Autobiography of Amos Alonzo Stagg (1891)

An All-American Yale player, Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) brought football to what is now Springfield College and coached the institution’s first team in 1891. After arriving as a graduate student and instructor in 1890, Stagg posted a notice inviting students and faculty to play football for the institution. On an open field overlooking Lake Massasoit, the team would practice and play the less important games, while playing bigger games downtown. The first year ended with a 5-3 record, highlighted by a 26-0 defeat of Amherst College, the game represented by this admissions ticket, and a contest against Yale at Madison Square Garden, the first-ever indoor football game. Yale fielded a team of five varsity players, two substitutes, and a group of Yale graduates. Springfield College, at this time, had less than fifty students from which to draw. Stagg was the only experienced player on the Springfield College squad and found his team outsized by an average of twenty pounds per man. In a great contest, Springfield College showed true courage and pride, but ultimately lost 16-10. The newspapers labeled Stagg’s team the “Stubby Christians,” commending the team for the surprise they gave everyone in attendance and how they outplayed the giants from New Haven. After coaching for fifty-seven years at number of different institutions, he became the dean of college football coaches. Stagg pioneered the huddle, the man in motion, the end-around, and the Statue of Liberty play, among others. During October 2006, the refurbished Benedum Field was renamed the Amos Alonzo Stagg Field. In The Fireside Book of Football, Edwin Pope describes Stagg as “football’s Ben Franklin, Alexander Bell, and Thomas Edison all rolled into one.”

Part of the Class of 1891 biographies and Phophecy

“Autobiography of Amos Alonzo Stagg from Yearbook (1891)” was written by Amos Alonzo Stagg for the International YMCA Training School’s (now known as Springfield College) 1891 Yearbook “Biographies and Prophecy.” The autobiography is actually written in third person, but the title suggests, and the other "autobiographies" in the yearbook, suggest it may have been written by him; the document, though, does not say. The document talks about his early family life, his time at Yale and how he came to Springfield College. It also announces his upcoming acceptance of the position at the University of Chicago.