William Thomas "Mother" Dunn (May 13, 1881 – November 17, 1962) was an American college football player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and

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 the

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 af ...

team of Penn State University. Dunn captained the 1906 Nittany Lion, and that year became the first player outside of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

to be selected as an All-American 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 ...

. He was also the first great linebacker in the history of Penn State's football program, a school that would eventually be nicknamed "Linebacker U" for its history of excellent play at the linebacker position. Dunn was featured on the official 2011 Nittany Lion football schedule poster as part of the celebration of 125 years of Penn State football.

External links

"The legacy of Linebacker U"
''

The Daily Collegian The ''Daily Collegian'' is a student-produced news outlet, with a newspaper and website, that is published independently at the Pennsylvania State University. The newspaper is printed twice a week during the fall and spring semesters, and once ...

'', September 2, 2000 1881 births 1962 deaths All-American college football players American football linebackers American football centers Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio {{linebacker-1880s-stub