Vivian Joseph Hultman (January 26, 1903 – December 27, 1987) 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 from

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. After graduating from Union High School in Grand Rapids, he enrolled at

Michigan Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

(now known as Michigan State University). 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 Michigan Agricultural Aggies and was the team

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 ...

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 ...

. He also played for the school's

basketball team 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 ...

. Hultman then played professionally 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) with the Detroit Panthers from 1925 through 1926 and the

Pottsville Maroons The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern part of the state. Founded in 1920, they played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1925 to 1928. In 1929 they relocated to Bost ...

in 1927.

Early life

Hultman was born on January 26, 1903, in

. He attended Union High School in Grand Rapids and played football and basketball there from 1918 to 1921. He was named third-team all-tournament at the 1920–21 state basketball championship. He graduated in 1921 and began attending

(now known as Michigan State University) later that year.

College career

In his first year at Michigan Agricultural, 1921, Hultman played

left guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

for the

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

football team and was named one of the school's "All-Freshman" players. He also played for the freshman basketball squad and one year later became a

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

man and starter at

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the team. In the 1922 football season, Hultman became a starter at guard before later being switched to

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

; he also served as the team's punter. Hultman returned to the basketball team for the 1922–23 season, while in the 1923 football season he played every game while shifting from end to guard to tackle. Following the 1923 season, Hultman was elected the team

for the football team in 1924. He helped the Aggies compile a record of 5–3; each of their wins were by several scores, including some blowouts such as a 59–0 win over North-Western College, while each of their losses were one-score games, including a close 7–0 loss to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Despite the team's loss in their game against Michigan, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

called Hultman the "hero of the game" and noted that he "added absolute security to his side of the line and his leadership accounted largely for the fighting spirit of the green clad warriors". Hultman played a final season with the basketball team in the 1924–25 season and scored points in every game. An engineering student, he graduated in 1925. The ''

Lansing State Journal The ''Lansing State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Lansing, Michigan, owned by Gannett. It is the sole daily newspaper published in Greater Lansing. History The paper was started as the ''Lansing Republican'' on April 28, 1855, ...

'' summed up his football career as "one of the most versatile linemen ever turned out at ichigan Agricultural.

Professional career

Hultman was signed by the Detroit Panthers of the

(NFL) on September 30, 1925, after injuries to

Tom Hogan Tom George Hogan (born 23 September 1956) is a former Australian cricketer. Hogan was a left arm spinner who played in seven Tests and 16 One Day Internationals for Australia in 1983 and 1984. Career Hogan made his debut for Western Australi ...

and Frank Bowler. Signed after the second game of the season, he went on to start all 11 remaining games at end, helping the Panthers place third in the league with a record of 8–2–2. He was among the first five NFL players from his college, a school that has since produced over 300 NFL alumni. In a 21–0 win against the

Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers were a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Milwaukee ...

, Hultman caught a 30-yard pass from Dick Vick for his first career

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 ...

. Hultman returned to the Panthers in 1926 and played between nine and 10 games, five as a starter at end and guard, scoring one touchdown while Detroit compiled a record of 4–6–2 for a 12th-place finish. He signed with the

at the start of the 1927 season. He appeared in eight or nine games, five as a starter, recording a 21-yard touchdown catch from

Frank Kirkleski Frank William Kirkleski (May 19, 1904 – May 6, 1980) was an American football player and educator. He played during the early years of the National Football League (NFL) for the Pottsville Maroons, Orange/Newark Tornadoes, and Brooklyn Dodgers. ...

while the Maroons were 5–8 in league play. The Maroons were the last team of his career, and thus Hultman ended his three-year stint in the NFL with between 28 and 30 games played, 21 starts, and three receiving touchdowns.

Personal life and death

Hultman had a younger brother who played football. He received a five-day jail sentence in May 1926 for driving while intoxicated. He later lived in

Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 89,321, makin ...

, and was an insurance agent at Northwest International. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

.
U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
' . Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Hultman was a president of the Waukegan School Board and was a member of the Glen Flora Country Club there. Hultman moved to

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, in 1982, and was a member of the Seminole Lake Country Club and First Church of Christ, Scientist, Seminole. He was married and had one son. He died on December 27, 1987, in

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,485, up from 77,648 in 2010 United States Census, 2010. Larg ...

, at the age of 84.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hultman, Vivian 1903 births 1987 deaths American football ends American football guards American football punters Detroit Panthers players Michigan State Spartans football players Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Pottsville Maroons players Basketball players from Grand Rapids, Michigan Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan Forwards (basketball) Basketball players from Michigan American military personnel of World War II