Robert Grant Torrey (July 12, 1878 – January 12, 1941) 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. He played

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 ...

and was selected as the captain of 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 ...

's unbeaten teams of 1904 and 1905. When the Quakers went 12–0 in 1904, only Swarthmore was able to score against them. Torrey was considered one of the best linemen in 1905 and later won All-American honors. 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 1971.

Biography

Torrey was from

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

, where he attended Montclair High School. He enrolled at the

in 1902 and played four years of varsity football for the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. School colors There are se ...

. As a freshman in 1902, he played at the tackle position, but he was moved to

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 ...

in 1903. He played

and was selected as the captain of Penn's unbeaten teams of 1904 and 1905. He was selected by his teammates as the captain of the 1905 Penn football team and was selected by

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 ...

and

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 ...

as a first-team All-American that year. In April 1907, Torrey was hired as the field coach for Penn's football team. After retiring from football, Torrey was a medical doctor and became the head of the medical board at Philadelphia's General Hospital. He died in 1941.

The bloodied face photo

During an October 7, 1905 game between Swarthmore and Penn, played at

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

, Swarthmore's

Tiny Maxwell Robert Wallace "Tiny" Maxwell (September 7, 1884 – June 30, 1922) was a professional football player and referee. He was also a sports editor with the ''Philadelphia Public Ledger''. Biography Early life Maxwell was born in Chicago on Septe ...

had his nose broken, his eyes swollen, and nearly shut, and his face dripped with blood. Maxwell reportedly continue to play until near the end of the game, when his face was so bloody and swollen that he could no longer see, yet he never complained of the physical beating. 1905, 18 players died playing college football and 159 were seriously injured. A newspaper photo was taken of face. The photo then found its way to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. The photograph of Maxwell's face shocked and enraged President Roosevelt into threatening to abolish football, if the colleges themselves did not take steps to eliminate the brutality and reduce injuries. Bob Torrey, was the Penn player opposite of Maxwell that day. Although Torrey can not be personally blamed for Maxwell's injuries, it is no secret that Penn offensive line double and triple-teamed Maxwell, feeling that if they stopped "Tiny" they could finish the season unbeaten. While several writers and scholars have made exhaustive searches for the photo of Maxwell's battered face, none have ever been found. Though the events surrounding the Roosevelt-Maxwell story supposedly occurred in 1905, the story didn't appear until it was mentioned in the second edition of

Frank G. Menke Frank Grant Menke (October 10, 1885 – May 13, 1954) was an American newspaper reporter, author, and sports historian. He wrote for the Hearst Newspapers from 1912 to 1932 and his articles appeared daily in 300 newspapers across the country. He ...

's ''Encyclopedia of Sports'' published in 1944. Meanwhile, Maxwell died in 1922. The 1960s and 1970s update of the Encyclopedia also continued to run the Maxwell-Roosevelt story. The

Maxwell Football Club The Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, legendary college player, official, and ...

, formed by sportswriters and athletic officials to honor Maxwell, picked up the story and made it more credible. As a result, it became the official account of 1905 and was enshrined in Jack Falla's history of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and at the College Football Hall of Fame. What is absolutely certain is that on October 9, 1905, Teddy Roosevelt held a meeting of football representatives from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. Though he lectured on eliminating and reducing injuries, he never threatened to ban football or mentioned the Maxwell injury. He also lacked the authority to abolish football. In fact he was actually a fan of the game. The President's sons were also playing football at the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

levels at the time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrey, Robert 1878 births 1941 deaths American football ends American football centers American football tackles Penn Quakers football coaches Penn Quakers football players All-American college football players Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Henrico County, Virginia Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey Players of American football from Essex County, New Jersey