Ben Crosby

Ben Crosby

A grainy image of a man in a hat and a jacket posing for a picture

Crosby while a player at Yale, c. 1891
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born (1868-03-22)March 22, 1868
Halcott Centre, New York
Died December 29, 1892(1892-12-29) (aged 24)
New York City, New York
Alma mater Yale University
Playing career
1890–1891 Yale
Position(s) Right end
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1892 Navy
Head coaching record
Overall 5–2

Statistics

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
National championship (1891)

Benjamin Lewis Crosby, Jr. (March 22, 1868 – December 29, 1892) was an American football player, coach, and law student. Born in Halcott Centre, New York, Crosby attended Yale University beginning in 1889; while there, he was a popular student and sportsman. A member of both Delta Kappa Epsilon and Skull and Bones, Crosby was a two-year starter on the football team and a backup on the crew team. During his junior year, Crosby was replaced on the football team by freshman Frank Hinkey and never returned to a starting position. The remainder of Crosby's time at Yale was successful and he enrolled at the New York Law School after graduation.

Crosby was invited in 1892 to serve as head coach of the United States Naval Academy football program, which he accepted. Using a rigorous practicing regime, he led his team to a 5–2 record, which included a victory over rival Army in the Army–Navy Game. Crosby was repeatedly in the news for his coaching decisions leading up to the game, which he was then commended for following the upset victory. At the end of the season, Crosby returned to New York to continue his studies, but he was hospitalized after a cold he caught while coaching worsened shortly after his arrival. He died from typhoid fever in late December, at the age of 24.

Career

Early life and college

Crosby was born on March 22, 1868 in Halcott Centre, Greene County, New York, son of David J. Crosby. As a child, Crosby attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut, the second person in his family to do so. He graduated from the school in 1888,[1] and the following year, Crosby began classes at Yale University. Crosby was very popular while at Yale, and was a member of both Delta Kappa Epsilon and the secret undergraduate society Skull and Bones.[2][3] In his sophomore year, Crosby was the starting right end of the Bulldogs football team; the squad finished the season with a thirteen-and-one record, with the sole loss coming to national champion Harvard. In his following year, Crosby joined the university's crew team as a substitute, and was described by classmates as being "quite prominent in athletics".[4][5]

However, Crosby's football season turned out to be a disappointment. Early in the season, both he and John A. Hartwell, the other starting end, who would later follow Crosby as Navy football coach, were injured in a game. While observing a team practice, Hartwell noticed the play of backup end Frank Hinkey. After the two watched Hinkey for a brief time, Hartwell decided that he needed to return to practicing or he would lose his starting position. Crosby did not share his view. By the next game, Hinkey had replaced Crosby as the starting end and Crosby did not regain his position.[6][7] Despite this, Crosby remained popular through his senior year at the university, and he was one of three graduates presented with a class award.[8] Upon graduation from the school, Crosby enrolled in New York Law School and joined a law office in New York City.[2][4]

Coaching career

In October 1892, shortly after he began attending New York Law School, Crosby was invited by former Yale coach Walter Camp to live in Annapolis, Maryland and serve as the coach for the United States Naval Academy football team. Navy had requested that Camp serve as coach in response to Army's hiring of Crosby's former teammate, Henry L. Williams. Camp suggested that Crosby would be a better fit for the job; he accepted the invitation.[9] Crosby became the second head coach in Navy history and the first that had been independent of the program.[10] The prior coach, Vaulx Carter, had been a student at the academy and was responsible for the revival of the program.[11] Crosby's strategy for practices was one of the most intensive used at the academy during its early years; after classes every day, the team would play two forty-five minute games against a team of twenty-two backup players, followed immediately by a long swimming session in a cold pool.[10][12] Shortly before the season began, he hired former St. John's College, Johns Hopkins, and Lehigh player Paul Dashiell to serve as his assistant coach.[12]

A newspaper article about Crosby receiving a trophy
An article from The New York Times about Crosby receiving a trophy for winning the Army–Navy Game

The 1892 season commenced on October 12 with a 16–0 shutout loss against the Penn Quakers in Annapolis. The Quakers would finish the season with a 15–1 record, losing only to national champion Yale. Crosby's team played their next game just three days later, against the Princeton Tigers. Navy lost the game in another shutout, by the score of 28–0. These losses continued a losing streak that dated back to November 21 of the previous year.[13][14] The following week, on October 22, Crosby received his first coaching win after Navy defeated the Lafayette Leopards 22–4. This was followed by a victory the next week over the small Franklin & Marshall College; Navy won in a 24–0 shutout, their largest shutout win since the 1890 Army–Navy Game. They continued the winning streak into November with a 48–12 blowout of Rutgers, the biggest win for Navy since the beginning of the 1890 season. After a week's break, Crosby received his fourth win, a forty-point shutout of nearby Georgetown.[13][15]

The final game of the season was the annual Army–Navy Game against Navy's biggest rivals, the Army Cadets. Navy had been upset by the Cadets in the previous year's game, and came into the 1892 game as an underdog against the unbeaten Army.[16] Despite this, Crosby expected a victory, even telling reporters that he was "of the opinion that they [Navy] will certainly win".[17] Crosby also caught the attention of the press with his scheduling of constant practices leading up to the game, including organizing night practices on a lighted field. He also closed all press and fan access to the practices, an unusual action at the time, because Navy officials claimed that Army had learned their plays the prior year by observing the practices.[18][19] Crosby's actions proved successful as, on November 26 at West Point, Navy led Army for the entire game and won easily, 12–4.[13][16] About a month after the game, in appreciation for his coaching Navy to the win, the team presented Crosby an eight-inch high sterling silver loving cup, produced by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, which was inscribed with the simple message: "Benjamin L. Crosby. Jr. – From the officers and cadets of the United States Naval Academy, Nov. 26, 1892".[20][21]

A man with a large mustache and nice jacket posing for a picture
Crosby's hiring of Paul Dashiell had a lasting impact on Navy football

Death and legacy

Following the conclusion of the season, Crosby returned to New York City to continue his studies at the New York Law School. However, he only attended classes for a brief time. Crosby had, reportedly, contracted a "severe cold" during his time as a head coach, which continued to affect him after the season. On December 19, while attending one of his law classes, his illness intensified and he apparently "succumbed to an attack of typhoid fever".[2][4] Crosby was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where his condition progressively worsened over the following ten days. Crosby finally succumbed to the effects of typhoid fever on December 29 at the age of 24.[5][22] In his one season as a head coach, Crosby amassed a record of 5–2 and his team outscored their opponents 146–64. The five wins are tied for the seventh-fewest of any Navy coach, but third-most of single-season coaches. Crosby also has the third-fewest losses among Navy coaches. His .714 win percentage is tied for the tenth-highest of any Navy coach.[23] Crosby's coaching position was filled by Yale teammate John A. Hartwell, who was subsequently replaced by another Yale teammate, William Wurtenburg.[9] Crosby has been largely forgotten outside of Navy football history. One event from his life that was remembered was his replacement as Yale end by Frank Hinkey, which was discussed in magazines until at least the 1920s.[7] The most significant impact that Crosby had was through his hiring of Dashiell. The latter would serve as assistant under the following eight Navy coaches, until 1903; as head coach from 1904 to 1906, Dashiell brought Navy to national prominence and won 25 games. He later became one of the longest-serving members of the college football Rules Committee, helping to legalize the forward pass and ban the flying wedge, among other things.[24]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Navy Midshipmen (Independent) (1892)
1892 Navy 5–2
Navy: 5–2
Total: 5–2

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.