Cliff Sparks

Clifford Maurice Sparks (September 24, 1896 – February 5, 1975) was an American football player. He played quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team and was selected in 1916 as a first-team All-American by the New York sports writer Monty.

Biography Sparks was a native of Jackson, Michigan. He was the son of William C. and Matilda Sparks. William was a founding partner of the Sparks-Withington Company (later known as Sparton Corporation) and builder of the world famous Cascade Falls in Jackson. He was the son-in-law of Byron J. Carter, a founding partner of the Jackson Automobile Company. Sparks married Rachel Lucretia Carter May 12, 1920 in Jackson. They had three children: Carter, Sallie, and William. He weighed 153 pounds.

Sparks enrolled at the University of Michigan and joined the university’s football team coached by Fielding H. Yost. When Sparks arrived in Ann Arbor, the team had recently been led by All-American quarterback Tommy Hughitt. As a sophomore in 1916, Sparks took over the quarterback position and led the team to a 7-2 record. Prior to the opening game of the 1916 season, one Michigan newspaper wrote: "Sparks, the Jackson lad, is another back who has proved that he is ready to do his part and looks so much like 'Tommy' Hughitt in action that Yost has stopped worrying about his quarterback position." Yost told reporters before the season began that he believed Sparks would develop into "one of the best quarters Michigan has had in recent years."

Sparks played his first game for Michigan's varsity football team in the 1916 season opener, a 38-0 win over Marietta College. The Associated Press reported that "Michigan ground gaining was done through continuous hard smashing assaults upon the Marietta line with Captain Maulbetsch, Sparks and Raymond taking turns at scoring."

Three days later, Sparks played in a 19-3 win over Case, and the Associated Press wrote that "Sparks and Maulbetsch scored for Michigan."

Sparks received positive comments in the newspapers after Michigan beat Carroll College 54-0 in the third game of the season. While seven Michigan players scored in the game, one newspaper noted that "the whirlwind Sparks" was the only Michigan player with two touchdowns.

Sparks gained national attention after his performance in Michigan's 9-0 win over the Michigan Agricultural College on October 21, 1916. The entire Michigan team gained a total of 200 yards rushing, and Sparks alone accumulated 107 yards of the total. The play called for Sparks to take the snap from center and hold the ball for a field goal attempt. The snap from center was high, forcing Sparks to react quickly. One press account described Sparks' actions as follows:"And then seemingly with a single movement, Sparks jumped to his feet, grabbed the ball as it was about to clear his head, whirled to face the goal posts and drop-kicked the ball over the Aggie bar for a count of three points, which then and there cinched the game for the Wolverines. 'It was the greatest individual play ever seen in my whole career as coach or player,' was 'Hurry Up' Yost's comment after the game. And every person in the crowd who saw Sparks plan and execute that play in something less than two seconds chanted 'Amen!'" The United Press story ran under the headline "SPARKS, YOST’S FIND, STARS TWICE."

A Texas newspaper praised Sparks' "braininess" and called him "one of the greatest all-around gridironers that has flashed into view in many years."

Sparks also drew attention for his unusual punting technique. While most punters at that time dropped the ball on the boot, Sparks had "mastered that difficult trick of successfully punting after throwing the ball, with force at the uprising boot."

At the end of the 1916 season, the sophomore Sparks was picked as a first-team All-American by New York sports writer, Monty. Nine of Monty's 1916 All-American played for East Coast colleges, with Sparks and Bob Higgins of Penn State as the only Westerners named to the team.

With the entry of the United States into World War I, Sparks' football career was interrupted by military service. During the 1917 season, Sparks started only two games at quarterback and one game at left halfback.

After World War I, Sparks returned to the University of Michigan. In 1919, he was the starting quarterback for six of the team's seven games and played halfback in the seventh game.