1887 Purdue football team

1887 Purdue football
ConferenceIndependent
Record0–1
Head coach
CaptainJ. B. Burris
Seasons
1889 →
1887 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Michigan   –   5 – 0 – 0
Minnesota   –   2 – 0 – 0
Cincinnati   –   1 – 0 – 0
Washington University   –   1 – 0 – 0
Butler   –   2 – 1 – 0
Indiana   –   0 – 1 – 0
Purdue   –   0 – 1 – 0
Wabash   –   0 – 1 – 0
Notre Dame   –   0 – 3 – 0
Albion   –   0 – 1 – 0

The 1887 Purdue football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University as an independent during the 1887 college football season. The team compiled an 0–1 record in the university's first season fielding an intercollegiate football team. Albert Berg, a deaf 23-year-old Princeton University alumnus, was the team's coach.[1] The team of 12 players practiced for one week before playing in the school's first official football game.

The Purdue University football team traces its origin back to October 29, 1887, when its team fell to Butler College by a score of 48–6 in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1] A group of students at Purdue University formed the school's first football team in 1887. Albert Berg was hired as the coach. Despite being deaf, Berg was reportedly "the only man in the territory with any knowledge of the game."[2] Berg was 23 years old when he became Purdue's football "coacher."[3] He was paid $1 for each lesson he gave to the newly organized football team and had only one week to prepare the team for its first game.[3][4][5] The 1887 Purdue team played its only game on October 29, 1887, against the Butler College team at Athletic Park in Indianapolis. Butler soundly defeated Berg's squad by a score of 48–6.[1]

J. B. Burris was the team captain.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "1887-1909: In the beginning ..." (PDF). Purdue University. 2008. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  2. ^ Paula Waltz (September 13, 1980). "Berg used sign language for players: Purdue's first football coach a deaf-mute" (PDF). Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 22, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Fred D. Cavinder (2003). More Amazing Tales from Indiana. Indiana University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0253216532.
  4. ^ "2008 Purdue Football Media Guide: Coaching History" (PDF). Purdue University. 2008. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Robert C. Kriebel (2009). Ross-Ade: Their Purdue Stories, Stadium, and Legacies. Purdue University Press. pp. 33–39. ISBN 1557535221.
  6. ^ "Purdue 2006 Football Information Guide (Supplemental Material)" (PDF). Purdue University. p. 83 of 97. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.