Haven Alva "Hi" Brigham (July 13, 1892 – October 6, 1987) 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 ...

lineman who played eight seasons with the

Columbus Panhandles The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before foldi ...

, including one while they were in 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 ...

(NFL).

Early life and education

Brigham was born on July 13, 1892, in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. He was one of four children. His family moved to

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan Are ...

, shortly after his birth. He was nicknamed "Hi" when he was young. He did not play high school football until his senior year of high school, after several friends suggested he try out for the team. His coach, Jim Lehmann, gave him the center position. He also played fullback, and scored his only touchdown in a 111–0 win over

North Baltimore High School North Baltimore High School is a public high school in North Baltimore, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the North Baltimore Local School District. Their nickname is the Tigers. They are members of the Blanchard Valley Confere ...

. He attended college at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, studying

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. He enrolled in fall of 1910, playing for the school's freshman team. While at Ohio State, Brigham met a clerk from Fahrney Tailors, who asked him if he was interested in playing professional football. He played a few games for the team, getting paid ten dollars per game, before being caught by OSU. He was caught when Lynn St. John, the Ohio State athletic director, refereed a game that he was playing in. St. John recognized Brigham and gave him an ultimatum the next day. "He told me to make up my mind. Either it was going to be football with OSU or the professional ranks. I was young then and the money was too good to pass up," Brigham later said.

Professional career

He played with the team until the 1913 season, being considered one of the best in Ohio. He was then recruited by

Joseph Carr Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in American football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of ...

, the owner of the

Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct pr ...

, to play for his team. Carr gave Brigham an offer of 20 dollars per game, and a job at a local railroad station with a salary of 75 dollars a month. He accepted the offer, and ended up playing eight seasons with the team. By 1915 he had become one of the team's top players, starting nearly every game of the season at center. However, near the end of the 1915 season, Brigham nearly lost his life. While chasing a

Columbus Barracks Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor ...

player, Brigham fell out of bounds on an iron water bucket. He finished the game, but soon afterwards experienced pain and went to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a ruptured spleen and given a small chance to live. He was described by ''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...

'' as "near death", but recovered and played five more seasons. He retired in 1921, after playing three games in the inaugural

(NFL) season.

Later life

After retiring from sports, Brigham worked at his family's greenhouse before opening a collectibles store. The store, titled ''Brigham's Stamps and Coins'', was operated by him from 1936 to 1980, closing when he retired at the age of 87. When asked about his football career in 1983, Brigham said "I really wouldn't have given it up for anything." He died of natural causes on October 6, 1987, in his hometown of

. He was 95, and the last living former Panhandle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigham, Hi 1892 births 1987 deaths American football tackles American football guards American football centers American football ends Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Columbus Panhandles players