Charles Peter Mathys (June 20, 1897 – January 18, 1983) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for one season (1920–1921) for the Hammond Pros and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, kicker, and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

for five seasons (1922–1926) for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Early life

Born in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, Mathys attended Green Bay West High School, where he played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track. At the time he was in high school, the

practiced against local high school teams. While Mathys was quarterback at Green Bay West, he led his team to a victory over the Packers. After high school, Mathys played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Ripon College. In the early 1900s, freshmen were not allowed to play, so Charlie was listed as a sophomore on the roster so he was able to compete. After a brief "sophomore" stint at Ripon, Charlie transferred to

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, where he was once again listed as a sophomore on the roster. Charlie emerged as star at Indiana and was on all-conference teams during his tenure there.

Professional career

Mathys began his professional career with the Hammond Pros in the 1920–1921 season. He appeared in five games, starting in four of them. After the 1921 season, Mathys returned to Green Bay to play for the Packers. He played for the Packers for the next five seasons, appearing in 47 games and starting in 45 of them. Mathys was the quarterback on the first Packer team to beat the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, on September 27, 1925, throwing a last second touchdown pass to win the game 14–10. During his career, Mathys was one of the highest paid players in the league. In a time when players were typically paid $50 per game, Mathys was paid $100 per game, $50 from two different banks. Mathys retired after the 1926 season when his wife told him he needed to find a "real" job and come home to start a family. He had appeared in 52 games, starting 49 of them. He finished his career scoring 102 total points, 16 total touchdowns (1 rushing, 4 receiving, and 11 passing), including a team high 7 passing in 1925. He also tallied two field goals, one for the Hammond Pros and one for the Green Bay Packers. After retiring from professional football, Mathys served as a member of the Green Bay Packers Board of Directors for many years. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1977.

Career statistics

= Unofficial statistics due to record keeping error in the 1920s. Statistics are based on packershistory.net. The totals have been adjusted to the career totals accounted for in the Pro Football Chronicle by Dan Daly and Bob O'Donnell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathys, Charlie 1897 births 1983 deaths American football running backs Indiana Hoosiers football players Green Bay Packers players Ripon Red Hawks football players Players of American football from Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame