Edward James "Doc" Stewart (January 26, 1877 – November 18, 1929) 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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was also the founder, and

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of 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 ...

professional football team.

Early life

Stewart was the son of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister and had played football and basketball at

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

, located in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...

. He had attended medical school at

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, located in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, where he played on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball, baseball, and track teams, graduating in 1903. Stewart was the first athlete to letter in four sports at Case Western Reserve.

Massillon Tigers–Canton Bulldogs rivalry

In the early 1900s, Stewart organized a pro football team in

Massillon, Ohio Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately west of Canton, Ohio, Canton, south of Akron, and south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Mass ...

called the Massillon Tigers. Ed, a young and ambitious editor of the city newspaper ''The Evening Independent'', was named as the team's first coach. At this time, Massillon was involved in a rivalry with the cross-county,

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 ...

. Both teams spent lavish amounts of money to bring in ringers from out of town. Prior to the 1906 season, a news story in ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' alleged that the Bulldogs were financially broke and could not pay its players for that final game. Many Canton followers believed the story had originated in Massillon as a trick to discredit their team and make it tougher for Canton to recruit players for 1906. Since Stewart had newspaper connections, he was believed by Canton to have planted the story. The Tigers had won every "

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 from 1902 to 1906. In 1906, Stewart was promoted from coach to the Tigers' manager.

Sherburn Wightman Sherburne Henry Wightman (September 5, 1882 – October 2, 1930) was a professional American football player-coach in the "Ohio League", which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL). He is best remembered for coach ...

, who was coached by

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, was named the team's new coach.

Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal

In 1906, Stewart was a figure in a betting scandal between the two clubs. The

Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal The Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal was the first major scandal in professional football in the United States. It refers to a series of allegations made by a Massillon, Ohio newspaper charging the Canton Bulldogs coach, Blondy W ...

was the first major scandal in professional football. It was also the first known case of professional gamblers attempting to fix a professional sport. The scandal began with an allegation made by a Massillon newspaper charging the Bulldogs' coach,

Blondy Wallace Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace (died March 5, 1937) was an early professional football player and later convicted criminal during the Prohibition Era. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University o ...

, and Tigers

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 ...

Walter East Walter Rufus East (March 29, 1883 – August 29, 1930) was a minor league baseball player active between 1903 and 1912. As a second baseman he played for various in the Southern Association, Eastern League, Missouri Valley League, Ohio State Le ...

, with conspiring to fix a two-game championship series between the two clubs. When the Tigers won the second and final game of the series and were named pro football's champions, Wallace was accused of throwing the game for Canton. Stewart charged, through the ''Massillon Independent'', that an actual attempt was made to bribe some of the Tiger players and that Wallace had been involved. Stewart never stated that either the first or second Canton-Massillon game was fixed. Instead, his accusation was that an attempt had been made to bribe some Massillion players before the first game. According to Stewart,

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 ...

and Bob Shiring of Massillon had been solicited to throw the first game by East. Maxwell and Shiring then reported the offer to Wightman and the scandal ended before it began. East was then released by the Tigers. Only then was Wallace named by Stewart of being East's accomplice. The scandal was said to have ruined professional football in Ohio until the mid 1910s. However, some others argue that the expense of placing all-star teams on the field each week also put a damper on the sport. The Canton Morning News put a $20,000 price tag on the Massillon Tigers 1906 team, while many speculate that the Bulldogs roster probably cost even more. Still others contend that the games involving top teams such as Canton and Massilon were too one-sided and lacked excitement. Many towns in Ohio still fielded clubs over the next several years, however these new pros consisted more of sandlotters, with only the occasional ringer. A second incarnation of the Bulldogs would be established in 1911 and later won two championships in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

College coaching

Mount Union

Stewart's first collegiate head coaching position was as the head football coach at

. He coached one season there and posted a 9–2 record. Stewart was also the head coach of the Mount Union men's basketball team for one season. He coached the team for one season posting a record of 18–3 in the 1907–08 season.

Purdue

In 1909, Stewart was hired as the head men's basketball coach at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

just days before the season began. He led the team to a record of 8–4, their first winning season in four years.

Oregon State

From 1911 to 1916, Stewart was the head coach of the men's basketball team at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, then known as Oregon Agricultural College. In his five seasons as the head basketball coach at OAC, Stewart posted a record of 67–33. While at Oregon State, he also coached the Oregon State Beavers baseball team during the 1912 season. He coached the team to a 5–9 record. Pulling the triple threat for Oregon State, Stewart also coached the

Oregon State Beavers football The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Jonathan Smith has been the he ...

team from 1913 to 1915. In football, he compiled a 15–5–5 record.

Nebraska

From 1916 to 1917, Stewart was the head coach of the

University of Nebraska 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, the ...

football team. In his two seasons at the helm, he led the team to the

Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", in ...

title each year and posted an 11–4 record overall. After the conclusion of the 1917 football season, Stewart took over as head basketball coach and remained in that capacity from 1917 to 1919. He coached the Cornhuskers to a 17–14 record over those two seasons.

Clemson

In the spring of 1921, Stewart became the head baseball coach at Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina—now known as

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

. That spring was a busy one for Stewart as he also coached the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

team and ran spring practice for football, all while coaching the baseball team. He coached the baseball team for just the 1921 season and the track program from 1921 to 1923. In the fall of 1921, Stewart coached his first season of football at Clemson. He remained there for two seasons, the 1921 and 1922 seasons, and compiled a 6–10–2 record. As soon as the football season of 1921 ended, Stewart jumped into his 4th head coaching role at Clemson at coached the basketball team. He coached the basketball from 1921 to 1923. In his two seasons at the helm, he led Clemson to a 19–19 record.

Texas

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

athletic director

L. Theo Bellmont L. Theo Bellmont ( – ) was an Athletic Director, Professor and Director of Physical Training, and men's basketball head coach at University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas at Austin. Bellmont was born in Rochester, New York. He att ...

hired Stewart from Clemson to lead both the Longhorns football and Longhorns basketball programs in 1923. A medical school graduate, a piano enthusiast, a former sportswriter, a one-time automobile dealership owner, and a veteran coach, E.J. Stewart quickly became a popular figure across diverse segments of the University population. His oratory eloquence landed him an open job offer from the head of the UT English Department, should he ever decide to quit coaching and desire other work. Some have speculated that Stewart's devotion to his varied non-athletic interests was the root cause of his football and basketball teams' decline in performance over his tenure. He led the Longhorn football team to an 8–0–1 record during the 1923 season; his following teams finished with records of 5–3–1, 6–2–1, and 5–4. Stewart led the Longhorn basketball team to a perfect 23–0 mark and a

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

championship during the 1923–24 season, but his subsequent teams finished 17–8, 12–10, and 13–9. This decline in his teams' performance resulted in the popular Stewart's controversial dismissal following the 1926–27 season.

Texas Mines

Stewart ended his career at the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas—now known as the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(UTEP)—where he compiled a 5–6–3 record.

Death

On November 18, 1929, Stewart was shot and killed by a deer-hunting companion. Mack Brown TexasFootball.com He was interred at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...

Head coaching record

College football

Basketball

References