J . C . Wetsel J . C . " Iron Man " Wetsel ( born c . 1909 , date of death unknown ) was an American football player for Southern Methodist University in the 1930s . He was a consensus All - American at the guard position in 1935 . Biography . Jesse Claude Wetsel was born March 17 , 1910 , raised in Dallas , Texas , and died November 5 , 1980 in Fort Worth , Texas . His parents were Jess Wetsel and Mattie Brooks . He attended North Dallas High School where he did not play football . He later attended the Peacock Military Academy where he played one year of football . After graduating , Wetsel enrolled at Paris Junior College in Paris , Texas . He was named an all - conference tackle while playing for Paris in 1931 . Wetsel became known by the nickname " Iron Man " because of his ability to play every minute of every game . One newspaper in 1933 wrote : " You probably can guess why Wetsel got that ' Iron Man ' moniker . That baby is a guard who thinks that unless he plays the whole schedule without a time out the season is a failure . " In 1934 , Wetsel was selected as a first - team All - Southwest Conference guard . The newspaper story announcing the honor noted , " For guards , Ironman Wetsel , of Southern Methodist , stands head and shoulders above any other lineman in this section . . . Wetsel has everything a champion should have . " As a senior in 1935 , Wetsel was a co - captain of the 1935 SMU Mustangs football team that played Stanford in the 1936 Rose Bowl . At the conclusion of the 1935 college football season , Westsel was selected as a first - team All - American by the North American Newspaper Alliance ( chosen by Andy Kerr of Colgate , Dan McGugin of Vanderbilt , James Phelan of Washington , and Gus Dorais of Detroit ) , the All - America Board ( a board made up of Glenn " Pop " Warner , Christy Walsh , Elmer Layden , Howard Jones and Frank Thomas ) and the Walter Camp Football Foundation . He was also named a consensus first - team All - American based on a survey of the major All - America selectors in 1935 . After Wetsel made the All - American team , his junior college coach called him " the most conscientious trainer and hard worker thai I have ever coached . " The former coach further noted that Wetsel " possessed all the aggressive roughness necessary for a great lineman . Sometimes I feared he would carry his work to excess . As an example he worked out with bar bells daily and in addition he would take an extra mile around the track each day as a conditioner . I think his work with bar bells accounts for his tremendous strength in wrists , arms and shoulders . " Wetsel was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first National Football League college draft in 1936 , but he never played in the professional league because of his knee condition . Wetsel was pulled from the 1936 Rose Bowl game due to recurrence of a knee injury . He was forced to undergo surgery the following month to remove a blood clot and adjust a ligament . After graduating , Wetsel became an assistant football coach at Vanderbilt University , and later the line coach at Southern Methodist University . With the U . S . entry into World War II , Wetsel sought to enlist in the U . S . Army in 1943 . Newspapers reported the ironic twist when the 34 - year - old " Iron Man " Wetsel " failed to pass his final physical examination for induction into the army . "