Louis Gilbert Louis Matthew Gilbert ( September 15 , 1906 – May 9 , 1987 ) was an American football player . He played at the halfback position for the Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1925 to 1927 . He was selected as a first - team All - Big Ten Conference player in 1927 and was selected by Fielding H . Yost in 1941 as the greatest punter of all time . Early years . Gilbert was born in Long Beach , California in 1906 , but moved to Kalamazoo , Michigan as a boy . His father , Rufus Gilbert ( 1885 – 1962 ) , coached football and baseball at Kalamazoo College in the mid - 1900s , served as the school ' s first physical director from 1908 to 1909 and played minor league baseball for several years . The family lived in Peoria , Illinois , for several years during Gilbert ' s childhood , as his father pitched for the Peoria Distillers , and coached the football team at the Bradley Institute in Peoria . In 1917 , when Gilbert was 10 years old , his father had been a player - manager for a minor league baseball club in Terre Haute , Indiana ; he then became a coach at Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute . Gilbert attended high school in Kalamazoo . University of Michigan . Gilbert enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1924 . He played football for the Michigan Wolverines football team as a starter at the halfback position from 1925 to 1927 . He played largely in the shadow of all - time Michigan football legends Benny Friedman and Bennie Oosterbaan during the 1925 and 1926 seasons , but blossomed into a nationally known football star in 1927 . Gilbert and Oosterbaan were the offensive stars for the 1927 Michigan Wolverines football team , the first team to play in Michigan Stadium . Gilbert helped lead Michigan to a 4 – 0 start early in the 1927 season , outscoring opponents 89 to 0 . On October 1 , 1927 , in the first game played at Michigan Stadium , Gilbert had a hand in every point scored in a 33 – 0 win over Ohio Wesleyan . Gilbert scored two touchdowns , kicked three extra points , and threw three touchdown passes in the game . In its account of the game , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " wrote , " Louis Gilbert , the back field ace who has borne the brunt of the Wolverine kicking for the last two years , was the outstanding performer of today ' s play . " In the official dedication game for the new stadium , played three weeks later , Gilbert scored the only points of the game on three touchdown receptions and three extra points as the Wolverines defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes , 21 – 0 . Gilbert drew particular praise for his kicking . A " Chicago Daily Tribune " profile on the Wolverines in late October 1927 noted : " Long punts and place kicks by Louis Gilbert and short , accurate passes by Benny Oosterbaan were the features of the Wolverines ' workout today . . . Standing on or behind the 30 yard line Gilbert consistently launched his place kicks squarely between the posts , the longest effort being 47 yards . Standing in midfield he then vied with Coach Kipke in placing his punts offside within the five yard line . " An injury to Gilbert ' s arm kept him out of the Illinois game , which Michigan lost , 14 – 0 . When it was announced that Gilbert would be back in time for the game against the Chicago Maroons , newspapers across the country touted the return of Michigan ' s star halfback . A United Press story published prior to the Chicago game noted : " The ' kick ' is once more in Michigan ' s lineup . Louis Gilbert is back . The Kalamazoo flash , a punter probably without a peer in the Big Ten , and a forward passer without compunction for enemy defenses , rejoined the Maize and Blue today after an absence since Saturday morning when a sudden arm injury jerked him from the Illinois - Michigan game which subsequently ruined Michigan ' s chances to again cop the prized Big Ten gonfalon for 1927 . His return served as a tonic for his teammates , as he is expected to boot the oval with usual accuracy and distance against Coach Stagg ' s Maroons Saturday . Gilbert practiced kicking while his mates polished up its offensive and his uncanny forward pass receiver , Bennie Ooslerbaan , limbered up for his notorious end sneaks . " The " Chicago Daily Tribune " called him " the kickingest young man in the Big Ten " and " the best advertised player at Stagg field Saturday . " The " Tribune " noted that , although he had not received public acclaim in his sophomore and junior years because of the spotlight on Benny Friedman , he had become the focus of attention in Ann Arbor and " one of the leading ladies ' men in the Big Ten . " In his return to the lineup against Chicago , Gilbert and Oosterbaan led Michigan to a 14 – 0 victory . Oosterbaan threw a touchdown pass to Gilbert for the first score , and Gilbert threw a touchdown pass to Oosterbaan for the final score . The " Chicago Daily Tribune " again focused its coverage on Gilbert ' s status as a ladies ' man , referring to him as " the campus sheik from the neighborhood of Kalamazoo , " and noting that he " wears bear grease on his hair and dances a mean black bottom . " After the Chicago game , Gilbert ranked second in scoring in the Big Ten with eight touchdowns and 12 extra point conversions . Interviewed in November 1927 , Michigan ' s first - year head coach Elton Wieman told reporters he " never knew two men in his life more unconcerned in the heat of battle than Gilbert and Benny Friedman , last year ' s Michigan all - American quarterback whom Gilbert succeeded as a forward - passing partner of Beanie Oosterbaan . " At the end of the 1927 season , and although he did not start any games at quarterback , he was selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches as the first - team quarterback for the International News Service ( later merged with the United Press into UPI ) All - Big Ten team . He was also selected as a first - team All - Big Ten halfback by both Billy Evans and Walter Eckersall . In selecting Gilbert , Eckersall wrote : " Gilbert of Michigan is selected for left halfback . This player was one of the best punters in the country . His kicks were well placed and put Michigan in scoring positions many times . He was also an accurate place - kicker . He carried the ball well on end runs and off tackle slants , did his share of the blocking and played a strong defensive game . " He was also selected as a second - team All - American by the Central Press Association , billed as the " Real " All - American team with selections based on fan input with cooperation from " hundreds of newspapers throughout the country . " The United Press and Billy Evans both selected Gilbert as a third - team All - American . At the time of his retirement in 1941 , Fielding H . Yost named Gilbert as the greatest punter of all time . Later years . Gilbert graduated from Michigan in 1928 . He worked as a national sales executive for James River Corporation , a paper mill in Parchment , Michigan , for 45 years . He was also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks , a county commissioner in Barry County , Michigan , for two years and the Barry County road commissioner for five years . After retiring , Gilbert moved to St . Petersburg , Florida . In May 1987 , he died in St . Petersburg at age 80 . He was survived by his wife , Harriett C . Gilbert , two sons , Bartlett and Bradley , two daughters , Nancy Boersma and Eleanor Holiday , nine grandchildren , and three great - granddaughters .