Dan Blake

Dan Blake

Blake cropped from the 1906 team picture
Vanderbilt Commodores
Position Halfback
Class Graduate
Career history
College Vanderbilt (1904–1906)
High school Bowen School
Personal information
Date of birth May 22, 1882
Place of birth Cuero, Texas
Date of death September 7, 1953 (aged 71)
Place of death Gary, Indiana
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg)
Career highlights and awards

Daniel Bigelow Blake, Jr. (May 22, 1882 – September 7, 1953) was an American football player and coach.

Early years

Dan Bigelow Blake, Jr. was born on May 22, 1882 in Cuero, Texas to Daniel Bigelow Blake, Sr. and Mary Clara Weldon. Dan, Sr. was a physician and once president of the Nashville Academy of Medicine.[1]

Playing years

Vanderbilt

Blake was a prominent halfback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt football teams, winning multiple SIAA titles. His two brothers, Bob and Vaughn, also played on those teams. Dan, Bob, and Vaughn were captains of the 1906, 1907, and 1908 Vanderbilt teams respectively. Dan Blake was selected consensus All-Southern in 1906. At Vanderbilt he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and stood 5 feet 11 and weighed some 165 pounds.[2]

1903

Dan played end in 1903, the same position as his brother Bob.

1904

1904 Vanderbilt Commodores football team. Dan is top row, second from left

One writer in 1904 still contended Blake, who "played left half for Vanderbilt, '04, being taken from left end, which position he played in '03. End is his position; he is heavy, weighing about 170, is fast, a good tackler, advances the ball well, and is a fair punter."[3]

1906

Dan was captain of the 1906 team, considered one of the school's greatest.[4] Dan made the field goal to tie Michigan 4 to 4, a score that would remain until the final two minutes saw a Michigan touchdown.[5]

Coaching years

Hopkinsville High

He went on to coach at Hopkinsville High School at Hopkinsville, Kentucky. While there he was manager of the electric light and gas plants of the Kentucky Public Service Company.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Charles Wells Moulton (1906). "Blake, Daniel Bigelow". The Doctor's Who's Who (The Saalfield Publishing Co) 12.
  2. ↑ "Vanderbilt". Caduceus of Kappa Sigma 20: 377.
  3. ↑ Myles P. O'Connor. "An All-K.S. Football Team". Caduceus of Kappa Sigma 19: 211.
  4. ↑ "Brown Calls Vanderbilt '06 Best Eleven South Ever Had". Atlanta Constitution. February 19, 1911. p. 52. Retrieved March 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Garrels' Big Run Brings Victory". Chicago Daily Tribune. November 4, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Dan Blake". Hopkinsville Kentuckian. October 1, 1912. p. 4.