Martin Albert "Butch" Kottler (May 1, 1910 – June 10, 1989) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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). He was a charter member of the

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 ...

(which would later be renamed the Steelers). Kottler was born in

Carnegie, Pennsylvania Carnegie () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,134 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. History Carnegie is named after Andrew Carnegie, who donated one of his libr ...

to Martin and Christine (Eichner) Kottler. He attended

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micr ...

where he starred on the

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 ...

team and was a member of the

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

fraternity. He joined the newly formed Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933. In the club's second game, on September 27,

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 ...

, he scored the first

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

in franchise history for on a 99-yard interception return. This would stand as the longest interception return in franchise history until

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

in 2009, when James Harrison returned an interception 100 yards. During World War II and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Kottler served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

before leaving the service in 1953. He then embarked on a long career in the auto industry, including many years as an executive at Avis. He was married to Bernice Mary Saunders and the couple had a daughter, Cheryl. He died following a long illness in 1989 at the age of 79.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kottler, Martin 1910 births 1989 deaths People from Carnegie, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football running backs Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players Centre Colonels football players