the military. Dunn coached the 1917 squad to the first undefeated and untied season Dickinson history.Gobrecht p. 130 His overall coaching record at Dickinson was 5–8–1.Centennial Conference
"2008 Centennial Conference Football Prospectus"

Professional football player

At the same time Dunn was coaching the

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

football team, he was also earning money during law school by playing professional football for the

under

. Thorpe was tipped off by a teammate,

, that Dunn was planning on playing for the Bulldogs' arch rival, the

Massillon Tigers The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships ...

. Upon hearing the news, Thorpe hired Dunn to play for the Bulldogs. During the season Dunn would board a train on Saturday night so he could arrive for the game on Sunday. The team would run through plays in the morning and play in the afternoon. Dunn was able to pick up the plays easily because they were based on

's offence that Warner used when he coached Thorpe at the

. Dunn was quite familiar since Carlisle was a cross town rival that he played against numerous times.Gobrecht p. 131

After football

After the 1917 season Dunn followed Forrest Craver and took a temporary coaching position the

. He held this job until his

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

was reviewed. While teaching at the Tome School, a father of one of the students approached Dunn to take a legal position at the Cambria Steel Company in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

. Dunn stayed with the company when it merged with

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

in 1923 and retired in 1969.Gobrecht p. 132

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Francis 1891 births 1975 deaths Bethlehem Steel people American football fullbacks American football halfbacks Canton Bulldogs (Ohio League) players Canton Professionals players Dickinson Red Devils football coaches Dickinson Red Devils football players Sportspeople from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania