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Football
is arguably one of the most popular sports in the world. Thousands
of fans have packed stadiums every Saturday morning for the past 150
years. During the sports’ early years, football changed
considerably. In Warrensburg, Mo. college football underwent drastic
changes between 1894 and 1902. Football at Warrensburg Normal was
without direction or supervision until physical education started to
take hold on campus. Margaret Jones, instructor of English in
1892-93, was something of a gymnast, and under her direction some
students organized into groups for gymnastic drills. This must have
proved to be very tiresome for some of the male students who
preferred to go outside and kick around an association football
instead. From those innocent beginnings, the present day Mules
football team was born.
It all began one fall day
 According to Max
Aber, (left) “When autumn of 1894 came around, I was the
Official Court Stenographer for this county; I hungered for foot
ball. I went to campus hoping to get in on a game; I found about a
dozen husky students kicking a foot ball about the field. On inquiry
I learned none of them knew nothing about real foot ball.” Aber was
a native of Ohio, but moved to Indiana where he later attended
DePauw University. According to a letter written by Aber, which was
found on the back of an old picture, he had been both a manager and
player on the DePauw football squad. “I had been Manager of the foot
ball team which to that time had made the best record ever. My part
as a player was not outstanding.” Despite Aber’s status as a player,
when the students learned he had been around the sport of football
at another university, they asked him to assist them in organizing a
team at the Normal. “I assembled them, got them interested,
and appointed myself coach and captain, thus organizing the first
foot-ball eleven ever on Johnson County soil.” Of course, Aber was
not able to organize a team by himself, so he called on the
assistance of Nick M. Bradley, a former student and football player
at the University of Missouri. With the help of Bradley, Aber
developed the first football team at Warrensburg Normal. The first
football teams were made of both Normal
students and local people from the town of Warrensburg. The first
football game was played during the fall of 1894. “Aber’s Colts” got
off to a shaky start, losing to Sedalia’s town team 72-6. Later that
season during a game with Clinton’s town team, Normal’s Wycliff Ray
suffered a broken leg. He became the first student-athlete to be
injured representing Normal on the gridiron.
If you build it ...
Even though football fever had spread through the Normal school, it
was not being given serious attention, and the lack of a worthy
football field was one of the main reasons why. Not everyone ignored
the problems that faced this new football program however. In 1895,
those sick with football fever organized the Athletic Association on
campus, hoping it would help to improve football at Warrensburg
Normal. Its first goal was to secure the much-needed athletic field.
The athletic field had to be located on campus, but the campus was
filled with trees. John D. Donlap, president of the Association,
went to talk with George Osborne, president of Warrensburg Normal
from 1876 to 1898 about cutting down trees to clear space for the
athletic field. Osborne did not think that physical education had
any place in higher education, but he eventually gave in and agreed
to have a few trees removed from the campus. The students already
had a small field, and the few trees that Osborne was willing to let
go were not enough to allow the football team ample practice space.
Dunlop organized some men who liked sports and told them to come to
the field ready to do some manual labor. While the faculty was away
in a meeting, the boys, armed with appropriate equipment, cut down
the trees agreed upon by President Osborne, but they did not stop
there. They also decided to extend their work until a sizeable area
had been cleared. When the faculty and the president came out of
their meeting, they could not believe the amount of land the boys
had cleared. President Osborne was furious, but no one was expelled.
The field started from the present day Administration Building and
extended south to where Morrow and Garrison gymnasiums currently
stand.
And the development continued
In 1896, even without much attention from President Osborne, the
boys had firmly established football at Warrensburg Normal. The
football team, as in previous years, was composed of Normal
students, coaches, faculty and some townspeople. This combination of
players led to frequent fights among the members of the team. The
Normal boys got together and decided townspeople should not be
allowed on the team. This decision did not go over very well with
the townspeople, who wanted to play, but did, however, set the
standard for who would be allowed to play at Warrensburg Normal.The
1897 and 1898 teams plodded along through their seasons, playing
some larger schools such as the Universities of Kansas and Missouri.
Despite some strong showings against prestigious opponents, football
still received little attention until the Normal officially
installed physical education in 1899. Physical education developed
at Normal when financial troubles caused Dr. George Howe, president
of Warrensburg Normal from 1898 to 1901, to ask for a physical
education director and football manager. The school accepted former
athletic standout Joseph Ferguson. Ferguson had been a good player
in football, but it was in track that he really excelled. He
established track on the Normal campus by organizing the first track
team in 1895. That year he went to Missouri University for its
annual field days where he dominated the competition. He almost
broke the state record in the long jump on the way to winning four
events. Ferguson left after graduation, but returned in 1899 to
become the school’s first Director of Physical Education and also
manager of all athletic teams, despite having only had one season of
football experience.
