- Dutch Clark
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Dutch Clark 
No. 7 Quarterback Personal information Date of birth: October 11, 1906
Fowler, ColoradoDate of death: August 5, 1978 (aged 71)
Cañon City, ColoradoCareer information College: Colorado College Debuted in 1931 for the Detroit Lions Last played in 1942 for the Cleveland Rams Career history Playing career
- Portsmouth Spartans (1931–1932)
- Detroit Lions (1934–1938)
Coaching career
- Detroit Lions (1937–1938)
- Cleveland Rams (1939–1942)
- Seattle Bombers (1944)
Career highlights and awards - All-American, 1928
- NFL Champion (1935)
- 6× All-Pro selection (1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937)
- NFL 1930s All-Decade Team
- Detroit Lions #7 Retired
Stats at NFL.com Pro Football Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame Earl Harry "Dutch" Clark (October 11, 1906 – August 5, 1978) was an American football player and coach in the United States. He played college football at Colorado College and then in the National Football League with the Portsmouth Spartans (1931–1932) and Detroit Lions (1934–1938). In his final two seasons with the Lions, he also served as the team's head coach. Clark was also the head coach of the NFL's Cleveland Rams from 1939 to 1942 and of the American Football League's Seattle Bombers in 1944. He also coached as the college level, serving at head football coach at the Colorado School of Mines in 1933 and at the University of Detroit from 1951 to 1953. In addition, he was the head basketball coach at Colorado College from 1930 to 1933 and at the University of Colorado at Boulder for one season in 1934–35. Clark was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, honored by both as a player.
Contents
Early life
Clark began his football career at center as a freshman at Central High School in Pueblo, Colorado, circa 1922. Coach Oscar “Ollie” Herigstad reassigned young Clark to fullback, where he earned All-State honors for the Wildcats. At Central, he was also an All-State basketball center, and set South-Central League track & field records in the discus and high hurdles. Baseball was his “weak” sport, on account of impaired vision in his left eye. He earned 16 letters, and graduated in 1926.[1]
College playing career
Clark was headed for the University of Michigan and had a stopover at Northwestern University, but ended up at the Colorado College in Colorado Springs. At CC, Clark earned 12 letters and was All-Conference in football, basketball, baseball and track for the Tigers. Coach William T. "Bully" Van DeGraaff used Clark as a rusher, quarterback, drop-kicker, punter, linebacker, safety and punt returner. He rushed for 1349 yards on 135 carries in 1928, his junior year, and scored 103 of CC’s 203 points. In 1928, he became the first All-American football player from any of Colorado’s colleges and universities.[1] He graduated from CC in 1930 with a B.A. in Biology. At Colorado College, he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.
Professional football career
Clark was 6.0 ft (1.83 m) tall and weighed 175-185 lb (79–84 kg) when he began his professional football career as a quarterback, kicker and punter with the short-lived Portsmouth Spartans in Ohio in 1931. The Spartans had only sixteen players on their roster, not unusual at the time. He left pro football after two seasons to coach the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in 1933, a long-time rival of his alma mater. The Spartans moved to Detroit as a result of the Great Depression, and became the Lions. Clark returned to the Lions in 1934, where he was a triple-option threat on offense through the 1938 season. He was a six-time All-Pro and three-time league scoring leader, and led the Lions to a 26-7 victory over the New York Giants in the 1935 NFL championship game. A popular photograph of Clark from the Detroit News was published in Life magazine.[2] Clark was a player-coach in 1937 and 1938, giving him a career-high and league-high salary of $7200. He retired as a player and became the head coach of the Cleveland Rams from 1939 through 1942. Clark served in the US Army during World War II, and as Athletic Director at the University of Detroit after the war.[1]
In 1944, he coached the Seattle Bombers in the short-lived American Football League of the Pacific Coast during its only season.[3][4]
Honors
Entrance to Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo, Colorado, with Pikes Peak in the distant background.
Clark was inducted as a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him as a charter member in 1963, along with 16 others including Jim Thorpe, Red Grange and Curly Lambeau. He was a charter member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1965, along with footballer-jurist Byron "Whizzer" White and boxer Jack Dempsey. In 1973, Clark became a charter member of the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame. The Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame inducted him posthumously as a charter member in 1995. The Pueblo Public School Stadium was renamed Earl "Dutch" Clark Stadium in September 1980. A statue of Clark by the Latka Studios was added in 1985.
Head coaching record
College football
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Colorado Mines Orediggers (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) (1933) 1933 Colorado Mines 1–5 1–5 11th Colorado Mines: 1–5 1–5 Detroit Titans (Missouri Valley Conference) (1951–1953) 1951 Detroit 4–7 2–4 T–5th 1952 Detroit 3–6 1–3 4th 1953 Detroit 6–4 3–1 T–1st Detroit: 13–18 6–8 Total: 14–22 National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title References
- ^ a b c Jack Hildner, “Dutch Clark Was the Greatest of Them All,” Dedication Program for the Centennial vs. Central High School football game, 25 September 1980.
- ^ William Kuenzel, “The Perfect Football Face,” Life, 28 December 1936, p ?
- ^ Coast Pro League Tilts Lid Sunday, The Milwaukee Journal, August 31, 1944.
- ^ PCPFL: 1940-45 By Bob Gill, The Coffin Corner, Vol. 4, No. 7, 1982.
