Fritz Shiverick

Francis T. "Fritz" Shiverick (c. 1896 – 1936) was an American football quarterback and halfback. He played for Cornell University in 1915, 1916 and 1919, and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1916. He was posthumously inducted into Cornell's Hall of Fame in 1987.

Biography A native of Chicago, Illinois, Shiverick graduated in 1914 from the University School of Chicago where he had played halfback for three years. Shiverick then enrolled at Cornell, where he played for the school's varsity football team from 1915–1916 and 1919.

1915 season As a sophomore in 1915, Shiverick began the season as a substitute back for the Cornell varsity. He made a name for himself in Cornell's 1915 victory over Percy Haughton's 1915 Harvard team—the first loss suffered by Harvard since 1911. Later in the same game, Shiverick drop-kicked the ball for a field goal from the 40-yard line. Shiverick's teammate Ray Van Orman later described Shiverick's long punt against Harvard as the headiest play he ever saw.

1916 season In 1916, Shiverick returned as Cornell's starting quarterback and led the Big Red to wins over Michigan and Penn. In Cornell's 23-20 win over Michigan, he drop-kicked two field goals, including one from the 45-yard line. After the 1916 season, Shiverick was selected as a first-team All-American by the United Press and sports writer Paul Purman, and a second-team All-American by the International News Service and Michigan Coach Fielding H. Yost. Shiverick was also selected for membership in the Quill and Dagger society and elected captain of the 1917 Cornell football team. The press reported:"The famous general of the Big Red eleven, who last year beat Harvard with his punting and was the main factor in the defeat this season of Michigan, is to be elected unanimously, it was announced last night. Shiverick is playing his second year on the 'varsity. He is a junior and a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity." In the biggest game of the 1917 football season, a game between college football stars serving in the military held at Chicago's Stagg Field on December 1, 1917, Shiverick was the star, scoring eight of Camp Grant's fourteen points on a touchdown and two extra points.

In 1918, Shiverick served in France as a captain in the Provost Marshal General's department. He also kicked a field goal that provided all of the scoring in a 3–0 victory over Williams College. He became known as "a scoring machine," "the strongest punter" in the country and "the greatest individual star since Eddie Mahan." In addition to serving as Cornell's quarterback, Shiverick also served as the punter, drop kicker, kickoff returner and play-caller on both offense and defense. He died in Chicago in 1936.

Shiverick was posthumously inducted into the Cornell Hall of Fame in 1987.