Everett Marlin Sweeley (March 4, 1880 – September 2, 1957) was an American

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 ...

player and coach. He played fullback, halfback and end for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1899 to 1902 and was a member of Fielding H. Yost's 1901 and 1902 "Point-a-Minute" teams. He then served as the head football coach at Morningside College in 1903 and at Washington State University in 1904 and 1905. He also coached

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

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at Washington State. After retiring from football, Sweeley became a lawyer and judge in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Biography

Early years

Sweeley was born in Adel, Iowa in 1880.United States Draft Registration Card signed by Everett Marlin Sweeley, April 1942. The National Archives Pacific Alaska Region (Seattle); Seattle, Washington; Fourth Registration Draft Cards (WWII); State Headquarters: Idaho; Record Group Name: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Archive Number: 563870; Box Number: 49. At the time of the 1885 Iowa State Census, Sweeley was living in Storm Lake, Iowa. He attended high school at Sioux City, Iowa.

University of Michigan

Sweeley enrolled at the

in 1899. He played four years of football at Michigan from 1899 to 1902 at the end, fullback, and halfback positions, but he was best known as one of the game's premier punters and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

s. Before enrolling at Michigan, Sweeley said he had never seen a college football game. In four seasons, he missed only one game, the result of what Sweeley called "a little row with a math professor." While playing for Michigan, Sweeley set the college football record for the longest kick on record. In 1902, he kicked the football 86 yards before touching the ground. Sweeley also held "an enviable distinction unboasted by any other hero of the gridiron." In four years punting for Michigan, he never had a single punt blocked. Sweeley was known for punts that were both high and long. He would reportedly tell his ends accurately where each punt was to go, "and by this concerted action Michigan gained many yards." Sweeley was also "an expert place kicker," scoring over 100 points for Michigan in this manner. A 1906 newspaper feature reported that his greatest talent was "the running punt trick," a play in which Sweeley would run a ball "until he was hard pressed and then kick, often thus adding many yards to the ground gained." In the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game", what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaugu ...

, Sweeley kicked four field goals and punted 21 times for a 38.9-yard average. A newspaper story in 1950 reported on Sweeley's kicking ability: "Sweeley, a truly great kicker in the days when the ball resembled a pumpkin rather than the tapered oblate spheroid now in use, introduced the spiral pant to Coast fans that memorable day n the 1902 Rose Bowl His towering punts outdistanced the end-over-end kicks of the Indians by 20 yards."

Coach

After graduating from Michigan, Sweeley went into coaching. He served as the head football coach at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa for a season in 1903 and then moved to Washington State University in Pullman, Washington for the 1904 and 1905 seasons. His record at Washington State was 6–6.

Later years

After retiring from coaching, Sweeley moved to Twin Falls, Idaho where he worked as a lawyer. In September 1907, he married Hazel Jury Brown (1886–1972) at

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. According to the 1920 United States Census, Sweeley and his wife had two children at that time, Jean B Sweeley (age 9) and Anna L. Sweeley (age 6). Sweeley also became an expert trap shooter and ballistics expert. In 1916, he won the interstate trapshooting championship. He was elected prosecutor in 1938. In his draft registration card signed in April 1942, Sweeley listed his residence as Twin Falls, his employer as the County of Twin Falls, and his place of employment as the County Courthouse in Twin Falls. In 1952, Sweeley attended a reunion in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

of the 1902 Rose Bowl team. At the time, Sweeley was a practicing attorney living in Twin Falls, and was recalled as "a great punter back at the turn of the century." He served as a probate judge in the mid-1950s.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeley, Everett 1880 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football ends American football fullbacks American football halfbacks Basketball coaches from Iowa Michigan Wolverines football players Morningside Mustangs football coaches Washington State Cougars baseball coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Washington State Cougars men's basketball coaches Idaho lawyers People from Storm Lake, Iowa People from Adel, Iowa Sportspeople from Dallas County, Iowa Players of American football from Sioux City, Iowa Sportspeople from Twin Falls, Idaho Coaches of American football from Iowa Baseball coaches from Iowa