George C . Paterson George Cornell " Bubbles " Paterson ( May 10 , 1891 – November 29 , 1945 ) was an American football player and engineer . He played center for the University of Michigan Wolverines football teams coached by Fielding H . Yost from 1911 to 1913 . He was selected as an All - American in 1913 . Biography . Early years . Paterson was born in Austin , Pennsylvania in 1891 . Paterson grew up in Detroit , Michigan , where his father , Andrew C . Paterson , practiced as an attorney . Paterson attended the Detroit public schools and graduated in 1910 from Detroit Central High School . At Detroit Central , Paterson was captain of the football team and a teammate of Jimmy Craig and Squib Torbet — both of whom later joined Paterson on the University of Michigan football team . Paterson also played with the Detroit Athletic Club team . Football player at Michigan . Paterson enrolled at the University of Michigan where he played football under the school ' s famous coach , Fielding H . Yost . Paterson was the starting center on Yost ’ s teams from 1911 to 1913 . Paterson started all eight games for the Wolverines as a sophomore in 1911 . In 1912 , he started six of the team ’ s seven games , missing one game due to injury . And as a senior in 1913 , Paterson was elected by his teammates as the captain and started all seven games . Michigan ' s 1913 football team , with Paterson as captain , finished with a 6 – 1 record and outscored its opponents 175 – 21 . The team unexpectedly lost a game early in the season to Michigan Agricultural College ( known now as the Michigan State University ) by a score of 12 – 7 . In the remaining six games , the team allowed only nine points . The 1913 schedule included games against three of the Eastern football powers , and the Wolverines won all three games — defeating Syracuse ( 43 – 7 ) , Cornell ( 17 – 0 ) and Penn ( 13 – 0 ) . Paterson was the largest man on the Michigan football team . He stood six feet tall and weighed 210 pounds . He was known on the team and in the press as " Bubbles " Paterson . Michigan ' s 1913 team was built around Paterson ' s large presence at center , as reflected in the following newspaper account : " Captain Paterson of this year ' s Michigan eleven , is one of the best centers in the country . It is around him that Coach Yost has built his present Wolverine eleven . Michigan plays three of the big eastern teams this year — Syracuse , Cornell and Pennsylvania . Yost expects his charges to have a good season , despite the unexpected defeat sustained at the hands of the Michigan Aggies . Captain Paterson shares the coach ’ s confidence . " Michigan left the Big Ten Conference in the 1900s , and during the decade while Michigan was not affiliated with the Big Ten , its biggest rivalry was with Eastern football power , Penn . Michigan beat Penn in 1911 , but lost the game in 1912 . The 1913 Penn game was Paterson ' s last as a Wolverine , and he helped lead Michigan to a 13 - 0 shutout in the game . One published account summarized Paterson ' s contributions : " As the whistle at the close of the Michigan - Pennsylvania football game blew , every Michigan man felt justly proud of the captain of their victorious team , George Cornell Paterson . ' Bubb ' had played his last game of intercollegiate football . For four years he had striven for that goal , realized by that final victory . The story of his college career is one of exceptional achievement . . . " In December 1913 , " Baseball Magazine " published profiles of the captains of the major college football teams . In its profile of Paterson , the magazine wrote : " George C . Patterson is the most important man at Ann Arbor . That is to say , he is captain of the football squad . There are people who would prefer to be president of the United States or a multimillionaire , but not so an undergraduate . He knows that to be leader of the varsity football club is to taste of the sweetest honors this old world has to offer . Patterson is six feet tall ; furthermore , he is twenty - two years old . To sum up , he weighs 205 pounds . Why shouldn ' t he play center on any club , even the Wolverines ? " At the end of the 1913 season , Paterson selected as a third - team All - American by Walter Camp for Collier ' s Weekly . He was also named as a first - team All - American by the " Milwaukee Free Press . " At the close of his football career at Michigan , one publication summarized his contributions : " With such leadership the Michigan team was sure of success . ' Bubbles ' worked hard , and his team was behind him to a man . Under the efficient coaching of Fielding H . Yost they were rounded into championship material . There was only one set - back , the loss of a game to the Michigan Agricultural College . Syracuse , Cornell and Pennsylvania all bowed in turn to the triumphant Michigan team with Paterson at its head . Michigan had certainly placed control of its team in good hands . He retires from the gridiron with a good , clean sportsman ' s record and the admiration of the campus . He owns three hard earned football ' M ' s . ' " Academics and campus leader . Paterson was known as an outstanding scholar athlete and campus leader while at the University of Michigan . He was elected president of the university senior class as well as president of his fraternity , Theta Delta Chi . He was a member of the Vulcans , the senior engineering society and one of twenty senior elected to Michigauma , the highest honorary society at the university . One contemporary account noted his outstanding academic achievement : " Contrary to the general rule on such cases , he has not neglected his college work . He is in the mechanical engineering course , which is probably the hardest one offered at the university . Although athletic and campus activities have kept him away from his work very often he has never received one of the dreaded ' plucks . ' His scholastic record is so good that last year he was elected to T B H , the honorary inter - collegiate engineering fraternity . Every college man realizes how high the standards are , which are necessary for election to T B H , and knows how infrequently athletes are found among its members . " Later years . Paterson graduated from the University of Michigan in 1914 with a degree in mechanical engineering . Upon graduating , Paterson worked for two years for the Saxon Motor Car Company in Detroit . Saxon ' s first car was a two - seat runabout . While Paterson was with the company in 1915 , electric lighting was added as a standard fitting . In 1916 , Paterson resigned his position at Saxon to become assistant manager of the Troy Body Company at Troy , Ohio . In 1919 , he also became a director of the Troy Body Company . Paterson was a Republican , a Presbyterian , and a Mason . In 1915 , Paterson married Gretchen Schremser of Detroit . They had two daughters , Barbara and Virginia . The George Cornell " Bubbles " Paterson Award . In 1947 , the " George Cornell ' Bubbles ' Paterson Award " was established . Between 1947 and 1966 , the award was given to the leading athlete - scholar on the Michigan football team . In 1966 , the name of the award was changed to the Dr . Arthur Robinson Scholarship Award , which continues to be given to the leading senior - scholar on the University of Michigan football team . Past recipients of the Paterson award include tackle Jim Orwig ( 1957 ) John Schopf in 1961 . and quarterback Bob Timberlake in 1964 .