Benjamin J. Friedman (March 18, 1905 – November 24, 1982) was an American football player and coach, and athletics administrator. He was the leading passer of his era in the NFL and is credited with revolutionizing the game with his passing prowess.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Friedman played college football as a halfback and quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines from 1924 to 1926. Friedman played in the backfield on both offense and defense, handled kicking and return duties, and was known for his passing game. He was a consensus first-team All-American in both 1925 and 1926, and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference in 1926.
Friedman also played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Bulldogs (1927), Detroit Wolverines (1928), New York Giants (1929–1931), and Brooklyn Dodgers (1932–1934). He led the league in passing for four consecutive years from 1927 to 1930 and was selected as the first-team All-NFL quarterback in each of those years. In 1928, he also led the NFL in rushing and remains the only player in history to lead the league in both passing and rushing in the same season. In 1929, Friedman became the first player to pass for 20 touchdowns in a season and to pass for four touchdowns in a game. On October 15, 1933, he posted the first perfect passer rating in an NFL game. Friedman's career record of 66 touchdown passes stood for 10 years.
Friedman served as the head coach of the Giants for the final two games of the 1930 season, winning both. He was also the head coach of the Dodgers during the 1932 season. Friedman later served as the head football coach at City College of New York from 1934 to 1941 and at Brandeis University from 1950 to 1959. He was also the first athletic director at Brandeis, holding the position from 1949 to 1963. During World War II, he was a lieutenant in the United States Navy, serving as the deck officer aboard the aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater. He was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Early life
Benjamin J. Friedman was born March 18, 1905, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, Louis Friedman, was a Jewish tailor and furrier who immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire in 1890.Murray Greenberg, Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football. New York: Public Affairs, 2008; p. 6. His mother, Mayme (or Mamy) Atlevonik Friedman,Friedman's mother was referred to as Mayme in the 1910 US Census and as Mamy in the 1930 US Census. was also a Russian Jew, who came to the United States in approximately 1894. His parents had five children: Rebecca (born c. 1898 in New Jersey); Harry (born c. 1900 in New York); Florence (born c. 1904 in New York); Benjamin; and Sydney (born c. 1908 in Ohio).1910 US Census entry for Louis Friedman and family. Census Place: Cleveland Ward 20, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: T624_1171; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0302; FHL microfilm: 1375184. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
Friedman began his high school education at East Technical High School in Cleveland. Sam Willaman, the school's football coach, told Friedman, who was then five feet, six inches, and less than 150 pounds, that, due to his small size, he would never make it as a football player. Greenberg, Passing Game, p. 11. After being rejected by Willaman, Friedman transferred to Glenville High School on the east side of Cleveland. He played football, baseball and basketball and led Glenville's football team to the city championship in 1922.
College career Friedman enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1923. He played on the all-freshman football team in the fall of 1923.
1924 season As a sophomore for the 1924 Michigan Wolverines football team, Friedman began the season as a backup. However, after an embarrassing 39–14 loss to Red Grange's Illinois Fighting Illini, head coach George Little made several changes to Michigan's lineup, including inserting Friedman as a starter at right halfback. Friedman remained at the right halfback position for the final five games of the season, and the Wolverines compiled a 4–1 record in those games. According to one account, "Friedman immediately changed Michigan from an ordinary football team into a great one."
On October 25, 1925, in his first collegiate start, Friedman helped Michigan defeat the Wisconsin Badgers, 21–0. The New York Times noted that Michigan had found "a new and dazzling gridiron meteor". Friedman was responsible for all three Michigan touchdowns. In the second quarter, he completed a "perfect pass spiraling" to Herb Steger for a 35-yard gain and Michigan's first points. In the third quarter, Friedman broke through Wisconsin's left tackle and ran 26 yards for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he threw a 29-yard pass to Charles Grube who was tackled at the seven-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by Dutch Marion.
Two weeks later, Friedman threw three touchdown passes in a 27–0 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats. One of Michigan's touchdowns was set up when Friedman intercepted a Northwestern pass and returned it 13 yards. On the next play, Friedman threw a touchdown pass to Dutch Marion.
At the end of the 1924 season, Friedman was the subject of a feature story by syndicated sports writer Billy Evans. Evans described Friedman's soft passing touch: "Michigan receivers say that Friedman's passes float through the air like a feather, literally float in the air until you pluck the ball out of the ozone."
1925 season
As a junior, Friedman moved to the quarterback position and started all eight games. He led the 1925 Michigan team to a 7–1 record and a Big Ten Conference championship, as the Wolverines outscored opponents by a combined score of 227 to 3. The only points allowed by the team were in a 3–2 loss to the Northwestern Wildcats in a game played in a heavy rainstorm on a field covered in mud five or six inches deep in some places. At the end of the season, Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost called the 1925 Michigan team "the greatest football team I ever coached" and "the greatest football team I ever saw in action."
