Nicholas Stephen Dinkel (May 12, 1874 – May 14, 1919) 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 a starting

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for 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 ...

. Dinkel played his first two years with the

Notre Dame football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is a college football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana (CDP), Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the ca ...

team at the right end position. But during his senior season in 1894, new head coach James L. Morison installed an offense based upon speed running to the outside. Seeking to capitalize on this philosophy, Dinkel swapped positions with then-Irish

Charles Zeitler and led the team from under center. Dinkel's team achieved easy victories over Hillsdale, Wabash and Rush Medical, but struggled to a 0-1-1 mark in a home-and-home series with

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

, thus finishing the year at 3–1–1. After graduating, Dinkel returned to his home in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, where in 1896 he was involved in a controversial 24–6 victory by

Wittenberg College Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign cou ...

over

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

: Allegedly, Dinkel was not enrolled at Wittenberg but merely played for them as a "ringer" at right tackle. Shortly thereafter, Dinkel moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, where he worked as a salesman until his death from

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

in 1919.

References

* Steele, Michael R. ''The Fighting Irish Football Encyclopedia.'' Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC (1996). * Park, Jack. ''The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia.'' Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC (2003). 1874 births American football quarterbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Players of American football from Springfield, Ohio Wittenberg Tigers football coaches 1919 deaths {{quarterback-stub