John McGovern (September 15, 1887 – December 13, 1963) was an American

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 ...

player. He was elected to 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 1966.

Biography

McGovern was born in

Arlington, Minnesota Arlington is a city in Sibley County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,233 at the 2010 census. History The community was platted in 1856, and the name was officially approved on May 11, 1858, the same date that Minnesota became a ...

and attended high school in Arlington. McGovern played

for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, and was the junior captain and quarterback at the University of Minnesota. He led his team to the Big Nine conference (later the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

). McGovern was named an All-American by the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

and Look Magazine in 1909. McGovern played for the Minnesota Golden Golphers football team under coach

Henry L. Williams Henry Lane Williams (July 26, 1869 – June 14, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy in 1891 and the University of Minnesota from 1900 to 1921, compiling a care ...

. While at Minnesota, McGovern was a member of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

fraternity, and

Phi Delta Phi Phi Delta Phi () is an international legal honor society and the oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States. Phi Delta Phi was originally a professional fraternity but became an honor society in 2012. The fraternity ...

, a law society.1910 ''Minnesota Gopher'' yearbook, p.84
accessed 12 Aug 2020. After college graduation, he worked as a sports editor for a Minnesota newspaper and then practiced law in Washington D.C. McGovern died on December 13, 1963 in

Le Sueur, Minnesota Le Sueur is a city in Le Sueur County in the U.S. state of Minnesota, between Mankato and the Twin Cities. It lies along the Minnesota River and U.S. Highway 169. Le Sueur was named in honor of the French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur. The ...

In literature

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''

This Side of Paradise ''This Side of Paradise'' is the debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive ...

'', John McGovern was on the mind of protagonist Amory Blaine.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, John 1880s births 1963 deaths American football quarterbacks Macalester Scots football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Sibley County, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota

Biography

See also

In literature

References

External links