In the season opener, a 39–0 victory over Michigan State Spartans, Friedman scored the first touchdown on a 65-yard run. Later in the half, Friedman completed a pass to Charles Grube for a 20-yard gain and then completed another pass to Bruce Gregory for a 30-yard gain and a touchdown. In the second half, Friedman intercepted a pass and then completed a pass to Bennie Oosterbaan for a 24-yard gain and a touchdown. In the second game of the season, Friedman led Michigan to a 63–0 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers. Friedman accounted for 50 points, throwing five touchdown passes, running 55 yards for a touchdown, and kicking two field goals and eight extra points.
In Michigan's third game, a 21–0 victory over Wisconsin Badgers, Friedman threw a pass to Gregory for a 62-yard gain and a touchdown. Following the touchdown, Wisconsin kicked off, and Friedman returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Friedman converted both extra points, and Michigan led, 14–0, after the first three plays. The AP noted: "It took just thirty-one seconds for Michigan to win the game at Madison and show the football world that Benny Friedman is destined for top rank among the great players developed by Yost."
On October 31, Friedman threw two touchdown passes in a 54–0 victory over the Navy Midshipman. Friedman also kicked five extra points in the game. Writing in the Chicago Daily Tribune, James Crusinberry wrote: "If any one man stood out, it was Benny Friedman, who hurled forward passes with accuracy and abandon time after time. . . . Besides that, Benny was a regular whirligig in carrying the ball. And it was Benny who was the field general. His selections of plays was something that would make any general envious." Crusinberry later added: "And now we have Mr. Yost's new Michigan team, with not a Grange on it, but with one of the brainiest players of the age in Benny Friedman and a lot of smart fellows to work with him. Before Benny Friedman ends his career all the teams of the country, even the Navy, will have abandoned the old style football and will be using, or at least trying to use, smart and unexpected stuff. It gains ground, it is spectacular, and it wins."
In the final game of the season, Friedman led Michigan to a 35–0 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers for the Wolverines' seventh shutout in eight games. Friedman threw two touchdown passes to Oosterbaan, completed seven of 16 pass attempts for 130 yards, and converted all five extra-point kicks.
Historic data collected by the NCAA indicates that Friedman completed 34 of 83 passes during the 1925 season with 13 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Friedman and Oosterbaan were both selected as consensus first-team All-Americans, with Friedman becoming the first Michigan quarterback to earn All-America honors. The passing combination of Friedman and Oosterbaan, which became known as "The Benny-To-Bennie Show",Will Perry, The Wolverines, pp. 109–112 (Chapter 18 concerning the 1925 and 1926 seasons is titled "The Benny-To-Bennie Show.") is considered "one of the greatest passing combinations in college football history."
1926 season At the close of the 1925 season, Friedman was elected by his teammates to serve as the captain of the 1926 Michigan team. As captain, Friedman started seven of eight games at quarterback and led the 1926 team to a 7–1 record and a tie for the Big Ten Conference championship. The team's only loss was to the national champion Navy Midshipmen.
Friedman was a triple-threat man for the 1926 team. In addition to passing, he handled kicking duties, returned punts, caught passes, and played in the backfield on both offense and defense. Much like Hank Greenberg in the 1930s, Friedman's success in the 1920s was a source of pride for Jews across the United States. In November 1926, at a ceremony before Michigan's game in Baltimore against Navy, "The Jewish Times" presented Friedman with a statue of himself running down the field.
At the end of the season, Friedman was a consensus All-American for the second consecutive year. He received first-team honors from the Associated Press, based on polling of "more than 100 coaches and critics" Collier's Weekly as selected by Grantland Rice with cooperation from ten leading coaches, the International News Service, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, the Central Press Association, based on a poll conducted by Norman Brown of 500 newspapers, each of which conducted its own election in which fans voted for the All-American team; Central Press reported compiling a million votes. New York Sun and Walter Eckersall. He also received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference.
Professional career
Cleveland Bulldogs In August 1927, Friedman announced that he would play professional football for the Cleveland Bulldogs in the National Football League (NFL). During the 1927 season, Friedman started all 13 games at quarterback and led Cleveland to an 8–4–1 record. Cleveland had the top scoring offense in the league with an average of 16.1 points per game. In his first NFL game, he threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Al Bloodgood. He led the NFL during the 1927 with 12 passing touchdowns and 1,721+ passing yards; his closest competitors totaled seven passing touchdowns and 1,362 passing yards. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player by both the Chicago Tribune and the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Detroit Wolverines