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It was a scene he had repeated several hundred times but on this particular day, November 24, 1973, it was different. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Syracuse University Football Collection, University Archives. Jim was very quiet in the early part of the film, Fleder recalls. About coming to Syracuse, Schwartzwalder famously said: The alumni wanted a big-name coach. He was bowlegged, sent off to military school and told his IQ was too low to even consider college. Schwartzwalder is portrayed by actor Dennis Quaid in the 2008 Universal Pictures film The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, a biographical film about Syracuse University Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. The trophy was established in 1993, the year Schwartzwalder died, and was sculpted by Syracuse sports hall-of-famer Jim Ridlon. Ben Schwartzwalder AKA Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder Born: 2-Jun - 1909 Birthplace: Point Pleasant, WV Died: 28-Apr - 1993 Location of death: St. Petersburg, FL Cause of death: Heart Failure Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Football Nationality: United States It was a scene he had repeated several hundred times but on this particular day, November 24, 1973, it was different. The two men shook hands outside the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria. Finally he called Brown, who lives here in L.A., and set up a meeting. They then approached the Office of the Chancellor. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. The ROTC building at Penn State is named after Wagner. Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder (June 2, 1909 - April 28, 1993) was a Hall of Fame football coach at Syracuse University, where he trained future National Football League stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy . Fleder admits to being something of a nervous wreck. Rivalry Trophy Series: Battle for the Schwartzwalder Trophy In 1941, Ben found himself a 33 year old high school football coach, working in Canton, Ohio, on the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Qualities missing from Davis' portrayal in "The Express," opening Friday. This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. Ben Schwartzwalder, who recruited a series of acclaimed running backs as he restored Syracuse to football glory during 25 sparkling seasons that included an undefeated campaign in 1959, died. He was also a military veteran. An hour before the game, Al Davis stands at the 50-yard line of the silent Coliseum, surveying the field through his sunglasses darkly, as . Following his death in 1993, Schwartzwalder was survived by his daughters, Susan Walker and Mary Scofield. The 1959 team was an unprecedented powerhouse with both the toughest offense (313.6 yards rushing, 451.5 yard total and 39 points per game on average) and the toughest defense (giving only 19.3 yards rushing, 96.2 yards total per game on average) in the country. Coach Ben Schwartzwalder and the SU football team were having a great season. One of Buffalo's longest-tenured AFL players, Al Bemiller, passed away on Wednesday. You should know his story, because it's a Syracuse University story - one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future. Very similar to Ronald Spiers story in episode 2 of that series when he supposedly gave a handful of German soldiers a cigarette and then executed all but one. They cited instances of unfair treatment, ranging from differences in disciplinary action to the coaching staffs intolerance of their civil rights activism elsewhere on campus. While the team will be forever linked to offensive stars like Davis, consensus All-America guard Roger Davis, and fellow All-Americans Fred Mautino and Bob Yates, the defense . In "The Express," Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid) is initially depicted as reluctant to recruit Davis (Rob Brown) because he's "too old to butt heads with another Jim Brown," one of the first black. He organized an athletic league from among the soldiers being assembled in England in preparation for D-Day in order to keep the troops motivated and fit. The greatest part of Ernie Davis was that he could cross over lines. And thus, Ruth Simpson became Mrs. Floyd Schwartzwalder. Dropped far behind enemy lines and miles off target, Ben, a Captain in Company G of the 507th, organized his men, established command, and a week later delivered a large group of prisoners to the Allied lines. "We football coaches are most fortunate," Ben said as he left office as the president of the American Football Coaches Association. Despite promising to do so, Schwartzwalder failed to follow through. Cutting black players from the list of team members mak ing trips. A new head coach, Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder, would take over in 1949. Even as a paratrooper, Schwartzwalder remained focused on his football career. Jim was skeptical, Fleder recalls. Ernie Davis was only weeks from dying the last time Dick Easterly saw his Heisman Trophy-winning teammate. Some white teammates stood in solidarity and threatened to boycott if the black players were not allowed back, but they were overpowered by the alumni who wanted all the black players off the team and their scholarships revoked. Ben led G Company during the D-Day operation and was decorated with the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry in his first combat