Mark Henry Devlin Jr. (December 5, 1894 – December 11, 1973) was a professional

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 wi ...

player.

Early life

Devlin was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts. During

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 ...

he served in the

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. He attended and played college football and baseball at Holy Cross College. He was named captain of the football team for 1917, but left Holy Cross before the season began. He then transferred to St. Ambrose University to finish his education.

Playing career

In 1919, Devlin received an offer from

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 Nativ ...

to play for the Canton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs went on to win the World Championship that year. Devlin then played in the American Professional Football League (which became 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 ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – 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 Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

) with the Rock Island Independents, Cleveland Tigers and the

New York Brickley Giants The New York Giants (informally known as Brickley's Giants and Brickley's New York Giants) were a professional American football team with the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League) whose only season played ...

. He also a player-coach for a football team based in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

and played baseball for Lawrence in the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

Coaching

Devlin returned to St. Ambrose University in 1920 to coach. While at St. Ambrose, Devlin led the team to a 4–0–2 record. He also served as the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 to 1947, Devlin was the head football, baseball, and basketball coach at Lawrence High School. He led the football team to a 147-74-26 record and three state championships. He then served as the school's athletic director and facilities manager until illness forced him to retire in 1958.

Later life and legacy

Devlin spent his later years in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

before moving to a nursing home in Lawrence. In 1965, Lawrence High School's baseball field was named after him. He died on December 11, 1973, in Lawrence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Mark 1894 births 1973 deaths American football quarterbacks Baseball first basemen Canton Bulldogs players Cleveland Tigers (NFL) players Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Holy Cross Crusaders football players New York Brickley Giants players Rock Island Independents players St. Ambrose Fighting Bees baseball players St. Ambrose Fighting Bees football coaches St. Ambrose Fighting Bees football players St. Ambrose Fighting Bees men's basketball coaches People from North Andover, Massachusetts Baseball players from Lawrence, Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Basketball coaches from Massachusetts