Link Lyman
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William Roy "Link" Lyman (November 30, 1898 – December 28, 1972), also sometimes known as Roy Lyman, was an American professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player. Lyman was born in
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
and raised in
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. 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 ...
for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...
team in 1918, 1919, and 1921. He played professional football as a tackle 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 Canton/
Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner ...
(1922–1925), the
Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...
(1925), and 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 ...
(1926–1928, 1930–1932, and 1933–1934). He won four NFL championships (
1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
,
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
, and
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
with the Bulldogs and
1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
with the Bears) and was selected five times as a first-team All-Pro player (
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
,
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
,
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
,
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
, and
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
). Lyman was an assistant football coach at Nebraska from 1935 to 1941 and at
Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...
in 1942. He later had a career in the insurance business. He was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
in 1964. He died in an automobile crash in 1972 while driving to
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
.


Early life

Lyman was born in 1898 in
Table Rock, Nebraska Table Rock is a village in Pawnee County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 236 at the 2020 census. History Table Rock was platted in 1855. It was named from a large rock formation nearby on the Nemaha River which has since been dest ...
. As an infant, his family moved to
Rawlins County, Kansas Rawlins County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Atwood. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,561. It was named after John Rawlins, a general in the American Civil War. His ...
, where his father, Edwin Lyman, was a farmer, raised stock and engaged in the real estate business. Lyman had four younger brothers (Edwin, Richard, Albert, and Louis) and three younger sisters (Anna, Margret, and Mildred). Lyman attended high school in McDonald, Kansas, but he did not play football as there was no team with only "six or seven boys in the whole school".


College career

Lyman enrolled at the
University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in 1917 where he was a member of the
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...
fraternity. After playing freshman football in 1917, he played at the tackle position for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...
team in 1918, 1919, and 1921. Lyman was married shortly after the end of the 1919 football season and did not return to the university in the fall of 1920. He returned in February 1921 to establish his eligibility to play in the fall of 1921. Lyman later recalled: "From the first day, I just loved the game, and we had some pretty good teams, too."Old Leather, p. 58. The 1921 Nebraska team compiled a 7–1 record, lost a close game against
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 ...
's Notre Dame team, outscored opponents by a combined total of 283 to 17, and won the
Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...
championship. The 1922 Nebraska yearbook noted the following about Lyman: "Lyman was, without doubt, our fastest lineman. Roy is a big man, weighing 200 pounds, and could get down under punts almost as quickly as the ends. Roy proved to be a ground gainer on tackle-around plays before the season was over."


Professional football


Canton/Cleveland Bulldogs

In September 1922, Lyman left
Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...
, to play professional football for the
Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...
. The Bulldogs were coached by
Guy Chamberlin Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin (January 16, 1894 – April 4, 1967), sometimes misspelled Guy Chamberlain, was an American professional football player and coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1962 and the Pro Football ...
, an All-American out of Nebraska, who invited Lyman to join the team. With Lyman and Pete Henry as its star tackles, the 1922 Canton Bulldogs compiled a 10–0–2 record, shut out nine of twelve opponents, outscored all opponents 184 to 15, and won the NFL championship. Lyman returned to the Bulldogs the following year. The 1923 team had another undefeated season (11–0–1), shut out eight of twelve opponents, outscored all opponents by a combined total of 246 to 19, and won its second consecutive NFL championship. After the season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro player by the ''Canton Daily News'' and a second-team All-Pro by ''Collyer's Eye'' magazine. In August 1924, Cleveland jeweler
Samuel Deutsch Samuel H. Deutsch (April 2, 1892 - September 4, 1958) was a prominent sports franchise owner and jeweler. He is best known as being the owner of the National Football League (NFL)'s Cleveland Indians, formerly the Cleveland Tigers, in 1923 as wel ...
bought the Canton Bulldogs and moved the team to Cleveland where they became the
Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner ...
during the
1924 NFL season The 1924 NFL season was the fifth regular season of the National Football League. The league had 18 teams play during the season, including the new clubs Frankford Yellow Jackets, Kansas City Blues, and Kenosha Maroons. The Louisville Brec ...
. The Bulldogs compiled a 7–1–1 record, outscored opponents by a total of 229 to 60, and won their third consecutive NFL championship. After the 1924 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by ''Collyer's Eye'' and a second-team All-Pro by the ''Green Bay Press-Gazette''. In July 1925, Lyman and four of his teammates ( Pete Henry, Rudy Comstock, Ben Jones, and Harry Robb) bought the team for $3,500 and moved it back to Canton. Lyman played seven games for the 1925 Bulldogs and then finished the season playing four games for the
Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...
. Lyman was reunited with Guy Chamberlain who was then Frankford's head coach. After the 1925 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro on the team selected by NFL Commissioner
Joseph Carr Joseph Francis Carr (October 22, 1879 – May 20, 1939) was an American sports executive in football, baseball, and basketball. He is best known as the president of the National Football League from 1921 until 1939. He was also one of the foun ...
; he was also selected as a second-team All-Pro by ''Collyer's Eye''.


