A reader, Christopher Haack, alerted me to a unique All-American football team named by the editors of Pfizer’s Spectrum, a journal targeted at physicians. Announced in December 1955, the team included 25 former All-American football players (or nearly so) who went on to earn their medical degrees. Dubbed the Medical All-Americans, the group included three Olympians (two medalists) and a basketball Hall of Famer.
As a group, they devoted themselves to causes beyond the athletic fields, although some coached major college teams while practicing medicine. Others were medical missionaries, and many served in the Medical Corps during WWII.
Below is a brief profile of each Medical All-American, their school, the nature of their practice in 1955, and short notes on their athletic qualifications. Wiki or similar links are provided as well. The players are pictured in the order of the listing.
Backs
Marvin Allen “Mal” Stevens, Yale, orthopedist, New York
Played three years at Washburn, one at Yale
Second team AA 1923
Coached Yale, NYU, Sampson NTS, and AAFC’s Brooklyn Dodgers
Phil E. White, Oklahoma, industrial and traumatic surgery, Oklahoma City
First team AA 1920
NFL player 1925, 1927
Josiah C. McCracken, Penn 1899, medical missionary (China)
Consensus AA 1899
1900 Paris Olympics: Silver medal in shot put, bronze medal in the hammer throw, held hammer throw world record
Medical missionary in China 1907-1942, 1946-1952
Andrew J. Oberlander, Dartmouth 1925, medical director for an insurance company
Consensus AA 1925
Ohio State assistant 1926-1929, head coach 1930-1933; coached Navy All-Stars in China Bowl in Shanghai in 1945
College Football HOF
E. Leroy Mercer, Penn, retired dean of Penn’s physical education department
Consensus AA 1910, 1912
1912 Stockholm Olympics: fifth in long jump, sixth in decathlon
Coached Swarthmore 1917-1930
College Football HOF
William “Barry” Wood, Harvard, VP Johns Hopkins University and Hospital
Consensus AA 1931
College Football HOF
William C. Wurtenberg, Yale, retired
Yale 1886-1889, 1891 (Played most of his career before AA teams existed)
Coached Navy (1894) and Dartmouth (1895-1898)
Ends
Edward N. Anderson, Notre Dame, head coach, Holy Cross
First team AA 1920 and consensus AA 1921
NFL player 1922-1925
Coached Columbia (IA), DePaul, Holy Cross, and Iowa
College Football HOF
Joseph C. Donchess, Pitt, chief surgeon, Gary Steel Works
Consensus AA 1929
H. C. Carlson, Pitt, head of men’s health service at Pitt
First team AA 1917
NFL player 1920
Pitt basketball coach from 1922-1953, winning several “named” national championships
Naismith and College Basketball HOF
George Tully, Dartmouth, urologist, Worchester, MA
Consensus AA 1925
NFL player 1926-1927
Harry Kallet, Syracuse, general practice, Syracuse
Walter Camp 3rd team AA
Harold P. “Brick” Muller, Cal, orthopedic surgeon, Berkeley
1920 Antwerp Olympics: silver medal in high jump
Consensus AA 1921-1922
NFL player-coach 1926
College Football HOF
Tackles
George W. Hauser, Minnesota, dermatologist, Minneapolis
Consensus AA 1917
Coached Colgate and Minnesota
Iolas M. Huffman, Ohio State, general practice, Ravenna, OH
Consensus AA 1920-1921
NFL player 1923-1924
Otis F. Lamson, Penn, surgeon, Seattle
Consensus AA 1905
Coached North Carolina 1907
Charles B. Ceppi, Princeton, general practice, Jamestown, RI
First team AA 1933
Franklin K. Gowdy, Chicago, internist, Winnetka, IL
First team AA 1924
James C. Walker, Minnesota, orthopedic surgeon, Dayton
First team AA 1910
Guards
Stephen E. Reid, Northwestern, surgeon, Evanston
Consensus AA 1936
College Football HOF
Edward M. Molinsky, Tennessee, general practice, Memphis
Played HS football at Massillon Washington for Paul Brown
Consensus AA 1939 and first team in 1940
College Football HOF
Daniel J. Fortman, Colgate, surgeon, Hollywood, CA
Graduated from Colgate with straight As at age 19
NFL player 1936-1943
College and Pro Football HOFs
NFL 100th Anniversary Team
Clarence W. Spears, Dartmouth, general practice, Ypsilanti
Consensus AA 1914-1915
Head coach at Dartmouth, West Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Toledo, Maryland
College Football HOF
Centers
Joseph Alexander, Syracuse, internist, New York
Consensus AA 1918-1919
NFL player 1921-1921, player-coach in 1922, 1926
William R. Cunningham, Michigan, retired, Grove City, PA
Michigan’s first consensus AA 1898; 2nd team AA 1899
Medical missionary (China)
Only one of the players named to the Medical All-American squad played college football in the 1940s, so we have had multiple generations of All-Americans and NFL players who became physicians. Which college players since 1940 who went pro in something other than football deserve consideration for an updated Medical All-Star team? Myron Rolle is a fine example, as is Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who was All-Canadian at McGill and played in the NFL after completing medical school.
Feel free to add to the list in the comments below.
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