Noah Winston Caton (February 17, 1897 – April 12, 1922) 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 ...

player and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

star for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. Caton was thrice selected All-Southern. He was a member of the

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...

fraternity. His older brother Eugene was also a prominent Auburn football player.

Early years

Noah Winston Caton was born on February 17, 1897, in

River Falls, Alabama River Falls is a town in Covington County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 479. Geography River Falls is located northwest of Andalusia, the county seat, at (31.3519, -86.5367). The town lies along the Conecuh ...

, to Noah Dent Caton and Elizabeth Rousseau. He spent a year at

Howard College Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...

. He also served in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

Auburn University

Caton was a prominent

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for

Mike Donahue Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, soccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head fo ...

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...

teams which compiled a record of 20–6 () over three seasons; including the SIAA champion

1919 Auburn Tigers football team The 1919 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1919 college football season. It was the Tigers' 28th overall season and they competed as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The team wa ...

and the

1920 Auburn Tigers football team The 1920 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1920 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was the Tigers' 29th overall season and they competed as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate A ...

, one of Auburn's greatest teams, which scored 42.5 points per game despite being shut out twice, and set a school record with 332 points in nine games. Caton and "Coach" Warren anchored the line for Auburn in 1920. Caton was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the team his senior year. Caton was selected All-Southern three years. He graduated from the school of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

with an M. E. degree in 1921. Auburn's yearbook ''The Glomerata'' says this of Caton: "a combination of center and tackle that is hard to beat. He has fought against pivot men of all calibres and none of them have been able to put anything over his sector."

Death

Caton died in a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

hospital early in life due to

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

. An operation had happened too late and he survived just a week after it. He was in an unconscious condition for 48 hours before relatives gave up hope of recovery. By his side as he died, as well as family, was coach

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caton, Noah 1897 births 1922 deaths American football centers American football guards Auburn Tigers football players People from Covington County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama All-Southern college football players Samford Bulldogs football players Deaths from appendicitis