Beaton Squires Beaton Hall Squires , LL . B , BA ( December 16 , 1881 - ) was an All - American football player and a noted Canadian lawyer . Born in rural Newfoundland , Squires became a star football player at Harvard and was selected by Walter Camp as his first - team All - American at the right guard position in 1905 . Squires received his law degree from Harvard and later became one of the leading solicitors in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan . Harvard . Born in Newfoundland , Squires attended the public school in Newfoundland before enrolling at Harvard University . He came to Harvard on a fellowship given by the Canadian government . Squires received both BA and LL . B degrees from Harvard . All - American football player . He played guard and tackle for the Harvard football team from 1903 - 1905 . Harvard coach Bill Reid kept a diary of the 1905 season that was published as a book in 1994 . Reid wrote that Squires was a big man who had worked his way through college working odd jobs . Reid considered Squires " a thoroughly respectable and decent fellow , although he is perhaps a little thick headed . " Reid wrote that Squires had a job in 1904 as a conductor on Boston ' s electric railway . When a drunk passenger refused to pay his fare , Squires grabbed him by the nape of the neck and the trousers and threw him to the ground . A lawsuit filed by the man was dismissed , but Squires was dismissed by the company with the comment , " You are too strong for us ; come back next year . " Squires became a star as a senior in 1905 and was selected as a consensus All - American at the end of the season . In the years prior to the establishment of professional football as a major sport , selection as one of the eleven players on the All - American team marked the highest level of accomplishment in the sport . Squires won the All - American honor despite having broken his thumb in a game against Bates College . As a senior in 1905 , Squires was also selected as the captain of the Harvard football team , the first time a citizen of a country other than the United States received the honor . At the time , the " Philadelphia Inquirer " reported : " Beaton H . Squires , Harvard ' s giant guard may be elected captain of the football eleven next year . It will be the first time that a man who is not a citizen of the United States will lead a Harvard football squad . " On the eve of his election as Harvard ' s captain , a New York newspaper noted that , despite growing up in rural Newfoundland and not being a society man , his skill and leadership on the field supported his candidacy : " Born and reared in the country , the big fellow was proof against every accident . No matter how hard he was used he never seemed to mind it in the least , and fairly grew fat on the same diet which left others sprawling behind him on the ground . The reason undoubtedly was that the other men were nearly all city boys . Squires ' steady and consistent work makes him a leading candidate for the captaincy next year , despite the fact that he is in no sense of the word a society man . In its coverage of the 1905 Harvard - Yale game , the " Philadelphia Inquirer " compared the " sturdy Squires " to a steam shovel smashing into the Yale line . Editorial opposing the elimination of college football . During the 1905 season , while Squires was captain of the Harvard team , a national debate erupted over the violent nature of the sport of football . Harvard ' s president , Charles William Eliot , proposed eliminating the sport from college campuses , and even President Theodore Roosevelt , a Harvard alumnus , weighed in on the debate . In an editorial published in " The Boston Journal " , Squires wrote in support of the sport . Squires argued : " Let football alone . It is a grand game , a game which requires all the best qualities a man should possess , strength , endurance , quick perception , and self - control . " Squires supported rule changes to reduce the likelihood of serious injury , including a 20 - yard penalty for unnecessary roughness , creation of a body of officials to more clearly define unnecessary roughness , use of two umpires to more carefully watch for unnecessary roughness , a ban on tackling below the knees , and creation of a five - yard safe zone for a player catching the ball . However , Squires opposed proposals to more dramatically alter the rules of the game , noting , " You cannot make a parlor game out of football . " Legal practice . After receiving his law degree , Squires practiced as a lawyer in Boston from 1908 - 1912 . He moved to Saskatoon in 1913 where he became one of the leading lawyers in Saskatchewan . In 1923 , Squires and Andrew Sibbald formed a partnership that became the law firm of Squires & Sibbald . Football coach and family . In addition to his legal practice , Squires served as head football coach for the University of Saskatoon Huskies in 1919 . Squires married Edith Louise Gaffield , a native of Brookline , Massachusetts , in 1913 .