Percy Wendell

{{Short description|American football player and sports coach (1889–1932)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Percy Wendell

| image = Percy Langdon Wendell.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Wendell at Harvard in 1912

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|7|16}}

| birth_place = Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|3|13|1889|7|16}}

| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| player_sport1 = Football

| player_years2 = 1910–1912

| player_team2 = Harvard

| player_positions = Halfback

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1920

| coach_team2 = Boston University

| coach_years3 = 1921–1924

| coach_team3 = Williams

| coach_years4 = 1925–1927

| coach_team4 = Lehigh

| coach_sport5 = Basketball

| coach_years6 = 1919–1920

| coach_team6 = Boston University

| overall_record = 30–33–4 (football)
0–6 (basketball)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = 2× consensus All-American (1910, 1911)
Second-team All-American (1912)

| coaching_records =

| CFBHOF_year = 1972

| CFBHOF_id = 1287

}}

Percy Langdon "Bullet" Wendell (July 16, 1889 – March 13, 1932) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He played college football at Harvard University, where he was a three-time All-American from 1910 to 1912. Wendell served as the head football coach at Boston University in 1920, at Williams College from 1921 to 1924, and at Lehigh University from 1925 to 1927, compiling a career college football coaching record of 30–33–4. He was also the head basketball coach at Boston University for one season, in 1919–20, tallying a mark of 0–6. Wendell was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1972.

Biography

Wendell was born on July 16, 1889, in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Frank Thaxter Wendell and Helen Stamford. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and attended Harvard University from 1909 to 1913. He went on to attend two years of medical school.{{Cite book |year=1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0M8nAAAAYAAJ&q=Percy%20Langdon%20Wendell&pg=PA325 |title=Percy Langdon Wendell |access-date=December 4, 2009 |quote=Born at Roxbury, Mass., July 16, 1889. Parents: Frank Thaxter, Helen (Stamford) Wendell. School: Roxbury Latin School, Boston, Mass. Years in College: 1909-13. Degree: S.B. 1913. Unmarried. Occupation: Systematizer. Address: (home) 31 Massachusetts Ave.. Boston, Mass.; (businest) 115 Essex St., Haverhill, Mass. Two years in Medical School; nine months making paper cups and bags; three months in the export business; six months with the Bradley Shoe Company with Everett Bradley, '13, as Manager. |publisher=Harvard University }}

Wendell was issued a patent ({{patent|US|1043649}}) for a design of football nose armor (also referred to as a nose mask or nose guard), a piece of protective equipment used in the early days of football before helmets with face masks.{{cite web |url=http://www.antiquefootball.com/nosemask_history_4.htm |title=The History of the Football Nose Mask |first=Chris |last=Hornung |website=antiquefootball.com |date=July 2, 2017 |access-date=May 3, 2020}}

Wendell was the 16th head football coach at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and he held that position for three seasons, from 1925 until 1927. His record at Lehigh was 5–20–2.

Wendell died of pneumonia, on March 13, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite news |author= |title=Pneumonia Proves Fatal to Former Lehigh Grid Coach |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12654892/the_wilkesbarre_record/ |newspaper=The Wilkes-Barre Record |location=Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania |agency=Associated Press |date=March 14, 1932 |page=16 |access-date=July 26, 2017 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

Head coaching record

=Football=

{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Boston University

| conf = Independent

| startyear = 1920

| endyear = single

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1920

| name = Boston University

| overall = 4–3–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Boston University

| overall = 4–3–1

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Williams Ephs

| conf = Independent

| startyear = 1921

| endyear = 1924

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1921

| name = Williams

| overall = 5–2–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1922

| name = Williams

| overall = 2–6

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1923

| name = Williams

| overall = 7–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1924

| name = Williams

| overall = 7–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Williams

| overall = 21–10–1

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Lehigh Brown and White

| conf = Independent

| startyear = 1925

| endyear = 1927

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1925

| name = Lehigh

| overall = 3–5–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1926

| name = Lehigh

| overall = 1–8

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 1927

| name = Lehigh

| overall = 1–7–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| bcsbowl =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Williams

| overall = 5–20–2

| confrecord =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record End

| overall = 30–33–4

| bowls = no

| poll = no

| polltype =

| legend = no

}}

References

External links

{{College Football HoF|1287}}

{{Navboxes

| title = Percy Wendell—championships, awards, and honors

| list1 =

}}

Category:1889 births

Category:1932 deaths

Category:American football halfbacks

Category:Basketball coaches from Massachusetts

Category:Boston University Terriers football coaches

Category:Boston University Terriers men's basketball coaches

Category:Harvard Crimson football players

Category:Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey

Category:Lehigh Mountain Hawks football coaches

Category:Williams Ephs football coaches

Category:Roxbury Latin School alumni

Category:All-American college football players

Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Sports coaches from Boston

Category:Players of American football from Boston

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts