Eugene Caton

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and oil salesman (1889–1979)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Eugene Caton

| image = elcaton.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|10|13}}

| birth_place = Covington County, Alabama, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=y|1979|3|12|1889|10|13}}

| death_place = Mobile, Alabama, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1909–1911

| player_team2 = Auburn

| player_positions = Center

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1915

| coach_team2 = Howard (AL)

| coach_sport3 = Baseball

| coach_years4 = 1916

| coach_team4 = Howard (AL)

| admin_years1 = 1915

| admin_team1 = Howard (AL)

| overall_record = 3–4–1 (football)
9–12 (baseball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = All-Southern (1910)

| coaching_records =

}}

Eugene Leon Caton (October 13, 1889 – March 12, 1979) was an American college football player and coach as well as an oil salesman.

Early years

Caton was born on October 13, 1889, in Covington County, Alabama, to Noah Dent Caton and Elizabeth Rousseau.

Playing career

=Auburn=

He was a center for the Auburn Tigers of Auburn University. John Heisman considered him one of the south's greatest centers.{{cite news|url=http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=95629|title=Howard College Has New Athletic Director|work=The Huntsville Daily Times|date=May 31, 1915}} He was selected All-Southern in 1910.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/officialfootball19111nati#page/n61/mode/2up/search/%22all+southern%22|title=Spalding's Football Guide|date=1911|pages = 35, 65|publisher=Shawnee Mission, Kansas, NCAA Publishing Service }} Eugene was the older brother of Noah Caton. He was 171 pounds. In 1915, John Heisman selected the 30 best Southern football players, and mentioned Caton 24th.{{cite news |author=J. W. Heisman |date=March 5, 1915 |title=Dixie's Football Hall of Fame |url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053729/1915-03-05/ed-3/seq-4/print/image_681x799_from_0,6_to_5411,6357/ |work=Atlanta Georgian}}

Coaching career

=Howard=

Caton coached the Howard Bulldogs in 1915.

Oil salesman

Caton managed the southern branch of the Pure Oil company in 1922, which marketed Tiolene, Pennsylvania base motor oil.{{cite news|work=Atlanta Constitution|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1922515//|date=September 24, 1922|accessdate=March 4, 2015|via=Newspapers.com|title=Caton Sells Tiolene 'All-Southern' Style}} {{Open access}}