Eugene G. Oberst (July 23, 1901 – May 30, 1991) 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,

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, coach of football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and college athletics administrator. Oberst was born the youngest of eleven children. A native of

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

, he played football at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in the 1920s under coach

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

, and competed in track and field as a

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er. He won the

Olympic bronze medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

at the 1924 Summer Games in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Oberst served as the head football coach at

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

(1929–1930),

Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

(1931–1932), and

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

(1946).

Football career

Oberst, who was listed at and , was a

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

in 1920, 1922, and 1923, wearing uniform No. 30, while missing the 1921 season due to injury. In 1922 and 1923, he was one of Notre Dame's "Seven Mules," the offensive linemen who blocked for the team's legendary Four Horsemen, before those terms were coined during Notre Dame's 1924 national championship season. Oberst's teammates also included halfback

George Gipp George Gipp (February 18, 1895 – December 14, 1920), nicknamed "the Gipper", was an American college football player at the University of Notre Dame under head coach Knute Rockne. Gipp was selected as Notre Dame's first Walter Camp All-Americ ...

Javelin throw

As the possibly apocryphal story goes, Oberst was walking by a Notre Dame track and field practice one day when a

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

landed nearby. He picked it up and threw it far beyond the original thrower. Rockne, who coached track and field as well as football, saw the toss, and drafted Oberst on the spot. Oberst was the 1921 NCAA javelin champion, with a throw of . At the 1924

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...

, Oberst's throw of beat the meet record by more than 8 feet. Oberst had a disappointing performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, finishing in 5th place with a throw of . The

U.S. Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

added Oberst to the Olympic team, anyway, because of his better results at previous meets. The Olympic Trials winner,

William Neufeld William Neufeld (February 27, 1901 – October 11, 1992) was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was born in Molotschna and died in Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county s ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

went on to finish 5th at the Olympics.

Bronze Olympic medal

In Paris, Oberst's throw of 58.35 m won him the bronze medal, behind the defending Olympic champion,

Jonni Myyrä Joonas "Jonni" Myyrä (13 July 1892 – 22 January 1955) was a Finland, Finnish athlete who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympics. In 1912, he finished eighth in the javelin throw. At the 1920 Olympics, his left arm was fractured in a war ...

of Finland (62.96 m) and

Gunnar Lindström Nils Gunnar Lindström (11 February 1896 – 6 October 1951) was a Swedish javelin thrower. Career Lindström competed at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics and finished in sixth, second and fourteenth place, respectively. His young ...

of Sweden (60.92 m). Oberst was the first American to win an Olympic medal in the javelin throw, and only seven Americans have medaled since, most notably

Babe Didrikson Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the ...

at the 1932 Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Oberst was somewhat disappointed with his reception after returning with the medal and his niece noted few ever remarked on the accomplishment. She later told a reporter, "I don't think he was ever given the honor for winning an Olympic medal"."Owensboro Native Eugene Oberst, Olympic Medal Winner, Dies at 89", ''Messenger-Inquirer'', Owensboro, Kentucky, pg. 21, 2 June 1991 Oberst's Notre Dame football teammate Tom Lieb also made the 1924 U.S. Olympic team, in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

, and won the bronze medal.

Coaching career

After college, Oberst became a coach, teacher, and athletics administrator. In 1926 and 1927, his football teams at

Roman Catholic High School The Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia is a four-year private, catholic high school for boys in Philadelphia. It was founded by Thomas E. Cahill in 1890 as the first free Catholic high school in the nation. The school is located at the ...

won the championships of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Catholic League, with a combined record of 15–3–1. From 1929 to 1930, Oberst coached the

Generals, compiling a 6–11–2 record. In 1931 and 1932, Oberst coached at

, where his record was 2–7–3. Oberst later moved on to John Carroll College, now

, where he finished his career. He was a football line coach for the Blue Streaks from 1936 to 1942. Oberst then served as director of the school's V-12 Navy training program from 1942 to 1946. He was head

coach during the 1945–46 season, with a 4–11 record, and head football coach in 1946, with a 1–7 record. Oberst also coached the school's track and field team from 1947 to 1948. Finally, Oberst served as John Carroll's athletic director from 1947 to 1951. During that time period, John Carroll's football halfback was future Hall of Famer

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

Later years

In 1971, Oberst was inducted into John Carroll University's Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1976, he was inducted into the Greater

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Sports Hall of Fame. Oberst died in Cleveland in 1991.

Head coaching record

Football

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberst, Eugene 1901 births 1991 deaths American football tackles American male javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Basketball coaches from Kentucky Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Canisius Golden Griffins football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks athletic directors John Carroll Blue Streaks football coaches John Carroll Blue Streaks men's basketball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's track and field athletes Washington and Lee Generals football coaches High school football coaches in Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky Track and field athletes from Kentucky 20th-century American sportsmen