Fred Gillies

Frederick Montague Gillies (December 9, 1895 – May 8, 1974) 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 for the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

of 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 ...

. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1918 and was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University. It is often recognized as one of the most prominent societies of its type, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key at Yale University. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated ...

society. He appeared in 72 games, 51 of which as a starter, as a tackle for the Chicago Cardinals between 1920 and 1933, earning

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

honors in 1922. He coached the team in 1928, which was his final season as a player and only as a coach, to a 1-5 record. Fred later married Blanche Wilder and adopted Theo Janet Howells, the biological daughter of Blanche's sister, Gertrude Wilder. Gillies also worked and volunteered for the Republican Party. In 1932, he was a survivor in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

that took the life of aviator

Eddie Stinson Edward Anderson Stinson, Jr. (July 11, 1893 – January 26, 1932) was an American pilot and aircraft manufacturer. "Eddie" Stinson was the founder of Stinson Aircraft Company. At the time of his death in 1932 in an air crash, he was the world's ...

, the founder of

Stinson Aircraft Company The Stinson Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturing company in the United States between the 1920s and the 1950s. History The Stinson Aircraft Company was founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1920 by aviator Edward “Eddie” Stinson, the b ...

. Gillies suffered a leg injury, as a result of the accident, which left him in a leg brace for the rest of his life. Ronald McLeod painting of FMG

1895 births 1974 deaths People from Flossmoor, Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football tackles Cornell Big Red football players Chicago Cardinals players Coaches of American football from Illinois Chicago Cardinals coaches Chicago Cardinals head coaches {{Amfoot-coach-stub