1890 - 1960
Erastus Pennock joined the Springfield College faculty in 1925 and quickly established a reputation as an excellent wrestling coach and athletic trainer who pioneered athletic training education. During his 33 years at Springfield, Pennock gained widespread recognition for making the school's physical education department one of the best in the nation.
1902 - 1963
Herb Patchin, who studied with Matt Bullock at the University of Illinois, became the head athletic trainer at Virginia Military Institute in 1929, remaining at VMI the rest of his life. In addition to being a member of VMI's Sports Hall of Fame by special citation, the baseball field bears Patchin's name.
1882 - 1954
Einar Nielsen sailed to the U.S. from Norway in 1904 at age 22. Signing on as an athletic trainer for Utah in 1914, Nielsen is remembered as a man of quick wit, total dedication and impeccable skills. He is credited with launching athletic scholarship efforts on campus, and a fieldhouse bears his name as a reminder of his legacy.
1890 - 1970
When he was 16 years old, George “Doc” Nelson worked as a cabin boy on a ship bound from Sweden to the U.S. He gave up life at sea and landed at Utah State University in 1921 to become the first athletic trainer in the school's history. Nelson, a top wrestler in his prime, also coached Utah State grapplers to 10 Rocky Mountain Conference championships before retiring in 1958.
1861 - 1913
Michael C. Murphy is generally acknowledged as the first athletic trainer in the nation, caring for Olympians in 1900, 1908 and 1912. Murphy also is credited with developing many track champions at Yale and Pennsylvania universities. Of his 21 track teams, Murphy's men won 15 intercollegiate championships.
1883 - 1956
Larnard “Lon” Mann served for 24 years as athletic trainer for Purdue, joining the Boilermakers after gaining athletic training experience with Chicago Major League Baseball clubs and Penn State University. Mann helped develop facemasks, knee braces and taping techniques.
1886 - 1957
Frank Mann, who served for almost 25 years as athletic trainer at the University of Kentucky, is the original advocate for college athletic trainers. In 1906 he started his athletic training career at the University of Indiana, working next at Iowa, the University of Chicago and Purdue before landing at Kentucky.
1908 - 1954
Thomas “Fitz” Lutz is remembered for inventing a facemask that saved a season for a Georgia Bulldogs star and kept the team rolling through its Golden Era. Lutz, UGA's head athletic trainer from 1938-42, was the Baltimore Colts' head athletic trainer for three seasons before going to the University of North Carolina in 1950.
1891 - 1974
Michigan State athletes remember Jack Heppinstall as a morale booster and father figure. During his 45 years at MSU, he used an estimated 900 miles of tape and tended approximately 15,000 athletes. Heppinstall, who returned to his native England as a U.S. Olympic Team athletic trainer in 1948, was a leader in the first NATA.
1884 - 1965
Every Sunday for years, Tad Gormley hosted the “Gormley Games,” a track meet staged at City Park near Loyola University. Gormley, whose first love was track and field, served at Tulane, Loyola and Louisiana State as head athletic trainer and track coach. An outdoor stadium in New Orleans still bears his name.