Ferguson takes charge
In spite of his limited knowledge of the game, Ferguson and his
charges got off to a strong start in 1899. Recognizing he would need
more knowledgeable men to help him continue to succeed, Ferguson
took subscriptions from townspeople and paid a professional to coach
the team. The Warrensburg Normals had played the University of
Kansas in previous years, but now they were not looking for a game
from the Jayhawks. Instead, they needed a coach. They found Arthur
St. Leger Mosse. Mosse had been a star guard and a punter at Kansas
University for four years. Ferguson made a deal that would pay Mosse
$150 dollars for the next three weeks. Under the guidance of Coach
Mosse, the 1899 football team played six games and lost only one to
the University of Missouri. The biggest win that year came when the
Normals took on the Haskell Indians of Lawrence, Kan. Most of the
boys on that ’99 squad had never played in a game before that year,
and some had not even seen one. The Haskell Indians went on later
that year to win the Kansas State Championship. Opposite Mosse on
the Indians’ sideline was Coach “Shorty” Hamill. Hamill had been the
other four-year starting guard at Kansas University when Mosse
played. During the first few minutes of the game, the Normals’
halfback received a concussion from one of his own players, but
continued to play. According to Ferguson, “That halfback was
crazy--even more so than usual.” While dazed, the player scored
twice, but did not know until he regained his senses and the
quarterback told him. The Normals scored one final time on a zany
ninety-yard punt play, and the final tally was 17-5 in favor of the
Normals. Mosse received his victory for his school and some bragging
rights for himself against his old teammate Hamill. Without a doubt,
the 1899 squad overcame much adversity and could serve as an
inspiration to all future teams that believe the obstacles before
them are too great to overcome.
A new century, and a new enthusiasm
The first Normal team of the 20th Century made a statement that
football was in Warrensburg to stay. With the ’99
season in the past, the Warrensburg Normals looked ahead to the
upcoming year with a lot of enthusiasm. However, the 1900 season saw
many key players out from illness and injury. Despite the physical
struggles, the group of boys, along with Coach Mosse, posted a
winning record of seven wins and four losses. With two years of
triumph over a formidable opponent called adversity, the young team
was filled with confidence. That confidence combined with the
hopeful return of many key players made the upcoming 1901 season
very promising. In 1901, Coach Mosse was expected back, but instead
left for a chance to play with one of the first professional
football teams in Pittsburgh, Penn. Without a coach, the Normals
again looked to the University of Kansas. Ferguson called Earnest
Quigley, previously captain on the Kansas team, for the job. Smart
and outgoing, Quigley thought that if he played and coached, he
should be paid. Ferguson made the same deal with Quigley as he had
with Mosse for the sum of $150. Under the stern hand of Coach
Quigley, the Normals had one of best teams in Normal history. The
Normals dominated almost every opponent that was willing to face
them. After getting off to a quick 3-0 start, the Normals went to
Jefferson City, Mo., for a game against the Missouri Tigers. Before
the start of the game, the Normals where concerned with the
eligibility of the Missouri Tigers’ players. The Normals protested
that they would play only if three of the Tigers’ players were
removed, but the Tigers denied these allegations and refused to
remove the players. Understanding that this argument could drag on
all night, the Normals were willing to allow the Tigers players to
stay, but the Tigers still refused to play. It was obvious that the
Tigers wanted no part of the Normals that year and decided it would
be better to be a “living coward than a dead hero.” With the Tigers
out of the way, the Normals steam-rolled through their season with a
9-1 record and won the Missouri-Kansas Inter-State Championship
Despite
the success Quigley experienced in his first year as coach, he
decided not to stay for a second. He spent the winter and spring at
St. Mary’s College, played professional baseball in the summer and
then accepted a position as athletic instructor at St. Mary’s
College. Quigley enjoyed more success later in life when he was
first an umpire for the National Baseball League and then the
General Supervisor over all umpires. Once again, the Normals were
left without a coach for the upcoming season. But a familiar face
reappeared in 1902 when Coach Mosse returned for his third and final
year with the Normals. The 1902 team faced a tough schedule, but was
confident that victory would go their way under the leadership of
Coach Mosse. The boys played hard and won six of nine games,
including a trip down south where they beat the University of
Arkansas 15-5. Even with success against many tough opponents, Mosse
was unable to stay.
Mosse went to Pennsylvania for a couple of
years, but returned to Lawrence and had tremendous success as the
football coach of Kansas University. The Normals were back in a
familiar spot once again--in need of a coach--but in the upcoming
years they established an excellent football program. These first
eight years of Mules football were the foundation that the football
program has been built upon. It is remarkable how much these pioneer
teams accomplished in the face of so much adversity. It would have
been simple for everyone involved to give up when the breaks were
just not going their way. Warrensburg Normal football survived two
World Wars, numerous rules and eligibility changes, and many other
obstacles through the years. In 1912, Warrensburg State Teachers
College became one of 14 charter members of the Missouri
Intercollegiate Athletics Association (now the Mid-America
Intercollegiate Athletics Association), and a dozen years later saw
reorganization of the league to include only the five regional state
colleges-- Central, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.
The MIAA changed shape many times over the next decades, but the
Mules have remained one of the top contenders, winning or sharing
eight conference titles and making five trips to the postseason. If
it had not been for all the hard work, sacrifice, and love for the
game, Mules football might not be here now. As Max Aber wrote: “From
that seedling grew the present organization of Mules; Long May They
Kick!!!” |
