Daffin Theodore "Swede" Backstrom (July 17, 1916 – July 15, 1993) 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 wit ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

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 ...

player and coach.

Playing career

Drew University

Backstrom played college

and

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming o ...

, where he is a member of the schools Athletic Hall of Fame.

Minor league baseball

Backstrom played in minor league

as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. In 1940 he was with the Akron Yankees in the

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 through 1951, with t ...

. Later that year and also in 1941 he played for

Amsterdam Rugmakers The Amsterdam Rugmakers were a Canadian–American League baseball team based in Amsterdam, New York, USA, that played from 1938 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1951. They played their home games at Mohawk Mills Park Shuttleworth Park is a ballpark locat ...

in the

Canadian–American League The Canadian–American League, nicknamed the Can-Am League, was a class C level minor league baseball circuit which ran from 1936 through 1951, with a three-year break during World War II. Teams * Amsterdam Rugmakers, 1938–1942, 1946–1 ...

Coaching career

Drew University

After graduating from Drew University and spending some time in the private sector, Backstrom returned to Drew to first be the assistant and later head baseball coach.

Kansas Wesleyan

Backstrom was the 14th head football coach at

Kansas Wesleyan University Kansas Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in Salina, Kansas. Founded in 1886, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. About 800 students attend KWU, with approximately 700 of them studying on the 28-acre campus. T ...

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...

, serving for the 1962 season. His coaching record at Kansas Wesleyan was 1–7–1 (.167). While at Kansas Wesleyan, Backstrom taught classes for the history department. In 1996, the school inducted him into their "Athletic Hall of Fame" for his coaching success. He was active as a coach and or administrator at the school from 1954 through 1963.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

An Evaluation of the Cocurricular Activity Program at Kansas Wesleyan University
by Daffin Backstro * * 1916 births 1993 deaths Akron Yankees players American men's basketball players Amsterdam Rugmakers players Baseball pitchers Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from New York City Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City Coaches of American football from New York (state) Drew Rangers baseball coaches Drew Rangers baseball players Drew Rangers men's basketball players Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes football coaches Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Manhattan {{1960s-collegefootball-coach-stub