Ira Errett "Rat" Rodgers (May 26, 1895 – February 15, 1963) 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

player and coach. He 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 ...

for

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 ...

where he was selected as an All-American in 1919. He also served as the school's head football coach from 1925 to 1930 and again from 1943 to 1945.

Collegiate career

Rodgers was a high school standout football player, who was recruited by powerhouse schools such as the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

and

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

. In 1915, however, Mountaineer coach Mont McIntyre won the honors of Rodgers, who started his first game of the season as a quarterback. He played quarterback most of his freshman season, until later in the season when he was moved to fullback. He played fullback for the next three years of his career. He was a member of the

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlva ...

fraternity on campus. As a senior, in 1919, Rodgers had one of the greatest seasons of any player from

. Rodgers led the nation in scoring with 147 points on 19 touchdowns and 33 extra-point kicks. He also threw 11 touchdown passes, which was a rare feat for that era and a WVU record until 1949. Rodgers earned consensus All-American honors that season, the first All-American in WVU history. Rodgers is considered one of the greatest players of his era, and one of the greatest athletes in Mountaineer history. Rodgers was the first Mountaineer to rush for more than 200 yards in a game. He also holds the school record for the most rushing touchdowns season (19). His record of most touchdowns in a career (42), was broken by running back

Steve Slaton Steve Slaton (born January 4, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football for West Virginia University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was chosen by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 200 ...

who rushed for his 50th touchdown in 2007. Rodgers also threw 24 touchdown passes in his career as well. Rodgers has been a long-time member of the West Virginia University Athletics Hall of Fame and was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1953.

Baseball career

Rodgers' baseball skills led to a professional offer from

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

, the long-time manager of the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

, but he chose instead to remain at West Virginia to teach and coach. He was the Mountaineer baseball coach for 23 years. During summer months, Rodgers did play and manage some professional baseball including a stint as the player-manager of the

Kinston Highwaymen The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...

of the "outlaw"

Eastern Carolina Baseball Association The Eastern Carolina Baseball Association was a six team minor league baseball affiliation which operated in the Eastern part of North Carolina. The league was considered to be an " outlaw" league since it existed outside of the law of the Nation ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

Coaching career

After his honorable playing career, Rodgers moved on to coach the Mountaineers in football, baseball and golf. He compiled a 41–31–8 mark as a football coach and a 204–208–3 mark as a baseball coach.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Ira Errett 1963 deaths 1895 births American football fullbacks American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball managers West Virginia Mountaineers baseball coaches West Virginia Mountaineers baseball players West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football players West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Bethany, West Virginia Coaches of American football from West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia Baseball coaches from West Virginia Baseball players from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia