Julius "Baldy" Wittmann was an American professional

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player in the

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 p ...

for 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 championshi ...

, as well as the Tigers 1907 spin-off team the "All-Massillions". When the Tigers were established in 1903, Wittmann was picked to start on the team at

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, despite never playing the game before. Prior to his involvement with the Tigers, Wittman was the proprietor of a local

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store and a spare-time police officer. His slogan for the cigar store was "our prices and the Massillon Tigers can't be beat". Wittmann was a natural leader and an athlete who learned quickly. As a result, he was elected captain of the team during the 1903 season. During a December 5, 1903 game against the Akron East Ends, Wittman was reportedly assaulted by a gang of five men, until several Massillon fans came to his aid. During the 1904 season he was moved to the tackle position. In 1905, while Wittmann kept his title as team captain,

Clark Schrontz Clark A. Schrontz was a professional American football player. In 1902 he won a championship in the first National Football League (NFL) with the Pittsburgh Stars. A year later he was a member of the Franklin Athletic Club football team that w ...

was named as the team's "field captain". In 1907, he was a member of the "All-Massillons". Wittmann and ex-Tiger, Frank Bast, were in the line-up for a 1911 version of the Massillon Tigers.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wittman, Baldy 1870s births Massillon Tigers players All-Massillons players Year of death missing