Walter R. Okeson

Walter Raleigh "Okey" Okeson (October 3, 1875 – November 4, 1943)[1] was an American football player and coach. He was a player-coach for the first all-professional football team, the Latrobe Athletic Association club in 1897. Okeson was the head football coach at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for one season, in 1900, compiling a record of 5–6.

Walter R. Okeson
Born:(1875-10-03)October 3, 1875
Port Royal, Pennsylvania
Died:November 4, 1943(1943-11-04) (aged 68)
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Career information
Position(s)End
Career history
As coach
1897Latrobe Athletic Association
1900Lehigh
1901Lehigh (assistant)
As player
1897Latrobe Athletic Association
1898Duquesne Country & A. C.
Career highlights and awards

Okeson was also an All-American end at Lehigh. In 1897 he was a player-coach for the Latrobe Athletic Association and led the team to a 10–21 record. He was later named to the "All Western Pennsylvania Team" by The Pittsburg Times after the season. In 1898, he played for the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club. At the end of that season, Okeson played for Duquesne against the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team, formed by Latrobe manager Dave Berry.[2][3][4] Duquesne won the game, 16-0.

Okeson was the chairman of the College Football Rules Committee for a time. After the death of Parke H. Davis in June, 1934, Okeson became the editor of the annual Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide. In the Guide, Davis, the previous editor, had compiled a list titled, "Outstanding Nationwide and Sectional Teams," for the seasons from 1869 onward. For several years, Okeson continued to add annual selections to this list, described as "Originally Compiled by the late Parke H. Davis."[5]

In the 1939 Guide, Okeson wrote,[6]

"In that year (1897), then, 'pro' foot ball started with the two teams of the Latrobe Athletic Club and the Greensburg Athletic Club. I remember it rather distinctly, as I was engaged to coach the Latrobe team ... I can truthfully say that I saw 'pro' foot ball born and have watched its growth, at first spasmodic but of late years steady and successful. ... After 50 years of football as a player in prep school, college and professional teams, as a coach of high school, college and 'pro' teams, as an official, a graduate manager, a Commissioner of Officials, Chairman of the Foot Ball Rules Committee, I am convinced that calling foot ball part of the educational program is a lot of 'hooey.' ... [L]et the schools and the colleges tend to the job of education. ... Permit foot ball to hold its place as the greatest game ever devised for young men who love body contact, as the highlight in the college sports program."

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Lehigh (Independent) (1900)
1900 Lehigh 5–6
Lehigh: 5–6
Total:5–6

References
  1. Rootsweb
  2. "The First All-Star Game" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 1 (1): 1–9. 1979.
  3. Van Atta, Robert (1980). "Latrobe, PA: Cradle of Pro Football" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association. 2 (Annual): 1–21.
  4. "Last Hurrah in Allegheny" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. 1980: 1–3. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Okeson, Walter R., ed. (1935). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1935. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. pp. 173–74, 233–35.
  6. Okeson, Walter R., ed. (1939). Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1939. New York: American Sports Publishing Co. pp. 12–13.
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