John Maxwell (American football)

John Maxwell was a college football player.

Clemson College

Football

Maxwell was an All-Southern^[1] quarterback for John Heisman's Clemson Tigers of Clemson University, a member of its athletic Hall of Fame.^[2]

1902

Maxwell started every game in 1902.^[3] The Tigers closed the season with an 11 to 0 win over the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee back A. H. Douglas holds the record for the longest punt in his school's history when he punted a ball 109 yards (the field length was 110 yards in those days) during the Clemson game.^[4][5][6] Heisman described the kick:

"The day was bitterly cold and a veritable typhoon was blowing straight down the field from one end to the other. We rushed the ball with more consistency than Tennessee, but throughout the entire first half they held us because of the superb punting of "Toots" Douglas, especially because, in that period he had the gale squarely with him. Going against that blizzard our labors were like unto those of Tantalus. Slowly, with infinite pains and a maximum of exertion, we pushed the ball from our territory to their 10-yard line. We figured we had another down to draw on, but the referee begged to differ. He handed the ball to Tennessee and the "tornado." Their general cheerfully chirped a signal – Saxe Crawford, it must have been –; and "Toots" with sprightly step, dropped back for another of his Milky Way punts. I visualize him still, standing on his own goal line and squarely between his uprights. One quick glance he cast overhead– no doubt to make sure that howling was still the same old hurricane.

I knew at once what he proposed to do. The snap was perfect. "Toots" caught the ball, took two smart steps and – BLAM!–away shot the ball as though from the throat of Big Bertha. And, say, in his palmiest mathematical mood, I don't believe Sir Isaac Newton himself could have figured a more perfect trajectory to fit with that cyclone. Onward and upward, upward and onward, the crazy thing flew like a brainchild of Jules Verne. I thought it would clear the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our safety man, the great Johnny Maxwell, was positioned 50 yards behind our rush line, yet the punt sailed over his head like a phantom aeroplane. Finally, it cam down, but still uncured of its wanderlust it started in to roll–toward our goal, of course, with Maxwell chasing and damning it with every step and breath. Finally it curled up and died on our one-footline, after a bowstring journey of just 109 yards."^[7]

Both Maxwell and Douglas were selected All-Southern in different publications.^[8]

1903

He returned the kickoff to open the second half 100 yards for Clemson's first score in the 1903 game with Cumberland billed as the championship of the South which ended in an 11–11 tie.^[9][10] It was John Heisman's last game as Clemson head coach.^[9]

References