Robert W. Forbes (1886–1947) 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 wi ...

player and coach. He was a first-team All-American

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

for

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1906 and was the recipient of one of the most significant passes in the first season in which the

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...

was legalized. He later served as the head football coach at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Biography

Forbes attended Wesleyan and later

. He played football at the tackle position for

in 1905 and at the

position in 1906. The 1906 season was the first in which the

was legalized, and Forbes caught one of the first big catches of the 1906 season. In her book, ''The Real All Americans'', Sally Jenkins described Forbes' catch as one of the most significant in the first year of the passing game: "The only other significant pass that season was thrown by Yale, which gained a first down that led to victory over Harvard, when Paul Veeder threw thirty yards to Bob Forbes." Forbes was also a second-team All-American in 1905 and a consensus All-American in 1906, receiving first-team honors from Walter Camp for

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

for ''Outing'' magazine, ''New York Wold'' by Bob Edgren, and ''New York Sun''. After graduating from Yale in 1907, Forbes was hired as the head coach of the football team at the

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. He was the first regular head coach hired for the Army football team. ''The Pittsburgh Press'' praised Forbes in his first year with Army: "West Point's strength on defense was a tribute to Bob Forbes' knowledge of Yale football. He had his opponents sized up very well, indeed, and gave his old team-mates a severe tryout with his cadet charges." After one year of coaching at West Point, Forbes moved west and played with the Seattle Athletic Club against Spokane on New Year's Day 1908. In February 1908, he was hired by the

,McCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, OR: McCann Communications Corp. where he served as the head football coach in 1908 and 1909. It was reported that the salary paid by the University of Oregon to Forbes was the highest paid a football coach in the northwest up to that point.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Robert 1886 births 1947 deaths American football ends American football tackles All-American college football players Army Black Knights football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Yale Bulldogs football players