Cliff Sparks Clifford Maurice Sparks ( September 24 , 1896 – February 5 , 1975 ) was an American football player . He played quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team and was selected in 1916 as a first - team All - American by the New York sports writer , Monty . Biography . Sparks was a native of Jackson , Michigan . He was the son - in - law of Byron J . Carter , a founding partner of the Jackson Automobile Company . Sparks married Rachel Lucretia Carter May 12 , 1920 in Jackson . They had three children : Carter , Sallie , and William . He weighed 153 pounds . Sparks enrolled at the University of Michigan and joined the university ’ s football team coached by Fielding H . Yost . When Sparks arrived in Ann Arbor , the team had recently been led by All - American quarterback Tommy Hughitt . As a sophomore in 1916 , Sparks took over the quarterback position and led the team to a 7 - 2 record . Prior to the opening game of the 1916 season , one Michigan newspaper wrote : " Sparks , the Jackson lad , is another back who has proved that he is ready to do his part and looks so much like ' Tommy ' Hughitt in action that Yost has stopped worrying about his quarterback position . " Yost told reporters before the season began that he believed Sparks would develop into " one of the best quarters Michigan has had in recent years . " Sparks played his first game for Michigan ' s varsity football team in the 1916 season opener , a 38 - 0 win over Marietta College . The Associated Press reported that " Michigan ground gaining was done through continuous hard smashing assaults upon the Marietta line with Captain Maulbetsch , Sparks and Raymond taking turns at scoring . " Three days later , Sparks played in a 19 - 3 win over Case , and the Associated Press wrote that " Sparks and Maulbetsch scored for Michigan . " Sparks received positive comments in the newspapers after Michigan beat Carroll College 54 - 0 in the third game of the season . While seven Michigan players scored in the game , one newspaper noted that " the whirlwind Sparks " was the only Michigan player with two touchdowns . Sparks gained national attention after his performance in Michigan ' s 9 - 0 win over the Michigan Agricultural College on October 21 , 1916 . The entire Michigan team gained a total of 200 yards rushing , and Sparks alone accumulated 107 yards of the total . According to one account of the game , Sparks " crumpled the Aggie line almost every time he crashed into it and circled ends with ease , and was eel - like in running back punts . " The play that drew the most attention was Sparks ' drop - kick on a broken play that gave Michigan a 3 - 0 lead in the first quarter . The play called for Sparks to take the snap from center and hold the ball for a field goal attempt . The snap from center was high , forcing Sparks to react quickly . One press account described Sparks ' actions as follows : " And then seemingly with a single movement , Sparks jumped to his feet , grabbed the ball as it was about to clear his head , whirled to face the goal posts and drop - kicked the ball over the Aggie bar for a count of three points , which then and there cinched the game for the Wolverines . ' It was the greatest individual play ever seen in my whole career as coach or player , ' was ' Hurry Up ' Yost ' s comment after the game . And every person in the crowd who saw Sparks plan and execute that play in something less than two seconds chanted ' Amen ! ' " Following the broken play in the first quarter , Sparks sought to confuse the Aggie defense by signaling for a kick formation several times , and on each occasion Sparks did something else " to the utter bewilderment of the Aggies . " The Associated Press story ran with the headline , " SPARKS IS INDIVIDUAL STAR OF MICHIGAN , " and reported : " Sparks was the star . He made spectacular runs of 10 , 15 and 20 yards and directed his offense with good judgment . " The United Press story ran under the headline " SPARKS , YOST ’ S FIND , STARS TWICE . " A Texas newspaper praised Sparks ' " braininess " and called him " one of the greatest all - around gridironers that has flashed into view in many years . " The Texas paper continued : " The Wolverines have uncovered a quarterback – Clifford Sparks – whose brilliant work this – his first varsity – season ranks him among the most sensational performers in the western football world . Sparks has a chain - lightning brain ; one that recognizes every opportunity in the minutest flash . And he has legs and arms that work in harmony . He has ' pulled ' plays repeatedly that have disconcerted the Ann Arbor foes , put them to utter rout and brought gasps of astonishment from the stands because of their audacity and their remarkable execution . … Sparks ranks right now – in his first year as a Michigan regular – as the greatest quarterback Michigan ever has had . There is nothing he cannot do – and do in a way that thrills . " Sparks also drew attention for his unusual punting technique . While most punters at that time dropped the ball on the boot , Sparks had " mastered that difficult trick of successfully punting after throwing the ball , with force at the uprising boot . " By throwing the ball at the shoe , Sparks was able to give his punts greater height and distance . The height of Sparks ' punts allowed his teammates time to reach the punt receiver before the ball arrived . During the win over Michigan Agricultural , the longest gain on any of Sparks ’ punts was two yards . Sparks ' coach , Fielding H . Yost , had acquired the nickname " Hurry Up " for the rapid style of play he instilled in his players . During the 1916 , newspapers joked that , in Sparks , Yost had finally found a player who was such a quick runner and thinker that Yost had been forced to tell him to " slow down . " A syndicated newspaper story reported : " ' Hurry Up ' Yost , coach of the Michigan football squad , has finally failed to live up to his nickname . Yost recently was watching the first eleven in practice . Quarterback Sparks was tearing through his signals . ' He hurries too much , ' shouted Yost and then he told Sparks to ease up a bit . . . . And so , the Yost nickname , won in 1900 , received its first setback . " At the end of the 1916 season , the sophomore Sparks was picked as a first - team All - American by New York sports writer , Monty . Nine of Monty ' s 1916 All - American played for East Coast colleges , with Sparks and Bob Higgins of Penn State as the only Westerners named to the team . With the entry of the United States into World War I , Sparks ' football career was interrupted by military service . During the 1917 season , Sparks started only two games at quarterback and one game at left halfback . After World War I , Sparks returned to the University of Michigan . In 1919 , he was the starting quarterback for six of the team ' s seven games and played halfback in the seventh game .