Chicago Bears

In December 1925, Lyman joined 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 ...
and took part in a winter
barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...
tour that featured football player
Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American professional American football, football Halfback (American football), halfback who played for the Chicag ...
. He joined the Bears again in the fall of 1926. The 1926 Bears team featured five players who were later inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
(Lyman,
Paddy Driscoll John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll (January 11, 1895 – June 29, 1968) was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall ...
,
George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...
, Ed Healey, and George Trafton), posted a 12–1–3 record, and finished second in the NFL. Lyman remained with the Bears for the 1927 and 1928 seasons. He retired after the 1928 season but returned to the Bears in the fall of 1930. The 1930 Bears compiled a 9–4–1 and finished third in the NFL. Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by ''Collyer's Eye'' magazine and the ''Green Bay Press-Gazette''. Lyman again retired from playing football after the 1931 season. During his two retirements from the Bears, Lyman played semipro ball in Texas and worked in the ranching business. Lyman returned to the Bears in 1933. The 1933 Bears featured six future Pro Football Hall of Fame players (Lyman,
Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-American professional football player who was a fullback and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Renowned for his strength and size, Nagurski ...
,
Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American professional American football, football Halfback (American football), halfback who played for the Chicag ...
, George Musso, and George Trafton), and posted a 10–2–1 record, winning a place in the NFL's first ever
Championship play-off In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this syst ...
. Lyman started at
left 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 Chicago in that game, with the Bears emerging victorious over the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
, 23–21. Lyman played his final year of professional football as a member of the 1934 Bears team that compiled a perfect 13–0 record in the regular season and won the NFL Western Division championship, but lost to the
Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...
in the
1934 NFL Championship Game The 1934 NFL Championship Playoff, popularly remembered as "The Sneakers Game", was the second scheduled National Football League (NFL) championship game. Played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, it was the first title game fo ...
. After the 1934 season, Lyman was selected as a first-team All-Pro by 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 ...
, ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'', and ''Collyer's Eye''. Bears' coach
George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...
later observed that Lyman was "stronger and tougher during his last two seasons than when he first joined the team eight years earlier."


Shifting on defense

Lyman was a pioneer in the use of shifting maneuvers to disrupt the blocking assignments of offensive linemen. According to his biography at the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
, "the constant shifting by defensive players before each play in modern professional football can be traced back to Lyman, who regularly resorted to similar ploys. His sliding, shifting style of defensive line play confused his opponents and made him one of the most respected players of his time. Lyman explained that the idea of shifting was an instinctive move to fool a blocker. He had a unique ability to diagnose a play and many times he would make his move just as the ball was snapped." Steve Owen, who played with Lyman in 1925 and later served as coach of the Giants, recalled: "Link was the first lineman I ever saw who moved from the assigned defensive position before the ball was snapped. It was difficult to play against him because he would vary his moves and no matter how you reacted, you could be wrong."


Career accomplishments and honors

Lyman received many honors for his contributions to the game, including being inducted into the
Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...
major league football Hall of Fame (January 1961) and the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame and receiving the University of Nebraska's Distinguished Alumni Award in June 1961. His greatest honor came in February 1964 when he was elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
as part of the second class of inductees. During his 11 years in the NFL, Lyman won four NFL championships and never had a losing season. (In 1929, following Lyman's first retirement, the Bears posted a 4–9–2 record.) He was selected five times as a first-team All-Pro and appeared in 133 official NFL games. He was known as one of the true "iron men" of iron man era. Counting unofficial games, he appeared in a total of 286 professional games and played 211-1/2 hours in those games. At the time of his retirement and for many years thereafter, he held the NFL records for games and playing time logged.


Coaching career

In December 1934, Lyman was hired as an assistant football coach under Dana X. Bible with the
Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...
. He was the line coach at Nebraska from 1935 to 1941 under coaches Bible and Biff Jones. During his seven years as line coach at Nebraska, he was the position coach for All-American linemen Bernie Scherer, Fred Shirey, Elmer Dohmann, Ted Doyle, Charley Brock, Forrest Behm and Warren Alfson. In December 1941, the Nebraska Athletic Board voted not to renew Lyman as the football team's line coach. In 1942, he served as the line coach for the Creighton Bluejays football.


Family and later years

Lyman was married in June 1920 to Grace "Dolly" Godwin (1901–1967). They had two daughters, Joanne and Ardis Mary. In 1942, Lyman accepted a job with the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He became an agency manager for the company in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
, in 1948. Through the 1950s and 1960s, he worked as an insurance executive 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, ...
. His wife died in 1967 at a hospital in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
. After his wife's death, Lyman lived with his daughter in
San Gabriel, California San Gabriel (Spanish language, Spanish for "Gabriel, St. Gabriel") is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,568. San Gabriel was founded ...
. Lyman died in 1972 at age 74 in an automobile crash. He was driving to
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
on
I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...
when his automobile crashed into the back of a
semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...
12 miles south of
Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...
. He was dead upon arrival at the Barstow Community Hospital. Baker was buried at the Rose Hills Memorial Park in
Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...
.


References


External links


Link Lyman
at the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyman, William R. 1898 births 1972 deaths American football tackles Canton Bulldogs players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Bulldogs players Creighton Bluejays football coaches Frankford Yellow Jackets players Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Pawnee County, Nebraska People from Rawlins County, Kansas Players of American football from Nebraska Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park Road incident deaths in California Sigma Alpha Epsilon members