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AWARDS
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
Robert "Chief" Myers, 1907
It is easy to throw around terms like “legendary” or “visionary” or “historic” in ceremonies such as these. But those terms really do apply to our next honoree and the role he played in Centre’s athletic history. In his book, The Wonder Team, Centre alumnus Robert W. Robertson, Jr. aptly describes Robert L. Myers as “the man who made it all happen” with “it” being Centre’s rise to the very pinnacle of college football almost a century ago.
It is an unlikely legacy for a man who graduated from Centre in 1907 with a reputation as the smartest student on campus, the editor of the campus newspaper, and only one year as a member of the football team in a season so undistinguished that he didn’t accumulate enough playing time to earn the coveted “C.” What he did develop, however, was a deep passion for this sport that was rapidly gaining in popularity and an unshakable belief that his tiny alma mater could develop into a national power.
After graduation from Centre, Bob Myers found his way to Chicago, where he faithfully attended clinics and practices conducted by the great Amos Alonzo Stagg, who was coaching at the University of Chicago. With that limited experience and his Centre College degree, Bob was eventually offered a job as an English teacher and football coach at North Side High School in Fort Worth, Texas.
His decision to accept that position forever changed Centre College. Most of you know the basics of the rest of the story, but if you don’t—or even if you do—I recommend Dr. Robertson’s previously mentioned book. What followed is one of the greatest stories in the history of American college sports, as Bob, by then known by his players as “Chief,” returned to Centre in 1917 and was later followed by several of the best players from that North Side team.
Those players, along with several from Kentucky, became the nucleus of the team that posted the greatest upset in college football history. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story that often gets lost in the telling is that Chief Myers originally returned to Centre as the athletic director and football coach—his dream job—but quickly realized that if he was to achieve his vision of national glory for Centre, he needed a more knowledgeable coach, so he seized the opportunity to hire Charley Moran as the head football coach, and replaced himself after only one season at the helm.
After guiding Centre to prominence, “Chief” left the College but later returned as alumni secretary and general secretary of the College. His role at Centre might best be summed up by the words of Bo McMillin at a 1950 reunion of the national championship team. Bo said simply, “everything I have ever done, and everything I have ever become, I owe to the Chief.”
Accepting this honor on behalf of “Chief” Myers are his daughter, Mary Jane Myers Shippen, and her son, Robert Shippen.