William Thomas "Mother" Dunn (May 13, 1881 – November 17, 1962) 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 who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and center for the

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. Penn State Nittany Lions, The Nittany Lions compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

team of

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Dunn captained the 1906 Nittany Lion, and that year became the first player outside of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

to be selected as an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American college football player and coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage a ...

. He was also the first great linebacker in the history of Penn State's football program, a school that would eventually be nicknamed "Linebacker U" for its history of excellent play at the linebacker position. Dunn was featured on the official 2011 Nittany Lion football schedule poster as part of the celebration of 125 years of Penn State football.

External links

"The legacy of Linebacker U"
'' Daily Collegian'', September 2, 2000 1881 births 1962 deaths All-American college football players American football linebackers American football centers Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio {{linebacker-1880s-stub