Charles Brickley

Charles Brickley

Date of birth	(1891-11-24)November 24, 1891
Place of birth	Boston, Massachusetts
Date of death	December 28, 1949(1949-12-28) (aged 58)
Place of death	New York, New York
Career information
Position(s)	Fullback
College	Harvard
Career history
As coach
1915	Johns Hopkins
1916–1917	Boston College
1917	Massillon Tigers
1920	Fordham
1921	Fordham (backfield)
1921	New York Brickley Giants
As player
1917	Massillon Tigers
1921	New York Brickley Giants
Career highlights and awards
2x Consensus All-American (1913, 1914) College coaching record: 22–9 NFL coaching record: 5-3 "Ohio League" coaching record: 0-1

Charles Edward Brickley (November 24, 1891 – December 28, 1949) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Johns Hopkins University in 1915, at Boston College from 1916 to 1917, and at Fordham University in 1920 with Joseph DuMoe as co-coach, compiling a career college football record of 22–9. Brickley also coached the New York Brickley Giants of the American Professional Football Association—now the National Football League—in 1921, tallying a mark of 0–2.

Early life and family

Brickley was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Everett, Massachusetts. He stood 5'10" and weighed 181 pounds during his athletic career.

Athletic career

Brickley attended Harvard College, where he played football from 1911 go 1914 for the Crimson as a fullback and placekicker under head coach Percy Haughton. He was named an All-American in 1913 and 1914. During the 1913 Harvard–Yale game, Brickley kicked all five of Harvard's field goals in the Crimson's 15–5 win over Yale.^[1] He set college football records for most field goals made by one player in a single season (13) and most career field goals (34).^[2]

Brickley also competed in the triple jump at 1912 Summer Olympics, finishing 9th.^[3] At the same Olympics he competed in the baseball event which was held as demonstration sport.

In 1917, Brickley became a player-coach for the Massillon Tigers, of the Ohio League.^[4]

Coaching career

Brickley's first coaching job was during his senior year at Harvard, where he served as an assistant to the University of Virginia football team during the team's August practices.^[5]

After graduating, Brickley was sought by many schools looking for head coaches, including New York University and Penn State.^[6] After initially refusing to coach,^[7] Brickley eventually accepted the head coaching job at Johns Hopkins University.^[8]

Brickley's drop kick to defeat Dartmouth in 1912.

In 1916, he led Boston College to its first defeat over rival Holy Cross since 1889. He left Boston College in 1918 to join the United States Navy Reserve.^[9] Brickley returned to coaching in 1921 as the backfield coach of the Fordham Rams, coaching his youngest brother Arthur. Brickley coached the New York Brickley Giants (Also known as Brickley's Giants or Brickley's Brooklyn Giants) of the National Football League in 1921. In 1922, Brickley was offered the position of head coach at Northwestern, but the two sides could not agree on terms and the school hired Glenn Thistlethwaite instead.^[10]

Later life

Brickley did not coach football after the 1921 season. He worked as a stockbroker, shipbuilder, and advertising salesman until his death in 1949 in New York City.^[2] He settled in Bronxville, New York, where his two sons attended high school.

Legal trouble

In 1923, Brickley was indicted on charges of illegal stock negotiations.^[11] He was found not guilty of forgery and larceny by a jury on May 28, 1925.^[12] On March 1, 1928 Brickley was found guilty of four counts of larceny and bucketing orders from customers of Charles E. Brickley, Inc., stock brokerage firm, from 1925 to 1927.^[13] He was released on parole in December.^[14] In 1949, Brickley and his son, Charles, Jr. were arrested after starting a fight in a Manhattan restaurant. According to testimony, the fight began when Brickley overheard somebody say "Is that old bald-headed so-and-so Charlie Brickley, the football player?" ^[15] or "You mean that old bald-headed man is the great Charlie Brickley?" ^[2] Brickley died the day the charges against him were to be dismissed.^[2]

Family

Brickley's brother George Brickley, played five games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913.^[16][17] His youngest brother Arthur Brickley played football and baseball for Columbia (1920), Fordham (1921), and Providence (1923). Brickley's oldest son, Charles "Chick" Brickley, Jr. played football at Yale and was a minor league baseball player for the Boston Red Sox.^[18][19][20] His youngest son, John "Bud" Brickley, signed with the New York Giants in 1946 following his discharge from the United States Marine Corps.^[21] His grandson, John Brickley, was a kicker for the University of Rhode Island. His grandnephew is former National Hockey League player Andy Brickley.^[22]

Head coaching record

College

References