Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen Oliphant , nicknamed Catchie or Catchy , Olie or Ollie ( July 9 , 1892 in Bloomfield , IN – July 3 , 1975 in New Canaan , Connecticut ) was an American football player . High school . Oliphant originally attended Washington High School in Washington , IN , but transferred to Linton High School in Linton , IN during his junior year . He graduated from Linton in 1910 . Honors earned in high school included being named an All State End in Football and Captain of the State Championship Track Team in 1910 . College attended . Purdue – Class of 1914 , degree in Mechanical Engineering , member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity < br > West Point – Class of 1918 Professional . Played for the Rochester Jeffersons ( 1920 ) and the Buffalo All - Americans ( 1921 ) Special recognition . Identified as one of the greatest scorers in collegiate history . Credited with a total of 435 points in his college career – 135 at Purdue and 300 at Army . The track and football field area at Linton - Stockton High School was called Oliphant Field from at least the date the school was occupied in 1922 ( and perhaps as early as 1918 ) until 1980 . He was selected as Indiana ’ s Finest Amateur Athlete by the Helms Foundation in 1958 and was selected for the FWAA Early - Day All - Time All - America Team in 1969 . Full story . He was born in Bloomfield , Indiana to Marion Elsworth Oliphant and Alice V . Quillen Oliphant in 1892 . He began school in Bloomfield but the family moved to Washington , Indiana when he was eight or nine . Elmer Oliphant transferred to Linton High School from Washington High School during his junior year . His father ’ s gristmill partner had absconded with $ 62 , 000 in company funds . The family moved back to the Linton area and he worked part - time in the coal mine s to help with family finances . Although the teams weren ’ t called “ The Miners ” when he graduated from Linton in 1910 ; he was a real Linton Miner . He was nicknamed Catchy . That may be because he excelled as a catcher , outfielder and power hitter in baseball . It could also be because the dictionary has one meaning of catchy as “ having the power to catch the attention . ” Supposedly one time he was playing center field for the Linton team , called a time - out , hurried to the nearby cinder track and won the 100 - yard dash . Then , he returned to his position in center field and the game continued . The Indiana Football Hall of Fame states that he was All - State End while at Linton High School . He scored a school record of 60 points as Linton defeated rival Sullivan by a whopping 128 – 0 score . This was listed in his obituary in the Indianapolis Star . He was captain of the track team and led the team to the State Championship for 1909 – 1910 . That trophy won May 21 , 1910 and the Big Four Meet trophy won May 14 , 1910 are still in the trophy case in the commons with Capt . Oliphant ’ s name engraved on them . Members of the team wore a diamond shape with a large “ L ” in the center on their shirts and that picture is also on display . This is still the only time Linton High School has had an Indiana State Championship . He entered Purdue University , but not on a scholarship . Instead , he waited tables , carried laundry , stoked furnaces , and sold shoes to earn his way . He continued to develop strength and toughness by working as a coal miner during his summer vacation s . An end as a freshman , he was a starting halfback for his final three seasons at the school and distinguished himself as a runner and kicker . In one game , he single - handedly beat Wisconsin by kicking a game winning field goal with a broken ankle to give the Boilermakers a 3 – 0 victory and then fainted in pain . Only 5 ’ 7 ” and 174 pounds , he belied his build with outstanding speed and power . In football , he helped turn Purdue ' s football into a winning program . An excellent student ( and perhaps to extend his time in football ) , he received an appointment to the U . S . Military Academy at West Point upon his graduation . At West Point , he was the first cadet athlete to letter in four major sports and it required a special act of the Athletic Council to design a suitable varsity letter containing a gold star and three stripes for him . Back at the turn of the 20th century , the criteria to receive a letter was very strict . He also monogrammed in hockey , boxing , and swimming which meant that he wasn ’ t able to participate fully in those sports but was recognized . At that , he is listed as a Champion Boxer in the Corps of Cadets . He still holds records that have never been broken . He has the individual record for scoring in a single football game at Purdue which was for 43 points in 1912 . At West Point he is the season leader with 125 points in 1917 and holds an individual record for scoring with 45 points in 1916 . During his college career , he scored 135 points at Purdue and 289 points at West Point and is identified as one of the greatest scorers in collegiate history . ( 2006 data ) While at West Point he won the Army Athletic Association Trophy . ( He won in 1918 . 