Edward Slaughter Edward Ratliff " Butch " Slaughter , Sr . ( February 26 , 1903 – June 30 , 1985 ) , also known as Edliff Slaughter , was an American football player , athletic coach and professor of physical education . He played guard at the University of Michigan from 1922 to 1924 , and was chosen as a first - team All - American in 1924 . Slaughter served as an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin , North Carolina State University , and the University of Virginia . He was also a member of the faculty at the University of Virginia , and held a variety of positions , including Chairman of the Department of Physical Education and Director of Intramural Sports , from 1931 until his retirement in 1973 . Early years . Slaughter was born in Louisville , Kentucky in 1903 and was an exceptional athlete . He played center and was the captain of the 1920 football team at Louisville Male High School in Louisville , Kentucky . Michigan . Slaughter enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1921 and played on Fielding H . Yost ' s football team as a guard from 1922 to 1924 . Yost later credited Slaughter with " the greatest play in football I ever saw . " The play took place in the last 18 seconds of the 1923 Michigan – Wisconsin game . Wisconsin had the ball at its own 35 - yard line and needed to gain 65 yards for a score . A Wisconsin player caught a pass and appeared to be heading to a game - winning touchdown . Yost described Slaughter ' s " diving shoe - string tackle " as follows : " Suddenly , with a great burst of speed , a Michigan man went for him , grabbed him and downed him . I looked for the number of the Michigan man . Lo and behold , it was ' Butch ' Slaughter , a guard , who , under ordinary circumstances , would have no more business in that part of the field than I would . Down Harris and Slaughter went on our 20 - yard line , and with them went the chance of all chances for Wisconsin , for the whistle which ended the game blew at that moment . " Slaughter ' s play preserved an undefeated season for the 1923 team and helped them win the national football championship . At the end of the 1923 season , sports writer Lawrence Perry selected Slaughter as a first - team All - American at the guard position . In the 1924 season , Michigan overcame a late 6 – 0 deficit to win , 16 – 6 , against Ohio State . Slaughter scored a touchdown in the game to help George Little win his only game as coach against Ohio State . At the end of the 1924 season , Slaughter was selected as a first - team All - American by Walter Camp for " Collier ' s Weekly " , Norman E . Brown , and Lawrence Perry . on the last All - American team selected by Walter Camp . In announcing his choice of Slaughter as an All - American , Walter Camp wrote : " Slaughter is a veteran guard who has always towered in any line of forwards . A big man , extremely active , he provides the pivotal spot upon which a line - plunging attack may rest . He carries his charge through so that he is never shoved back upon his runner . He is never guilty of ' knifing ' through . Slaughter has unlimited endurance . " Sports columnist Norman E . Brown wrote , " Slaughter is one of the greatest defensive guards the Big Ten has had in recent years . . . . On offense Slaughter could be counted on not only to open up a hole but " carry through " with the play . " Life magazine wrote 25 years later that Slaughter had been " famous and feared for vicious tackling at Michigan . " Slaughter graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science degree in engineering . Wisconsin . In July 1925 , Slaughter was hired as assistant coach for the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team . Slaughter coached the Wisconsin linemen under head coach George Little , who had coached Slaughter at Michigan . His former Michigan teammate , Irwin Uteritz , was also hired by Little as an assistant coach to work with the Wisconsin backfield players . Slaughter remained the line coach at Wisconsin for the 1925 and 1926 college football seasons . In September 1926 , reports were published indicating that Slaughter had signed to play professional football with Red Grange . However , Slaughter turned down the offer , noting that he would be barred from coaching in the Big Ten Conference if he signed as a professional football player . North Carolina State . In April 1927 , Slaughter was hired as an assistant football coach at North Carolina State College . He was an assistant coach at North Carolina State under Gus Tebell . During the 1927 season , Slaughter handled the linemen , while Tebell worked with the backfield players . In 1928 , Slaughter was hired as the line coach at Michigan State University but failed to report for the job . When the Spartan squad assembled for practice on September 10 , 1928 , Slaughter was not on hand . Coach Harry Kipke gave him the benefit of the doubt , assuming the Spartans used the same early practice date as the Big Ten , September 15 . When Slaughter failed to arrive on that date , Kipke sent him several telegrams but received no response . North Carolina State announced on September 20 , 1928 that Slaughter had been retained for another year as its line coach . Slaughter continued serving as line coach for the North Carolina State Wolfpack through the 1930 football season . Virginia . In March 1931 , Slaughter was hired as an assistant football coach at the University of Virginia , where he was put in charge of the linemen under new head coach Fred Dawson . Slaughter was an assistant coach under Lawson from 1931 to 1933 . In 1934 , Gus Tebell took over as the head coach at Virginia , and Slaughter stayed on as the line coach under Tebell through the 1936 season . When Frank Murray replaced Tebell as head football coach in February 1937 , Slaughter was kept on line coach . In July 1940 , Slaughter left the football team to assume a faculty position as an instructor in Virginia ' s physical education department and was replaced by another University of Michigan All - American Ralph Heikkinen as the Cavaliers ' line coach . Slaughter continued to serve on Virginia ' s faculty , becoming an assistant professor in 1944 and an associated professor in 1950 . He also served as a member of the University Senate , Chairman of the Department of Physical Education , and Chairman of the Processions Committee and received the IMP Society Faculty Award in 1965 . Slaughter also took over as the coach of Virginia ' s golf team in 1940 . In his first year as the coach of the golf team , one of his athletes , Dixon Brooke , won the NCAA Division I Men ' s Golf Championships . Slaughter also served as the chairman of the ACC Golf Coaches Association . He coached the Cavaliers ' golf team from 1940 through at least the 1958 season . From 1946 to 1948 , he also returned to football coaching as an assistant football coach under Arthur Guepe , the fourth Virginia head coach for whom Slaughter served as line coach . Slaughter also served as the Director of the Department of Intramurals at the University of Virginia from 1957 to 1973 . Slaughter retired from the University of Virginia in 1973 . In November 1982 , the Slaughter Recreation Center , a new intramural athletic center on the University of Virginia campus , was dedicated in honor of Slaughter . Death and family . Slaughter died in 1985 at age 82 . After learning of Slaughter ' s death , Joe Palumbo , captain of Virginia ' s 1951 football team said : " I best remember Butch Slaughter as a prince among men . Above all else he expected his players to play fair both on and off the field . The players all loved him . He is one in a million . " Slaughter ' s daughter , Mary Slaughter , became the first woman to play a varsity sport at the University of Virginia in 1954 . There were no women ' s athletic teams at Virginia at that time , and she joined the men ' s tennis team and won the Women ' s Eastern Intercollegiate title . Slaughter ' s son , Edward R . Slaughter , Jr . , became a lawyer and served in 1978 as the president of the Virginia Bar Association .