Percy Wendell Explained

Percy Wendell
Birth Date:16 July 1889
Birth Place:Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Place:Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Player Sport1:Football
Player Years2:1910–1912
Player Team2:Harvard
Player Positions:Halfback
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years2:1920
Coach Team2:Boston University
Coach Years3:1921–1924
Coach Team3:Williams
Coach Years4:1925–1927
Coach Team4:Lehigh
Coach Sport5:Basketball
Coach Years6:1919–1920
Coach Team6:Boston University
Overall Record:30–33–4 (football)
0–6 (basketball)
Championships:
Awards:
Cfbhof Year:1972
Cfbhof Id:1287

Percy Langdon "Bullet" Wendell (July 16, 1889 – March 13, 1932) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He played college football at Harvard University, where he was a three-time All-American from 1910 to 1912. Wendell served as the head football coach at Boston University in 1920, at Williams College from 1921 to 1924, and at Lehigh University from 1925 to 1927, compiling a career college football coaching record of 30–33–4. He was also the head basketball coach at Boston University for one season, in 1919–20, tallying a mark of 0–6. Wendell was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1972.

Biography

Wendell was born on July 16, 1889, in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Frank Thaxter Wendell and Helen Stamford. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and attended Harvard University from 1909 to 1913. He went on to attend two years of medical school.[1]

Wendell was issued a patent for a design of football nose armor (also referred to as a nose mask or nose guard), a piece of protective equipment used in the early days of football before helmets with face masks.[2]

Wendell was the 16th head football coach at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and he held that position for three seasons, from 1925 until 1927. His record at Lehigh was 5–20–2.

Wendell died of pneumonia, on March 13, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts.[3]

Head coaching record

Football

Notes and References

  1. Book: 1917. Percy Langdon Wendell . December 4, 2009 . Born at Roxbury, Mass., July 16, 1889. Parents: Frank Thaxter, Helen (Stamford) Wendell. School: Roxbury Latin School, Boston, Mass. Years in College: 1909-13. Degree: S.B. 1913. Unmarried. Occupation: Systematizer. Address: (home) 31 Massachusetts Ave.. Boston, Mass.; (businest) 115 Essex St., Haverhill, Mass. Two years in Medical School; nine months making paper cups and bags; three months in the export business; six months with the Bradley Shoe Company with Everett Bradley, '13, as Manager. . .
  2. Web site: The History of the Football Nose Mask . Chris . Hornung . antiquefootball.com . July 2, 2017 . May 3, 2020.
  3. News: . Pneumonia Proves Fatal to Former Lehigh Grid Coach . The Wilkes-Barre Record . . . March 14, 1932 . 16 . July 26, 2017 . .