2004 was the 100th year the trophy was given . ) He also won the Edgerton Saber as football captain and the Army Athletic Association Saber as the outstanding athlete . Forty - four years after he left Indiana , the Helms Foundation asked sports writers and experts to select Indiana ’ s Finest Amateur Athlete and Oliphant was selected . In 1969 , which was the 100th anniversary of the game , the Football Writers Association of America came up with two 11 man teams . The FWAA Early - Day All - Time All - America Team ( 1869 to 1919 ) includes Oliphant . He was the only member of that team still living and attended the ceremony . One team represented the first 50 years and the second team represented the next . He has been inducted into several Halls of Fame . The most recent induction occurred on October 6 , 2004 . He was in the inaugural group of sixteen inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame at West Point . A color copy of the plaque is on display in the commons at Linton - Stockton High School . The base of the plaque is black with a shape that has forms taken from castle architecture such as crenellation . This is perhaps to tie in the plaque to the team name which is “ The Black Knights ” . In 2006 , of the 4 . 5 million who have played college football in the 138 year history of the game ; only 813 players had been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . On graduation day , June 12 , 1918 , he married Barbara " Bobbie " Benedict . World War I changed priorities at West Point and they reverted to purely military instruction during war time . Among his duties , he served in the U . S . Cavalry for one year at Fort Sill in Oklahoma . While in military service at West Point in 1919 , he invented the intramural sports system as we know it today . The idea was copied by the Naval Academy and was soon used in colleges and universities across the country . He was appointed track instructor at West Point by Douglas MacArthur who was the Superintendent after returning from World War I . MacArthur later was Supreme Allied Commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations ( term used for all military activity in that area ) during World War II and accepted the surrender of Japan in September 1945 . Oliphant knew many generals including General Lucius Clay , “ Father of the Berlin Air Lift ” , who roomed across the hall from him at West Point and General then President Dwight David Eisenhower who corresponded with him , calling him “ Ollie ” which was his college nickname . Oliphant played for the Rochester Jeffersons in 1920 and the Buffalo All - Americans in 1921 . They were some of the first members of what is now the NFL ( National Football League ) . After the 1921 season , Oliphant retired from active participation in sports . He was the Athletic Director at Union College in Schenectady , New York for two years . In 1925 , Oliphant joined the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company . Through tremendous drive and ambition , he became one of the highest salaried executives and headed the group insurance division in the New York area . He retired in 1957 and died in 1975 . Although he is virtually forgotten today , he was known to every sports fan in the first quarter of the 20th century . There is a 1955 Topps All - American collectible sports card with his picture and a Street and Smith comic book featured him in 1943 with a section “ The Thrilling Story of West Point ’ s Most Famous Athlete Four Letter Man , Ollie Oliphant . ” A board game that featured a picture of him inside a football shape on the cover is dated from 1933 . It is titled " Oliphant Football Game " and was produced by The Coaches Game Inc . of New York City . In the 100 Greatest Players of All Time ( in an article that thanks the College Football Hall of Fame for their help ) , he is # 78 . His name is mentioned in two well - known films “ The Long Gray Line ” ( 1955 ) and “ Knute Rockne , All American ” ( 1940 ) His picture once hung in the Linton - Stockton High School gym and from 1918 ( or at least 1922 ) until 1980 , Oliphant Field ( now Roy Williams Field ) was the name of the athletic field ( football and track area ) . In 2006 , plaques were placed in the gym foyer representing those who are in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame from Linton , so his name is once again prominently displayed in the town of Linton , Indiana . Quotes . “ If the Indiana moon was shining , he ’ d hurdle or hand vault a few fences . Farmers coming into town told about the running - leaping figure in white that scared their horses and cows . ” This is about his high school years and refers to what he would do when he had finished his 15 hour day of coal mining in the summer time . “ Ollie always has liked to talk at length about his exploits . But he ’ s aware of it and sometimes kids himself . “ McEwan and Cowboy Meacham and myself , ” he says , “ all taught Sunday school to the kids on the Post . One Sunday morning a little girl was asked by her daddy after she got home : What did you learn today , honey ? “ Daddy , ’ she said , “ I learned all about Jesus Christ and Elmer Q . Oliphant . ” It is from Gridiron Grenadiers ( 1948 ) by Tom Cohane “ You can ’ t ‘ divide ’ a boy – the mental , moral , and physical should go hand in hand , athletics , church , books . ” ( quote of Oliphant ) As a plebe Oliphant was superintendent of Sunday School at West Point . He became the first to include the children of the colored soldier in the classes , in addition to opening the way for the children of all enlisted men . “ I am happy to say this type of selection is still going on . ” Elmer writes . In recent years Oliphant has been converted to Catholicism and at 66 years of age he works just as hard for the church as he did years ago as a Sunday School Superintendent . ” This is from the Lafayette Journal & Courier ( newspaper ) June 18 , 1958 Graham Crackers ( column ) by Gordon Graham