Frank Villa Giovanni Raphael Frank Villa ( January 29 , 1873 – November 12 , 1933 ) , also known as " Count Villa " or " the Count , " was an American football player , judge , and consular official . He played college football for Whitman College in 1893 and for the University of Michigan from 1893 to 1896 . He was selected as a first - team All - Western player in 1895 . He later became a consular official for Italy , a judge and gold prospector in Alaska , and a representative of the Great Northern Railroad . He also served in the U . S . Army during World War I . Early years . Villa was born in Oregon in 1873 . His father , Frank Villa , Sr . , was an immigrant from Genoa , Italy . His mother , Mary ( Reible ) Villa was an immigrant from Switzerland . Villa had four sisters , Mamie , Amelia , Harriet and Eleanor . In November 1878 , the family relocated to 35 - acre farm in Walla Walla , Washington . The family raised fruits and vegetables on the farm , selling their produce to local markets . Villa enrolled at Whitman College in Walla Walla . While attending Whitman , he played on the college ' s first football team . The college ' s first football game took place on February 22 , 1893 , against a team of locals from Walla Walla . Whitman won the game , 16 - 0 . An account of the game written years later emphasized Villa ' s imact : " The notable player on this team was Frank Villa , or Count Villa , as he was popularly known . " University of Michigan . In the fall of 1893 , Villa enrolled in law school at the University of Michigan . He received his Bachelor of Law degree in 1896 . While attending law school , and during one year of post - graduate legal studies , he played for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1893 to 1896 . During these years , the Michigan football program rose to prominence . After compiling an 11 - 9 record in the two years before Villa arrived , the Wolverines improved steadily and compiled a 33 - 6 - 1 during the four years that Villa was a starter . The team improved to 7 - 3 in 1893 and lost only one game per year in 1894 , 1895 , and 1896 . During the 1894 season , Villa was a key player on the Michigan team that compiled a 9 – 1 – 1 record and defeated Cornell , marking " the first time in collegiate football history that a western school defeated an established power from the east . " Despite playing at the tackle position , he was one of the team ' s most reliable ball carriers and scored two touchdowns against Olivet College on October 17 , 1894 . Several weeks later , a game against Oberlin College drew the largest crowd in the history of Regents Field up to that time . Villa ran 40 yards for a touchdown against Oberlin and drew praise from the " Detroit Free Press " : " Villa was particularly good and did brilliant work on the offense and defense . " Villa continued to be a key player and ball carrier for the 1895 team . He scored two touchdowns against Western Reserve and another against Oberlin . In the 1896 University of Michigan yearbook , team captain Edwin Denby credited Villa for his efforts in a close 12 - 10 victory over Purdue : " It was exhilerating [ sic ] to note how when Villa took the ball and plunged through the Purdue line as the beautiful lady in the circus jumps through paper hoops , the rest of the Michigan men slouched down the field , crushing and driving everything before them by sheer muscle and determination . " At the end of the 1895 season , Villa was selected as a first - team All - Western player by Chicago ' s " Daily Inter Ocean " . In announcing its selection of Villa , the newspaper wrote : " Villa is the best tackle of this season , as he was of last . His immense strength and weight , added to his cleverness and agility , make him a powerful man . " Despite receiving his law degree in the spring of 1896 , Villa undertook post - graduate legal studies and returned to play on the 1896 football team . In September 1896 , the Chicago Daily Tribune wrote : " Frank Villa will be in his old position at left tackle . The ' Count , ' as he is generally called , is one of the greatest ground gainers in the West and plays a good defensive game . " He scored two touchdowns in an early victory over the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago and was credited with brilliant work against Lehigh . In November 1896 , Henry Senter resigned as the team ' s captain due to injury and illness , and Villa was elected to replace him as team captain . In December 1896 , the " Detroit Journal " published an account of a sleigh accident in which Villa was thrown 33 feet and landed on his head , but suffered no injuries . The story described Villa as " Ann Arbor ' s most famous football player " and joked that " it makes one ' s blood run cold to think what might have happened had he fallen on his feet . " Following his death in 1933 , a Michigan alumnus in the " Chicago Daily Tribune " recalled Villa this way : " All but forgotten by present day Michigan rooters , he was one of the giants of an earlier pre - Yost Wolverine era . What a tackle he was ! He weighed well over 200 pounds and was built like a water tank . He was a star of the Harvard - Michigan game at Cambridge in 1895 which Harvard won 4 to 0 . . . . Swaggering down the street in a heavy blue turtleneck varsity sweater of the day , he was held in great awe by the freshmen , of whom I was one , and he returned their timid salutes with his characteristic grin . " Villa returned to Ann Arbor during the 1897 and 1898 football seasons and served as an assistant coach under his former teammate , Gustave Ferbert . The 1898 team was undefeated and won Michigan ' s first Western Conference football championship . Later years . In August 1897 , Villa traveled for the first time to Alaska . He lived there for parts of the next several years . At the time of the 1900 United States Census , he was living in Nome , Alaska . From 1899 to 1901 , he traveled between Alaska and his home in Walla Walla , Washington . While living in Alaska , Villa served for a time as a judge . A newspaper story in May 1900 indicated that his former Michigan teammates , Gustave Ferbert and William " High " Allen , were joining Villa in Alaska to prospect in the Nome gold fields . While living in Walla Walla , Villa was a member of the Washington Fruit and Produce Company and served as a college football official . In September 1901 , Villa married Marry McCabe . He also served as an assistant football coach at Washington Agricultural College ( now known as Washington State University ) in the fall of 1901 under head coach William Namack . In 1904 and 1905 , he served for a time as the Italian consular agent at Seattle . His fruit business eventually failed , and Villa began working as a railroad contractor . During World War I , Villa served as a lieutenant in the U . S . Army , Company A of the 22nd Engineers . He served from August 5 , 1918 , until August 14 , 1919 . After the war , Villa reportedly worked as a customs agent for the Great Northern Railroad . At the time of the 1920 United States Census , Villa was living in Medina , Washington , with his wife Mary and daughter Celine ( age 14 ) . His employment was listed as an assistant agent for the railroad . At the time of the 1930 United States Census , Villa was still living in Medina , and his employment was listed as a dock master ' s assistant for the railroad . Villa and his wife travelled to Milwaukee , Wisconsin in approximately 1931 to visit their daughter , Mrs . Herbert J . Steffes . In November 1931 , Villa was stricken with heart disease and was admitted to the U . S . National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee . He was transferred to the Veteran ' s Hospital at Watertown , Wisconsin , on October 15 , 1933 . He died there on November 12 , 1933 , at age 60 . The cause of death was listed as myocarditis .