Gaius Ray "Gus" Shaver (August 14, 1910 – October 11, 1998) was an All-American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played at the

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 ...

and fullback positions for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Trojans football teams from 1929 to 1931. He was a consensus All-American in 1931 and led the Trojans that year to a national championship. Shaver was also captain of the winning team and the leading rusher in

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 ...

at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games.

Biography

Early years

Born in

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, " ...

, Shaver played three seasons at quarterback for the Covina High School football teams. He helped lead the Colts to state football championships in 1925 and 1926 and also held the school pole vault record at .

University of Southern California

Shaver enrolled at the

in 1928 and played on coach Howard Jones "Thundering Herd" football teams from 1929 to 1931.

1929 season

As a sophomore in 1929, Shaver played for the USC team that beat Pitt 47–14 in the 1930 Rose Bowl to finish the season with a record of 10–2.

1931 season

In 1931, he was selected as a consensus All-American, as he led the Trojans to a 10–1 record and a national championship. The 1931 Trojans lost their opening game to St. Mary's College, but won the remaining ten games. When USC faced Notre Dame in 1931, Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 in the country and had won 26 consecutive games. Shaver scored two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, both in the fourth quarter, to lead USC to a 16–14 come-from-behind win in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

. The game was the Trojans’ first win on Notre Dame's home field. Shaver later recalled that, after the game in South Bend, the USC team visited the grave of Notre Dame's former coach

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

(who had died earlier in the year) to pay their respects. When the team returned to Los Angeles, the city conducted a parade from

Los Angeles City Hall Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Cente ...

to the USC campus in the team's honor. At the time, the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote: "No conquering army of ancient Rome ever received a more tumultuous welcome." The Trojans advanced the 1932 Rose Bowl, defeating

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

21–12. Shaver led the Trojans in rushing for the 1931 season with 936 yards.

Olympic Games

When the Summer Olympic Games came to Los Angeles in 1932, the organizers chose

as the "demonstration sport." All-Stars from Eastern universities were matched against All-Stars from the universities of the Pacific Coast. The game was played at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

in August 1932, and the West team won by a score of 7–6. The game was attended by 60,000 spectators. Shaver was the captain of the West team and the game's leading rusher with 145 yards on 16 attempts. After the game, the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote: "It remained for a spectacle listed on the program as 'American Football' to provide the Tenth Olympiad with its greatest thrill to date. Chances are the game will become an international pastime before the memory of this night game dies away." American football has not been included in any Olympic games since the 1932 games in Los Angeles.

Later years and family

Shaver returned to USC as an assistant football coach from 1940 to 1945. He later worked as a salesman of construction equipment. In 1975, Shaver retired and moved from his home in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, to a ranch north of

Fallbrook, California Fallbrook is a CDP in northern San Diego County, California. Fallbrook had a population of 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census. Fallbrook's downtown is not on a major highway route. It is west of Interstate 15 or n ...

, in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. Shaver and his wife, Stella, began raising oranges and tangerines on the ranch in the 1950s. Shaver was married to Stella Marie Chrisman. They had two children, Karen Shaver and Gaius John Shaver. In 1998, Shaver died of natural causes at his home in Fallbrook. He was age 88 and had been in failing health since suffering cardiac arrest in 1991.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaver, Gauis Gus 1910 births 1998 deaths American football fullbacks American football players at the 1932 Summer Olympics USC Trojans football coaches USC Trojans football players All-American college football players Sportspeople from Covina, California Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California People from Fallbrook, California Summer Olympics competitors for the United States