Otis Floyd Lamson (September 13, 1876 – December 11, 1956) 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 coach, and also a surgeon.

Early life

Lamson was born in

Beetown, Wisconsin Beetown is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 734 at the United States Census 2000, 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Beetown (community), Wisconsin, Beetown, Diamond Grove, Wi ...

, in 1876.

Football career

Lamson served as the head football coach at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1907. Prior to his coaching career, Lamson 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 ...

while attending the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

for the Quakers in 1904 and 1905. In 1905, he earned All-American honors from

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

. In 1906, Lamson was hired by the

Massillon Tigers The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships ...

to play for the team in 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 ...

" championship. During that two-game series, a betting scandal involving the Tigers and their rivals, the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...

, arose.

Head coaching record

Medical career

Lamson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1907, after which he practiced medicine in Seattle for 41 years, until his retirement in 1952. He was one of the best-known surgeons in the western United States. After his internship at Mercy Hospital in Denver, he received a fellowship to work at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

. He then served at Doctors Hospital and Columbus Hospital in Seattle. Lamson also served as the president of the North Pacific Surgical Association, and he co-founded the Pacific Coast Surgical Association. His professional interests included the treatment of

achalasia Esophageal achalasia, often referred to simply as achalasia, is a failure of smooth muscle fibers to relax, which can cause the lower esophageal sphincter to remain closed. Without a modifier, "achalasia" usually refers to achalasia of the esoph ...

References

Additional sources

External links

* 1876 births 1956 deaths American surgeons All-American college football players American football tackles Massillon Tigers players North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Penn Quakers football players People from Beetown, Wisconsin {{1900s-collegefootball-coach-stub