Elmer George Schwartz (July 29, 1906 – March 21, 1949), sometimes listed as George Elmer Schwartz, and nicknamed "Elmer the Great", was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player. He 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 ...

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

. He was the captain of the 1930

Washington State Cougars football The Washington State Cougars football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 ...

team that won the Pacific conference championship and lost to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in the

1931 Rose Bowl The 1931 Rose Bowl was the 17th Rose Bowl game, an American post-season college football game that was played on New Year's Day in Pasadena, California. It featured two undefeated teams, Alabama and Washington State Washington, officia ...

. He was selected as a third-team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

at the end of the 1930 season. Schwartz also played professional football 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) for the

Portsmouth Spartans The Portsmouth Spartans were a professional American football team that played in Portsmouth, Ohio, from their founding in 1928 to their relocation to Detroit in 1934. Originally drawing players from defunct independent professional and semi-prof ...

(1931),

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 ca ...

(1932), and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1933).

Youth and Washington State

Schwartz was born in 1906 and grew up in

Chehalis, Washington Chehalis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,439 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is located in the Chehalis valley and is split by Interstate 5 (I-5) and State Route 6 ...

. He enrolled at

, where he played college football from 1928 to 1930. During the 1928 season, he played at the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

position and was named to several all-coast teams. In 1929, Washington State coach Babe Hollingbery moved Schwartz to the

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

position. Schwartz excelled in his first year at the fullback position, scoring 13 touchdowns in the first eight games of the season. According to the Associated Press, his total of 78 points in the first eight-game ranked him as the third highest scorer in college football behind Alton Marsters of Dartmouth and

Gene McEver Eugene Tucker McEver (September 15, 1908 – July 12, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he was an All-American halfback. McEver served as the head football coach at ...

of Tennessee. During the 1930 season, Schwartz was the captain of the Washington State football team that won a Pacific conference championship and a berth in the

. He was described by George Kirksey of the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

as "a star at crashing the line on offense and backing up the line on defense." The Cougars lost to Alabama in the Rose Bowl by a score of 24 to 0. At the end of the 1930 season, Schwartz was selected as the third-team fullback on the Associated Press' All-American team. He graduated from Washington State in June 1931. After his death in 1949, former coach Hollingbery said, "Elmer was one of the all-time football greats at Washington State."

Professional football

In August 1931, Schwartz announced that he had agreed to play professional football for the

of the

. Schwartz appeared in 12 games and scored two touchdowns for the 1931 Spartans team that finished second in the NFL with an 11–3 record. In 1932, Schwartz joined the

. Schwartz was injured in the third game of the 1932 season against 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 ...

. Schwartz appeared in only three games for the Cardinals. In July 1933,

Jap Douds Forrest McCreery "Jap" Douds (April 21, 1905 – August 16, 1979) was an All-American football player at Washington and Jefferson College in suburban Washington, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as an All-American three times and was the fir ...

, the head coach of the

(later renamed the Steelers), announced that Schwartz had been signed to play fullback for the 1933 season. Schwartz appeared in 10 games for the Pirates, gaining 94 yards on 38 carries.

Later years and death

Schwartz died in March 1949 from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

after being struck by a construction company security guard. The guard told police he struck Schwartz after Schwartz "refused to leave the property where ewas guard." After a preliminary hearing, the guard was ordered to stand trial for murder. Witnesses testified that the guard "beat Schwartz to the ground twice in three separate attacks after ordering Schwartz from the grounds of the T. E. Connelly company construction camp near Pulga."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Elmer 1906 births 1949 deaths American football fullbacks Washington State Cougars football players Chicago Cardinals players Pittsburgh Steelers players Portsmouth Spartans players Players of American football from Washington (state) People from Chehalis, Washington Sportspeople from Lewis County, Washington American murder victims Deaths by beating in the United States People murdered in 1949 People murdered in California