William Herbert Corbin
{{Short description|American football player (1864–1945)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
|name=William Herbert "Pa" Corbin
|image=pacorbin.jpg
|image_size=180px
|alt=
|caption=
|school=Yale Bulldogs
|currentposition=Center
|birth_date={{Birth date|1864|7|20}}
|birth_place=Union, Connecticut, U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1945|4|14|1864|7|20}}
|death_place=Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
|height_ft=6
|height_in=2
|weight_lb=185
|pastschools=
- Yale (1886–1888)
|highlights=
|CFBHOF_id=2082
|CFBHOF_year=1969
}}
William Herbert "Pa" Corbin (July 20, 1864 – April 14, 1945){{Citation | year = 1946 | title = William Herbert Corbin, B.A. 1889 | journal = Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased During the Year 1944-1945 | series = 41 | number = 1 | publication-date = 1 January 1946 | place = New Haven, Connecticut | pages =31–2 }}{{Citation | title = W. H. Corbin Dead; Star Yale Center. Captain of Undefeated Eleven of 1888, Tax Commissioner of Connecticut, 1907-20. | newspaper = The New York Times | publication-place = New York City | date = 16 April 1945 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/04/16/102265936.pdf}} was an American college football player for the Yale Bulldogs football team for Yale University from 1886 to 1888, during which time the team posted a 31–0–1 record. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
Early years
Corbin was born in Union, Connecticut, the son of William Melvin Corbin, a manufacturer and merchant who served in the Connecticut General Assembly, for one session as a representative and then as a state senator, and his wife, née Josephine Walker. He attended Hartford Public High School.
=Yale=
Corbin matriculated at Yale College, where he was on the freshman, sophomore, and university crews, and was captain of the freshman football team, and was on the university football team three years, and in his senior year as captain. Other activities included college hour, and financial manager of the Yale Daily News. He was a member of Psi Upsilon and Skull and Bones.
The 1888 Yale Football team, of which he was captain, was undefeated, winning thirteen games and tallying 698 points while holding their opponents scoreless.{{Citation | last1 = Pierson | first1 = George W. | title = Yale: A Short History| publisher = Yale University Press | place = New Haven, Connecticut| edition = 2nd| year = 1979|url=http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/Piersons/collegeSystem.html}} His interest in Yale football continued after graduation at practice session and games at the Yale Bowl; he became known to undergraduates as "Pa" Corbin. Former teammate Pudge Heffelfinger explained "Pa Corbin's long face and handlebar mustache gave him a majestic air, and made him look much older than his 24 years."{{Citation | last1 = Rubin| first1 = Sam| title = Yale Football| publisher = Arcadia Publishing | place = Charleston, South Carolina| year = 2006| page = 18|isbn = 0-7385-4532-5|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0XuqzuUHOIMC&q=%22pa+corbin%22+yale&pg=PA18}}
Corbin described how a center used to snap the ball with his foot: "By standing the ball on end and exercising a certain pressure on the same, it was possible to have it bound into the quarterback's hands."{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WktAQAAMAAJ&q=%22field+frequently%22|journal=Harper's Weekly|date=November 29, 1913|page=26|title=Current Athletics|author=Herbert Reed|volume=58}}
{{clear}}
Teaching career
Tax commissioner
Death
Corbin died in 1945 a month after he was struck by an automobile in Hartford, Connecticut.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19450416&id=nzUdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JSMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3721,220924&hl=en|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=April 16, 1945|title=Pa Corbin of Yale Dies At Age of 81}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1886 Yale Bulldogs football navbox}}
{{1887 Yale Bulldogs football navbox}}
{{1888 Yale Bulldogs football navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbin, William Herbert}}
Category:19th-century players of American football
Category:American football centers
Category:Yale Bulldogs football players
Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Sportspeople from Tolland County, Connecticut
Category:Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut