Elmer Schwartz Elmer George Schwartz ( July 29 , 1906 – March 21 , 1949 ) , sometimes listed as George Elmer Schwartz , and nicknamed Elmer the Great , was an American football player . He played college football at Washington State College . He was the captain of the 1930 Washington State Cougars football team that won the Pacific conference championship and lost to Alabama in the 1931 Rose Bowl . He was selected as a third - team All - American by the Associated Press at the end of the 1930 season . Schwartz also played professional football in the National Football League for the Portsmouth Spartans ( 1931 ) , Chicago Cardinals ( 1932 ) , and Pittsburgh Pirates ( 1933 ) . Youth and Washington State . Schwartz was born in 1906 and grew up in Chehalis , Washington . He enrolled at Washington State College , where he played college football from 1928 to 1930 . During the 1928 season , he played at the guard position and was named to several all - coast teams . In 1929 , Washington State coach Babe Hollingbery moved Schwartz to the fullback position . Schwartz excelled in his first year at the fullback position , scoring 13 touchdowns in the first eight games of the season . According to the Associated Press , his total of 78 points in the first eight game ranked him as the third highest scorer in college football behind Alton Marsters of Dartmouth and Gene McEver of Tennessee . During the 1930 season , Schwartz was the captain of the Washington State football team that won a Pacific conference championship and a berth in the 1931 Rose Bowl . He was described by George Kirksey of the United Press as " a star at crashing the line on offense and backing up the line on defense . " The Cougars lost to Alabama in the Rose Bowl by a score of 24 to 0 . At the end of the 1930 season , Schwartz was selected as the third - team fullback on the Associated Press ' All - American team . He graduated from Washington State in June 1931 . After his death in 1949 , former coach Hollingbery said , " Elmer was one of the all - time football greats at Washington State . " Professional football . In August 1931 , Schwartz announced that he had agreed to play professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans of the National Football League . Schwartz appeared in 12 games and scored two touchdowns for the 1931 Spartans team that finished second in the NFL with an 11 – 3 record . In 1932 , Schwartz joined the Chicago Cardinals . Schwartz was injured in the third game of the 1932 season against the Chicago Bears . Schwartz appeared in only three games for the Cardinals . In July 1933 , Jap Douds , the head coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates ( later renamed the Steelers ) , announced that Schwartz had been signed to play fullback for the 1933 season . Schwartz appeared in 10 games for the Pirates , gaining 94 yards on 38 carries . Later years and death . Schwartz died in March 1949 from a cerebral hemorrhage after being struck by a construction company security guard . The guard told police he struck Schwartz after Schwartz " refused to leave the property where [ he ] was guard . " After a preliminary hearing , the guard was ordered to stand trial for murder . Witnesses testified that the guard " beat Schwartz to the ground twice in three separate attacks after ordering Schwartz from the grounds of the T . E . Connelly company construction camp near Pulga . "