Clarence Alcott

Clarence F. Alcott (August 9, 1886 – October 23, 1957) was an American football player, coach and investment banker. He was selected as an All-American end in both 1906 and 1907.

Clarence Alcott
Born:(1886-08-09)August 9, 1886
Died:October 23, 1957(1957-10-23) (aged 71)
Career information
Position(s)End
CollegeYale University
Career highlights and awards
HonorsAll-American, 1906 and 1907

Alcott attended Yale University, where he played at the end position from 1905 to 1907. During the 1906 and 1907 seasons, the first in which the forward pass was legal, Alcott developed a reputation as one of the sport's best pass receivers. In 1916, The New York Times wrote that he "was one of Yale's most spectacular ends, especially in handling the forward pass."[1]

In Yale's 6-0 victory over Harvard in November 1906, Alcott scored the game's only points on a touchdown pass from Paul Veeder. Though it was neither the first nor the longest pass of the 1906 season, the Veeder-to-Alcott pass in the Harvard game was the most publicized pass in the first season of forward passing. Some publications refer to the touchdown pass from Veeder to Alcott in the 1906 Harvard game as the "first forward pass in a major game."[2] In his book, "A Century of The Game: Yale-Harvard Is a Matter of Pride,' Al Morganti claimed that "the first significant use of the forward pass in a major game, a 20-yard gain on a Paul Veeder-to-Clarence Alcoft pass in The Game of 190."[3] Writing in The Washington Post, Sally Jenkins called it one of the few significant forward passes thrown in the first season of the forward pass.[4]

In fact, Eddie Cochems's 1906 St. Louis University team built its offense around the forward pass in 1906. One of the top football officials in the country, West Point's Lt. Horatio B. Hackett officiated at Harvard, Yale and St. Louis University games in 1906. After watching St. Louis play, Hackett told a reporter, "It was the most perfect exhibition... of the new rules ... that I have seen all season and much better than that of Yale and Harvard. St. Louis' style of pass differs entirely from that in use in the east. ... The St. Louis university players shoot the ball hard and accurately to the man who is to receive it ... The fast throw by St. Louis enables the receiving player to dodge the opposing players, and it struck me as being all but perfect."[5]

At the end of the 1906 season, Alcott was selected as a second-team All-American by Caspar Whitney for Outing magazine[6] In 1907, he was selected as a first-team All-American by Walter Camp in Collier's Weekly.[7]

After graduating from Yale in 1908, Alcott served on Yale's football coaching staff from 1908 until at least 1919.[1][8][9][10][11] He also served on Yale's Football Committee, responsible for setting football policy, starting in 1920.[12]

Alcott later became an investment banker on Wall Street in New York. He retired in 1935 and died in October 1957.[13]

References
  1. "FOOTBALL PLANS FOR YALE ARE OUTLINED; Committee Accedes to Public Demand for Numbering of Players; COACHING LIST COMPLETED; Clarence Alcott to Have Charge of End Candidates -- Preliminary Training on Yale Field" (PDF). The New York Times. 1916-04-18.
  2. John Powers (1983-11-18). "The 100th Game: Fads, Wars, Even Centuries Change, and Harvard-Yale Is Still the Constant". Boston Globe. ("1906 - The first forward pass in a major game - 20 yards from Yale's Paul Veeder to Clarence Alcott - sets stage for only touchdown in 6-0 decision over unbeaten Crimson.")
  3. Al Morganti (1983-11-18). "A Century of the Game: Yale-Harvard Is a Matter of Pride". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  4. Sally Jenkins (2007-05-13). "Carlisle Indians Made It A Whole New Ballgame". The Washington Post.
  5. Ed Wray (1906-11-30). "untitled". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  6. Caspar Whitney (1907). "The View-Point". The Outing Magazine. p. 537.
  7. "Camp Selects His All American Team". Trenton Evening Times. 1903-12-27.
  8. "YALE'S SHORT PRACTICE: Eleven, Tired and Lame from Syracuse Game, Plays Eight-Minute Half" (PDF). The New York Times. 1908-10-06.(George Adee and Clarence Alcott were the graduate coaches.)
  9. "YALE ENDS FAIL TO SHOW HIGH CLASS; Slowness of Candidates Tried Causes Coaches to Seek Speedy Men for Places" (PDF). The New York Times. 1911-09-29.
  10. "HEAT CURTAILS ELI'S WORK.; Twenty More Players Join the Football Squad at Yale" (PDF). The New York Times. 1916-09-08.("Clarence Alcott had charge of the ends and kept them busy in tosses of various distances and angles.")
  11. "LIMIT PRACTICE AT YALE; Football Team to Do Little Training Until Fall" (PDF). The New York Times. 1919-04-06.(Alcott assistant coach for ends and head coach of the freshman team)
  12. "NEW ELI COMMITTEE TO SETTLE POLICY; Recently Appointed Football Board Will Meet for Discussion of Gridiron System" (PDF). The New York Times. 1920-12-20.
  13. "CLARENCE F. ALCOTT, INVESTMENT BANKER". The New York Times. 1957-10-24.
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