The Man Who Threw the 1st Football Forward Pass Lived in St. Louis, Michigan

This man came to live in Michigan after he had already achieved his fame.

His name was Bradbury Robinson, born in Ohio in 1884. He played football for the University of Wisconsin in 1903 and St Louis University from 1904-1907.

Brad made history when he became the first person to throw the first legal forward pass in a football game...not just that, but also the first touchdown pass in history. President Theodore Roosevelt had been trying to reform the game of football, as the game was extremely brutal...scores of players were killed on the field in the game’s early days.

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The public was crying out to get the game banned, but Roosevelt was determined to save it. After Wisconsin governor Robert LaFollette spoke with Robinson about the many football injuries, Robinson came up with many rule modifications including new game plays and tactics.....one of which was new ways to pass the ball. The historic first forward pass was thrown by Robinson during a game in Waukesha, Wisconsin on September 5, 1906.

Robinson once revealed how he came to throw that pass: “H.P. Savage.....(was) trying to develop me into a kicker at Wisconsin and H.P. generally teamed up with me to catch my punts. I noticed that he could throw my punts back almost as far as I could kick them. Here was the trick I must learn. I got H.P. to show me how he did it.” He later stated to a reporter that “Savage threw ‘the pigskin to his players with the ball revolving as it sailed through the air.’ From then on, my football hobby became forward passing or anyway passing the ball."

BRADBURY ROBINSON FAST FACTS:
1904: A member of St. Louis' "Olympic World's Champions" football team
1908: Graduated from Saint Louis University with a medical degree
1910s: A soldier during WWI
1920s: Controlled the medical screening of immigrants
1926: Began his doctor practice in St. Louis, Michigan

Bradbury Robinson lived in St. Louis, Michigan from 1926 until he passed away in 1949. He also founded the Robinson Clinic in 1935 on N. East Street and was elected mayor in 1931 and 1937.

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