External links
- Dutch Clark at the College Football Hall of Fame
- Dutch Clark at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Colorado Sports Hall of Fame profile
- Dutch Clark at the College Football Data Warehouse
- Dutch Clark at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Colorado Mines Orediggers head football coaches Unknown (1888–1897) • Beadle (1898–1903) • Shorty Ellsworth (1904–1907) • W. C. Russell (1908) • Joe Curtis (1909) • Ted Stuart (1910–1911) • William E. Johnston & Erle Kristler (1912) • Erle Kristler & Harry G. Buckingham (1913) • William J. Hanley (1914–1915) • F. G. Carter (1916) • Poss Parsons (1917) • Irving J. Barron (1918) • Ralph Glaze (1919–1920) • Elmer Capshaw (1921) • Elmer Capshaw & Tim Callahan (1922) • Tim Callahan (1923) • Ray Courtright (1924–1925) • George H. Allen (1927–1930) • George H. Allen & Elmer Wynne (1931–1932) • Dutch Clark (1933) • George W. Scott (1934–1935) • A. F. White (1936) • John H. Mason (1937–1943) • No team (1944–1945) • John H. Mason (1946) • Fritz S. Brennecke (1947–1968) • Marvin L. Kay (1969–1994) • Versie Wallace (1995–1999) • Bob Stitt (2000– )
Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball head coaches No coach (1901–1906) • Frank Castleman (1906–1912) • John McFadden (1912–1914) • James N. Ashmore (1914–1917) • Bob Evans (1917–1918) • Joe Mills (1918–1924) • Howard Beresford (1924–1933) • Henry Iba (1933–1934) • Dutch Clark (1934–1935) • Forrest Cox (1935–1942) • No team (1942–1944) • Forrest Cox (1944–1950) • H. B. Lee (1950–1956) • Sox Walseth (1956–1976) • Bill Blair (1976–1981) • Tom Apke (1981–1986) • Tom Miller (1986–1990) • Joe Harrington (1990–1996) • Ricardo Patton (1996–2007) • Jeff Bzdelik (2007–2010) • Tad Boyle (2010– )
Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions head coaches Hal Griffen (1930) • George Clark (1931–1936) • Dutch Clark (1937–1938) • Gus Henderson (1939) • George Clark (1940) • Bill Edwards (1941–1942) • John Karcis (1942) • Gus Dorais (1943–1947) • Bo McMillin (1948–1950) • Buddy Parker (1951–1956) • George Wilson (1957–1964) • Harry Gilmer (1965–1966) • Joe Schmidt (1967–1972) • Don McCafferty (1973) • Rick Forzano (1974–1976) • Tommy Hudspeth (1976–1977) • Monte Clark (1978–1984) • Darryl Rogers (1985–1988) • Wayne Fontes (1988–1996) • Bobby Ross (1997–2000) • Gary Moeller (2000) • Marty Mornhinweg (2001–2002) • Steve Mariucci (2003–2005) • Dick Jauron # (2005) • Rod Marinelli (2006–2008) • Jim Schwartz (2009– )
Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.Cleveland / Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams head coaches Damon Wetzel (1936) • Hugo Bezdek (1937–1938) • Art Lewis # (1938) • Dutch Clark (1939–1942) • No team (1943) • Aldo Donelli (1944) • Adam Walsh (1945–1946) • Bob Snyder (1947) • Clark Shaughnessy (1948–1949) • Joe Stydahar (1950–1952) • Hamp Pool (1952–1954) • Sid Gillman (1955–1959) • Bob Waterfield (1960–1962) • Harland Svare (1962–1965) • George Allen (1966–1970) • Tommy Prothro (1971–1972) • Chuck Knox (1973–1977) • Ray Malavasi (1978–1982) • John Robinson (1983–1991) • Chuck Knox (1992–1994) • Rich Brooks (1995–1996) • Dick Vermeil (1997–1999) • Mike Martz (2000–2005) • Joe Vitt # (2005) • Scott Linehan (2006–2008) • Jim Haslett # (2008) • Steve Spagnuolo (2009– )
Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.Detroit Titans head football coaches Unknown (1891) • No team (1892–1895) • William S. Robinson (1896–1899) • John C. Mackey (1900–1901) • Edward Ryan (1902) • Alfred W. Debo (1903–1904) • No team (1905) • Edward Ryan (1906) • George A. Kelly (1907) • No team (1908) • George A. Kelly (1909–1910) • Royal R. Campbell (1911–1912) • George M. Lawton (1913–1914) • Harry Costello (1915–1916) • James F. Duffy (1917) • Unknown (1918) • James F. Duffy (1919–1922) • Germany Schulz (1923) • James F. Duffy (1924) • Gus Dorais (1925–1942) • No team (1943–1944) • Chuck Baer (1945–1950) • Dutch Clark (1951–1953) • Wally Fromhart (1954–1958) • Jim Miller (1959–1961) • John Idzik (1962–1964) • No team (1965–1966) • Jim Leary (1967–1968)
Categories:- 1906 births
- 1978 deaths
- American football quarterbacks
- Cleveland Rams coaches
- Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball coaches
- Colorado College Tigers football players
- Colorado College Tigers men's basketball players
- Colorado Mines Orediggers football coaches
- Detroit Lions coaches
- Detroit Lions players
- Detroit Titans football coaches
- Portsmouth Spartans players
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
- National Football League players with retired numbers
- American military personnel of World War II
- People from Otero County, Colorado
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