Walter Steffen
{{Short description|American football player and coach (1886–1937)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Walter Steffen
| image = Walter Steffen (1).jpg
|office = Judge on the Superior Court of Cook County
|term_start = December 4, 1922{{cite web |title=County Offices |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/339079561 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Chicago Eagle |access-date=14 February 2025 |language=en |date=December 9, 1922}}
|term_end = 1937
|predecessor =
|successor =
| office1 = Chicago Alderman from the 23rd Ward
| term_start1 = April 1917
| term_end1 = December 1922
| predecessor1 = John Kjellander
| successor1 =
| alongside1= Wallace O. Thomas
| headercolor =
| birth_name =
| nickname =
| party= Republican
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1886|10|9}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1937|3|9|1886|10|9}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| resting_place =
| monuments =
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Chicago
| occupation =
| years_active =
| employer =
| agent =
| father =
| relatives =
| spouse =
| life_partner =
| other_interests =
| module = {{Infobox college coach
| embed = yes
| image =
| player_years1 = 1906–1908
| player_team1 = Chicago
| player_positions = Quarterback
| coach_years1 = 1914–1932
| coach_team1 = Carnegie Tech
| overall_record = 88–53–9
| bowl_record =
| tournament_record =
| championships =
| awards =
- Consensus All-American (1908)
- Third-team All-American (1907)
- 2× First-team All-Western (1906, 1907)
| coaching_records =
| CFBHOF_year = 1969
| CFBHOF_id = 1220
}}
}}
Walter Peter Steffen (October 9, 1886 – March 9, 1937) was an American college football player and coach, lawyer, politician, and judge. He emerged on the national scene as a high school quarterback, leading his North Division High School team of Chicago to an intersectional championship over Boys High School of Brooklyn by a score of 75–0 that ended after three quarters because of darkness. Steffen and his team helped introduce the more open style of play that prevailed in the Midwest. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Chicago from 1906 to 1908 and was a two-time All-American selection. Steffen served as the head football coach at the Carnegie Institute of Technology—now known as Carnegie Mellon University–from 1914 to 1932, compiling a record of 88–53–9. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1969.
Steffen graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1912 and was admitted to the Illinois state bar the same year. He served as assistant United States Attorney under James Herbert Wilkerson and then as an alderman on the Chicago City Council, representing the 23rd Ward. He had been elected to fill the seat left vacant earlier that year after the resignation of John Kjellander.{{Cite web |url=http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |title=Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. |access-date=December 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |archive-date=September 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }}
In 1922, Steffen was elected to the Superior Court of Cook County as a Republican. He resigned from the City Council to assume this judgeship and served on the court until his death. Steffen's health declined in the 1930s. He was operated on for gall stones in 1930 and a kidney ailment in 1936. In early 1937, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died at his home, in Chicago, on March 9, 1937.{{cite news |author= |title=Walter Steffen, Noted Athlete and Judge Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106672595/chicago-tribune/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=March 10, 1937 |page=1 |access-date=July 31, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}
Head coaching record
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Carnegie Tech Tartans
| conf = Independent
| startyear = 1914
| endyear = 1932
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1914
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 4–4
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1915
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 7–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1916
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 4–3
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1917
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 2–3–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1918
| name = No team—World War I
| overall =
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1919
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 3–4
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1920
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–3
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1921
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 7–2
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1922
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–3–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1923
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 4–3–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1924
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–4
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1925
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–2–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1926
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 7–2
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1927
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–4–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1928
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 7–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1929
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 5–3–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1930
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 6–3
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1931
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 3–5–1
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year = 1932
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 4–3–2
| conference =
| confstanding =
| bowlname =
| bowloutcome =
| bcsbowl =
| ranking = no
| ranking2 = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Carnegie Tech
| overall = 88–53–9
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall = 88–53–9
| bowls = no
| poll = no
| polltype =
| legend = no
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{College Football HoF|1220}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Chicago Maroons quarterback navbox}}
{{Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coach navbox}}
{{1908 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steffen, Walter}}
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches
Category:Chicago Maroons football players
Category:All-American college football players
Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Chicago City Council members
Category:Judges of the Superior Court of Cook County
Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni
Category:Coaches of American football from Illinois