Hunter Scarlett Hunter Watt Scarlett ( October 16 , 1885 – December 23 , 1954 ) was a notable ophthalmologist , and is best known for his college football career for the Penn Quakers from 1904 to 1908 . During World War I , he worked in both French and American military hospitals . In 1970 , he was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame . Biography . Background . Hunter was born in Erie Pennsylvania on October 16 , 1885 . He was the seventh son of John and Nancy Bell Scarlett . His mother was born near Cookstown in County Tyrone , in what is now Northern Ireland , while his father was born in Liverpool , England . After graduating from Erie High School in 1902 , Hunter enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania . College football career . He played four years of varsity football at Penn , as an end . In an era in which players were more likely to become injured , Hunter was never taken out of a game due to an injury . In 1908 , he and halfback Bill Hollenback led the Quakers to an 11 - 0 - 1 record and the National Championship . During the season , the Quakers out - scored their opponents , 215 - 18 , and their perfect record was marred only by a 6 - 6 tie against the Carlisle Indians . Hunter was awarded All - American honors that season . Hollenback lavished praise upon Scarlett after the 1908 campaign , saying : " He ' s one of college football ' s greatest ends . He ' s a superlative defensive end , quick to get down - field on punts and an exceptional diagnostician . " Early medical career . Scarlett graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1911 . He then interned at the Pennsylvania Hospital . A year later , he was appointed Chief Resident of the American Hospital of Paris . There he began the study of ophthalmology under Dr . Victor Morax , who was then the Professor of Ophthalmology at Lariboisière Hospital , and later became his assistant . One of Scarlett ' s articles on a form of diplobacillus " not yet described , " causing corneal infection , was titled " Diplobacilli scarletti " . World War I . On August 1 , 1914 , World War I broke out in Europe ; Dr . Scarlett then became a co - founder of the American Ambulance , a large war hospital at Neuilly - sur - Seine . The hospital was equipped and financed entirely by the American government , although its services were administered by the French government . He was immediately appointed as an ophthalmologist to the American Ambulance and held that position until 1916 . He was also appointed Ophthalmologist to the Whitney War Hospital , located on the Marne River , which was a branch of the American Ambulance on the Marne battlefield , during this time . In order to operate at the Whitney War Hospital , he was usually forced to leave Paris at sundown in an unlighted automobile . His vehicle could only be seen by a low red cross on the radiator and he had to drive between the battle ' s shell holes and debris . Operating was done there at night with inadequate lighting and equipment , and his return trip to Paris was made just before dawn . Dr . Scarlett was also ophthalmologist to the " Phare " , a Paris branch of the New York Light House for the Blind , caring for patients blinded by the war . In 1916 , after two years of acting chief of two war hospitals and assistant at a third , Scarlett was taken seriously ill with what appeared to be meningitis , but was later thought to be sleeping sickness . At this time , he had been caring for a group was a part of General Gallieni ' s " taxicab army " that held the front line at the Marne river , during the first weeks of the war . He was sent back to the United States and after six months of rest , he began practicing again in Philadelphia . In 1918 , he volunteered in the United States Army and served at U . S . Hospital No . 11 , in Cape May , New Jersey , as an assistant ophthalmologist . In 1920 , the French government awarded him the Médaille de la Reconnaissance française . Post - war activities . In 1920 , Scarlett was appointed ophthalmologist at Bryn Mawr Hospital and held a similar appointment at Pennsylvania Hospital . Finally in March 1939 , he was forced to retire due to health issues . During this time he wrote many articles for several American ophthalmological journals . Hunter Scarlett died on December 23 , 1954 , at age 69 . References . Obituary from the American Medical Association