death_place death_date birth_place birth_date article_title name
south bend , indiana 1903 1871 clay township , indiana august 1871 charles zeitler
 charles zeitler
charles zeitler

charles w. zeitler -lrb- august 1871 -- 1903 -rrb- was an american football player from south bend , indiana .
zeitler was the first quarterback for the university of notre dame to win four games .
zeitler was born to a family of bavarian immigrants in clay township , just north of south bend , indiana .
his father , john v. zeitler , was a very wealthy landowner and farmer who had held local office as a trustee and assessor .
joining the notre dame football team in 1893 at a time when the program had just begun to schedule major opponents in earnest , zeitler made the most of the opportunity , beginning the season 4-0 with victories over kalamazoo , albion , delasalle and hillsdale , before finally falling 0-8 to chicago in a road game on new year 's day .
the following season , zeitler moved to the right end position , yielding the quarterback job to nicholas dinkel .
zeitler returned to his homestead after graduation .
in 1903 he died of typhoid fever .
he is buried in the south bend city cemetery .
