| Date of birth: | June 17, 1886 |
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Date of death: | March 24, 1930 |
| Place of death: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): | Quarterback |
| College: | University of Chicago |
| Organizations | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Awards: | All-American, 1904 All-American, 1905 All-American, 1906 |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1886 – March 24, 1930) was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.
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Eckersall grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago just south of the University of Chicago. His talent emerged at Hyde Park High School, where he dashed 100 yards in 10.0 seconds, an Illinois record for 25 years, and excelled on the football field. In 1903, he quarterbacked Hyde Park to an undefeated season and then led the Hyde Park squad to a 105 to 0 trouncing of Brooklyn Polytechnic at Marshall Field on December 5, 1903 to claim the national championship.[1]
Eckersall was highly recruited out of high school and both Fielding H. Yost of the Michigan and Amos Alonzo Stagg of the Chicago Maroons. Stagg resorted to chicanery, snatching Eckersall off a train platform to keep him from attending a recruitment rendezvous arranged by Michigan coaches in Ann Arbor in 1904.
In 1905, the sophomore quarterback led the Maroons to the national championship. In the final game of the season on November 30, Chicago and Michigan met in a battle of undefeated Western Conference powerhouses met at Chicago's Marshall Field in front of 27,000 spectators, at that time the largest crowd to view a football game. Michigan was 12–0 and had a 56-game undefeated streak on the line, while Chicago was 10–0.
The game was a punting duel between Eckersall and Michigan's John Garrels and was scoreless until early in the third quarter when a Michigan punt and Chicago penalty pinned Chicago inside their own ten-yard line. On third down, as Eckersall attempted to punt, he encountered a fearsome rush, but evaded the Michigan tacklers and was able to scramble to the 22-yard line and a first down. After three more first downs, the drive stalled and Chicago was forced to punt again. Eckersall's booming punt carried into the end zone where it was caught by Michigan's William Dennison Clark who attempted to run the ball out. He advanced the ball forward to the one-yard line, but was hit hard by Art Badenoch and then was brought back inside his own end zone by Mark Catlin for a two-point safety. Under the rules of the time, forward progress was not credited, and a ball carrier could be carried backwards or forwards until he was down. The rest of third and fourth quarters continued as a defensive stalemate. Chicago's 2–0 victory snapped Michigan's 56-game unbeaten streak and gave Chicago the national championship for 1905.[2]
As a tragic note to this game, Clark received the blame for the Michigan loss, and in 1932 he shot himself through the heart. In a suicide note to his wife he reportedly expressed the hope that his "final play" would be of some benefit in atoning for his error at Marshall Field. [3]
In Eckersall, Stagg saw the promise of "a selfless performer, marked by complete dedication" to victory. During his career, Eckersall led Chicago to a 25–2–1 record (.911 winning percentage), with Chicago outscoring their opponents 856–66. The two losses were to Michigan in 1904 and to Wisconsin in 1906. The tied was a 6–6 stalemate with Illinois in 1904.[4]
Following his career, Eckersall's was selected to Walter Camp's "All-Time All-America Team" honoring the greatest college football players during the sport's formative years.[5] Eckersall was selected to Camp's All-American Team for 1904, 1905, and 1906.[6]
After his playing days, Eckersall remained a prominent figure in football. He had a successful dual career as a sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune, and as a referee. As an official, Eckersall was considered one of the best and officiated at many high profile games. Highly regarded as an authority on football, he selected the Chicago Tribune's all star team. His "All Western Eleven" carried prestige. Eckersall is also a footnote in the story of Knute Rockne, and the well-documented history of Notre Dame, because of his presence at many of their games. Eckersall was an idol of Rockne, who grew up in Chicago and watched Eckersall play in high school and in college.[7]
Eckersall's boozing and carousing often contradicted Stagg's prescription of football as a surefire builder of moral character. Stagg gradually distanced himself from his greatest player, especially when Eckersall reneged on a $20 debt and was later featured in a national ad campaign for cigarettes—a habit Stagg regarded as sinful. In March 1930, Eckersall was hospitalized for illnesses associated with his hard living, Stagg came to his bedside with the firm advice to "turn over a new leaf." "Eckie" promised his old coach that he would. Eckersall died of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia on March 24, 1930 at the age of 43.[8]
The Chicago Public Schools constructed a sporting facility at 2423 East 82nd Street in 1949, named "Walter Eckersall Stadium".
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