action. He is part of Syracuse University history, and a veteran of the U.S. military. In 1959, he also won the national coach of the year award. New York had the highest population of Schwartzwalder families in 1880. One other thought on that. The coach is also remembered through the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy which, goes to the winner of each game between West Virginia University (where he had played as a college student) and Syracuse University. All these years later, Easterly still recalls his teammate not only for his football prowess, but also for his warm, comical personality. Schwartzwalder was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Jim Brown: The other star of "The Express" - Los Angeles Times No portion of this site may be reproduced or duplicated without the express written permission of Syracuse University. Christian Rudolph Kessler was the school's first teacher and administrator. All Rights Reserved. The coach is also remembered through the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy which, goes to the winner of each game between West Virginia University (where he had played as a college student) and Syracuse University. This remains Syracuse's only national football title in football to date. It is where the seeds of the fierce competitor were nurtured and matured. During his 25 years as head coach Syracuse teams outrushed their opponents by more than 22,000 yards. He brought the school it's one and only national championship and undefeated season in 1959, but as his career progressed, it seemed to produce more and more cracks in a once so respected man. Muhlenberg College - Wikipedia The team he was coaching at the time was his favorite simply because of his great love of coaching. Between 1848 and 1867, the college operated as the Allentown Seminary, the Allentown Collegiate and Military Institute, and the Allentown Collegiate Institute. December 23, 2014 Floyd Benjamin "Ben" Schwartzwalder was for 25 years a teacher, a mentor, and a coach at Syracuse University. They believed this practice restricted their talents and abilities and decreased the teams likelihood of winning games. A nice memory. The most pivotal character was Company Capt. They boycotted knowing that their actions threatened their scholarships as well as potential careers in professional football. And less than a handful of men who have entered the coaching profession since Princeton and Rutgers started the madness back in 1869 have recorded as many victories as did this crew-cut, bespectacled quiet little giant out of the hills of West Virginia. Over 25 season, he compiled a 153-91-3 record and led the team an undefeated season in 1959 that included the National Championship. Death 28 Apr 1993 (aged 83) . Time Machine: Eight Black athletes off football team Lots of midgets. Schwartzwalder's teams went to seven bowl games and won four Lambert Trophies. Bernie Custis, Orange Quarterback, Changed Far More than a Game - SU News Here's more about their relationship (all from the unknown emailer): 20072023 Blackpast.org. And then we played Illinois, and I had to play. Director Gary Fleder uses Davis' football career to illustrate racial intolerance that Easterly and Whelan claim seldom existed for him. He was performing these new duties at the battalion headquarters on 28 June when the command post was struck by a direct artillery hit. Floyd Burdette "Ben" Schwartzwalder (1909-1993) - Find a Grave And if you deal with my life, while Im dealing with all these bad people at Syracuse, I got all these good people out there helping [me]. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Ben Schwartzwalder | hall-of-fame As a first lieutenant and S-1/adjutant of the 3rd Battalion, 507th PIR, he jumped into Normandy in the same air drop as Coach Ben. He wore street clothes at the alumni game, serving as an honorary coach. However, his plane was seriously off course and dropped its "stick" of twelve paratroopers some ten miles away from its designated landing zone. Schwartzwalder was a West Virginia graduate. He coached the 507th PIR football team, leading them through a ten-game season in which the 507th was never defeated and never even scored upon. Walk Where They Fought: La Fire, 82d Airborne Division, D-Day 1944 In 1973, Schwartzwalder retired from coaching and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. He had the same burning drive in 1973 as he did as a rookie coach back in West Virginia in 1933. He was captain of the football team in 1933. You must log in or register to reply here. This is where that appetite of desire was whetted and the burning determination to succeed was honed. About coming to Syracuse, Schwartzwalder famously said: The alumni wanted a big-name coach. Davis' accomplishments and abbreviated life inspire the new movie, which Easterly saw at an Orangemen reunion recently. Intro: American football player and coach: Was: Sports coach American football player: From: United States of America: Field: Sports: Gender: male: Birth: 2 June 1909: Death: 28 April 1993 (aged 83 years) t: 1.315.443.2093f: 1.315.443.4083 scrc@syr.edu The student-athletes also repeatedly requested that head football coach Ben Schwartzwalder hire a Black assistant coach, with whom they felt they could talk more easily about problems relating to race. After the United States entered World War II, Schwartzwalder joined the U.S. Army and served with the 507th Parachute Infantry of the famed Eighty-second Airborne Division.