Bert Waters Bertram Gordon " Bert " Waters ( October 9 , 1871 – October 10 , 1930 ) was an All - American football player and coach for Harvard University . He was selected as a College Football All - American in both 1892 ( as a guard ) and 1894 ( as a tackle ) . Football player . A native of Boston , Waters attended the Boston Latin School before enrolling at Harvard . At Harvard , Waters played for the football team from 1891 - 1894 . He played nearly every position on the football team , including tackle , guard and halfback . Waters was selected captain of the Harvard football team in 1893 . He was also selected as an All - American at the guard position in 1892 and at the tackle position in 1894 . In November 1893 , " The Philadelphia Inquirer " reported that the 5 - foot , 11 - inch , 180 - pound Waters was the strongest player on the Harvard team and , with the exception of Marshall Newell , the best - developed . Waters played in the 1894 Harvard - Yale football game that became known as " The Bloodbath in Hampden Park . " Several players were seriously injured , and Waters was accused of jabbing a finger into Frank Butterworth ' s eye . Administrators were so shocked by the violence that the next two years ' Harvard - Yale games were cancelled . Waters also played a role in the racial integration of college football in 1893 . Waters was captain of the 1893 team , but injured his knee in the middle of the season ' s final game against Yale . In honor of the contributions of William H . Lewis , an African - American and future College Football Hall of Fame r , Waters appointed him as team captain for the game . This was the first time that an African - American served as captain of a major college football team . Waters also rowed for the crew while a student at Harvard . Football coach . After his college playing career ended , Waters attended the Boston University Law School , and also worked as a coach for Harvard ' s football team . He was Harvard ' s head coach in the 1896 and 1897 seasons . In 1896 , the " Trenton Evening Times " reported : " Bert Waters is pronounced to be the best foot ball coach Harvard has ever had . He plays no favorites and picks out the best players , regardless of social standing . " After a disappointing 1896 season , Waters was replaced as head coach by Billy Brooks , but he remained on the Harvard coaching staff as an assistant coach . In 1897 , " The New York Times " wrote : " Whether as head coach , last year , he overtrained the team or not , his help was just what was needed after the Bowdoin game to pull the team together . On Thursday , he came on the field in his football clothes , was behind every play , often getting into the scramble himself , and kept the men in splendid spirits by his cheery voice and presence . There is not another coach in the country that can make a team work like Bert Waters . " After his coaching career ended in the late 1890s , Waters became a successful attorney . He continued to follow football , and when calls were made to eradicate the sport from university campuses , Waters spoke in defense of the game : " Mr . Waters played the game as hard as it was ever played , and hasn ' t applied for a place in the invalids home yet . . . . ' It was a great sport and I consider football the best of all athletic games . It hardens a man for emergencies , puts snap and confidence in him , which he retains in after life . ' " In 1908 , Waters was married in New Canaan , Connecticut , to Helen Kent Shaw .