George Sanford (American football)

Playing career

Sanford started at center on the 1891 Yale Bulldogs football team and left guard on the 1892 team, but missed the final three games of the latter season due to a broken ankle. He graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1893, but was allowed to stay on the football team due to a rule change that allowed graduate students (Sanford was attending Yale Law School) to play college football. Sanford was also a member of the Yale track team and in 1894 competed in the Yale-Oxford games in England and the Amateur Athletic Union Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Travers Island, New York. He was declared ineligible for the 1895 football season finale against Princeton because he did not register as a student before that year's deadline. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1896, but passed on a legal career to go into coaching.

Coaching

Sanford began his coaching career at in 1896 at Cornell. He assisted Yale during the 1897 and 1888 seasons. In 1899, he became the first paid coach at Columbia University, receiving $5,000 a year. He was let go in 1902 in favor of Bill Morley. He spent that year out of football, instead working in the locomotive business in Chicago. He helped coach Yale during the final three weeks of the 1903 season. In 1904, he was the head coach at the University of Virginia. In 1905, 1910, 1911, and 1912, he assisted at Yale when it did not interfere with his business commitments.

From 1913 to 1923, Sanford was the head coach at Rutgers University. His 1915 scored more points than any other eastern college football team. Sanford's players at Rutgers included Paul Robeson and Homer Hazel. After his retirement from coaching, Sanford remained involved with the football program as an advisor to his successor, John Wallace. Throughout his time at Rutgers, Sanford did not collect a salary and worked full time as an insurance broker in New York City.

Later life

After retiring from coaching, Sanford was president of the insurance brokerage firm of Smyth, Sanford & Gerard, Inc. in Manhattan, New York City. He died of a heart attack on May 23, 1938, at the age of 67 at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. He was survived by his wife and two children. His son, Foster Sanford Jr., was a member of the University of Pennsylvania baseball, football, and track teams and was a member of the University's board of trustees from 1958 to 1968.

Head coaching record

References

References

1. (November 8, 1892). "More Bad Luck For Yale". The New York Times.
2. (October 29, 1893). "Sanford and Graves Eligible". The New York Times.
3. (June 21, 1894). "Seeing the Yale Men Off". The New York Times.
4. (September 11, 1894). "Entries for the Championships". The New York Times.
5. (October 30, 1895). "Sanford is Ineligible". The Boston Globe.
6. (November 19, 1896). "How Yale Will Line Up". The Morning Record.
7. (September 25, 1896). "Cornell's Football Team: It Will Be Light This Season, but Contain Lively Players". The New York Times.
8. (November 14, 1896). "Afield and Afloat". The Illustrated American.
9. (November 5, 1897). "Yale's Steady Improvement". The Evening Telegraph.
10. (October 1, 1898). "Yale Coaches Confident". The Evening Telegraph.
11. (March 10, 1971). "Name Four Coaches". The Robesonian.
12. (February 7, 1902). "Sanford Out of Columbia". The New York Times.
13. (September 21, 1902). "Approach of Football Season". The New York Times.
14. (November 2, 1903). "Yale May Make a Change". Boston Evening Transcript.
15. (September 30, 1904). "Football Talk College Gossip". The Meriden Daily Journal.
16. (September 23, 1905). "Yale Outlook Now Brighter". Boston Evening Transcript.
17. (December 2, 1910). "Wants Changes In Football Rules". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
18. (October 25, 1911). "Sanford Stiffens Yale's Defense". The New York Times.
19. (October 29, 1912). "Old Yale Men Swarm on Football Field". The New York Times.
20. (December 23, 1915). "Sport Budget". Evening Tribune.
21. (January 31, 1922). "Sanford Coaches Rutgers For Eight Years Without Receiving A Cent". The Toledo News-Bee.
22. (May 24, 1938). "G. F. Sanford Dead; Football Leader. Former Coach at Columbia and Rutgers Was Gridiron Star at Yale for Four Years. A Team-Mate Of Hinkey. Also Played Center on Eleven With Heffelfinger. Earned His 'Y' as a Sprinter Joins Rutgers in 1913. Head of Insurance Firm". [[New York Times]].
23. (May 24, 1938). "G. Foster Sanford Dies; Rutgers Coach 11 Years". The Daily Home News.
24. (May 10, 1925). "N.Y.U. Freshmen Blanked". The New York Times.
25. (December 11, 1926). "Sixteen Get Varsity Letters And Gold Footballs at Penn". The New York Times.
26. (January 29, 1928). "Penn Holds an Outdoor Meet In Snow; Sanford Is a Victor". The New York Times.
27. "University Leaders: University of Pennsylvania Trustees, 1749-present". University of Pennsylvania.