| John Mohardt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder /Pinch runner | |
| Born:(1898-01-21)January 21, 1898 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: November 24, 1961(1961-11-24) (aged 63) La Jolla, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1922, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 22, 1922, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Games played | 5 |
| At bats | 1 |
| Hits | 1 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Baseball Football
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
John Henry Mohardt (January 21, 1898 – November 24, 1961) was anAmerican football andbaseball player and medical doctor.
Mohardt attended theUniversity of Notre Dame from 1918 through 1921 where he played football underKnute Rockne and also competed in baseball andtrack and field. He was selected as an All-Americanhalfback in 1921 but lost his last year of collegiate eligibility for participating in a professional football game against theGreen Bay Packers in December 1921.
Mohardt played professional baseball for theDetroit Tigers for five games in April 1922 and also played in the minor leagues during the 1922 and 1923 seasons. He also played professional football in theNational Football League for four seasons with theChicago Cardinals (1922–1923),Racine Legion (1924), andChicago Bears (1925). He shared the backfield withRed Grange in 1925.
After retiring from athletics, Mohardt became a medical doctor. He served as alieutenant colonel in theU.S. Army Medical Corps duringWorld War II in theNorth African andItalian Campaigns. He later became a surgeon at a veterans hospital and eventually the assistant director of theVeterans Administration's Surgical Service.
Mohardt was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in January 1898.[1] His family moved toGary, Indiana, while he was a child.[2] At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, Mohardt was living in Gary with his parents and nine younger siblings. Both of his parents were immigrants from Austria, and his father worked as a pipe fitter in a sheet mill.[3]
After the tenth grade, Mohardt dropped out to work in a local steel mill. He worked in the mill for two years before enrolling at theUniversity of Notre Dame. According to Mohardt's son, Mohardt was given two tests by Notre Dame officials—running and throwing—which he passed and enrolled at Notre Dame in 1918 at age 20.[2][4]
Mohardt attended theUniversity of Notre Dame from 1918 to 1921. While there, he participated and receivedvarsity letters in football, baseball, and track. He was both a pitcher and an outfielder at Notre Dame, compiled abatting average of almost .330 in three years of baseball, and was the captain of Notre Dame's 1921 baseball team. He also exhibited "an exceptional arm," had speed, and was a good fielder.[5][6]
In football, he playedhalfback under coachKnute Rockne and was a teammate ofGeorge Gipp. Mohardt had "a powerful physique," though weighing only 160 pounds, and with the exception of a broken nose sustained in a football game in 1920, he was never seriously injured in three years of football at Notre Dame.[5] Mohardt played in Gipp's shadow in 1919 and 1920, but became the team's star in 1921. Mohardt led the 1921 Notre Dame team to a 10-1 record with 781 rushing yards, 995 passing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, and nine passing touchdowns.[7]Grantland Rice wrote that "Mohardt could throw the ball to within a foot or two of any given space" and noted that the 1921 Notre Dame team "was the first team we know of to build its attack around a forward passing game, rather than use a forward passing game as a mere aid to the running game."[8] Mohardt was selected as a first-team member of1921 College Football All-America Team by Lawrence Perry and a second-team All-American byWalter Camp.[9]
The authors ofThe Notre Dame Football Encyclopedia wrote of Mohardt:
Had he come along at another time or at another school, Mohardt might have gone down as one of the best college football players ever. His misfortune was that he played on some of the best Notre Dame teams in history and in the same backfield as the great George Gipp."[7]
In early 1922, Mohardt lost his eligibility to continue playing for Notre Dame after it was discovered that he had played in a professional football game.[10] He was initially alleged with joining other Notre Dame football players in participating in a game for theCarlinville, Illinois, football team in a professional game, but he denied doing so and claimed he was in class.[11][12] He was subsequently charged with, and eventually admitted, playing for theRacine Legion team on December 4, 1921, in a professional game against theGreen Bay Packers.[13]
Mohardt also reportedly played semi-pro baseball in Iowa while attending Notre Dame during the summer of 1920, compiling a .309 batting average. While playing in Iowa, Mohardt is reported to have used the alias, John Cavanaugh, which was the name of the Catholic priest who was then the president of Notre Dame.[2][4]
Mohardt was reported to be "one of the most brilliant students who has ever left Notre Dame."[5]
Mohardt signed to play professional baseball for theDetroit Tigers in February 1922.[10] He was also offered contracts from the five other major league teams and chose Detroit because they agreed that they would allow him to leave the team in the fall of 1922 to attend medical school.[5]
Mohardt traveled toAugusta, Georgia, where he participated in Detroit's spring training.[14][15] He made the regular season roster, but he appeared in only five games for the Tigers, making his debut on April 15, 1922, and playing in his final game seven days later. In two plate appearances, he had a single and a base on balls and scored two runs. In three appearances in the outfield, he had one putout and no errors. He left major league baseball with perfect 1.000batting average and fielding percentage and two runs scored in his only two plate appearances.[1]
With the Tigers havingTy Cobb,Harry Heilmann andBobby Veach in the outfield, Mohardt was unlikely to get significant playing time. Accordingly, after a short stay in Detroit, manager Ty Cobb decided to send Mohardt to the minor leagues for seasoning. TheDetroit Free Press noted: "Although Mohardt gives promise of developing into a great player, he isn't ready for regular assignment in the major leagues."[16]
On April 26, 1922, Mohardt was assigned to the Denver Bears baseball team in the Western League.[17] He subsequently appeared in 22 games for theSyracuse Stars in 1922, compiling a .185 batting average.[18] He also played as a first baseman for the Greenville Spinners in the South Atlantic Conference in 1923.[19] He appeared in 15 games for Greenville and compiled a .280 batting average.[2]
Mohardt also played four years of professional football from 1922 to 1925. He was the starting right halfback for theChicago Cardinals during the 1922 and 1923 seasons. In 1924, he played at the wingback position for theRacine Legion.[20]
In 1925, Mohardt signed to play halfback forGeorge Halas'sChicago Bears. After Mohardt signed with the Bears, the team also signedRed Grange. Grange began the season as the Bears' lead halfback, and Mohardt was relegated to a secondary role.[21] During a game in Pittsburgh, Grange ruptured a blood vessel in his arm while throwing a block for Mohardt. Grange missed the remainder of the season, and Mohardt became the Bears' starting left halfback.[22] On November 22, 1925, Mohardt scored the Bears' first touchdown in a 21–0 victory over theGreen Bay Packers.[23]
In 1926, Mohardt signed with theChicago Bulls of the newly formedAmerican Football League. On October 17, 1926, the Bulls played against theNew York Yankees, an NFL team featuring Mohardt's former teammate, Red Grange. The game drew a crowd of 16,000 to the Bulls' home field. The first half ended in a scoreless tie, but Mohardt scored two touchdowns in the second half to lead the Bulls to a 14–0 victory over Grange and the Yankees.[24][25][26]
During the summers of 1923 and 1924, Mohardt attended theUniversity of Wisconsin. He also played semi-pro baseball with the Madison Blues while attending Wisconsin.[27] Mohardt subsequently attendedNorthwestern University Medical School and had a one-year internship at Chicago Mercy Hospital. In March 1928, he began a three-year fellowship in surgery at theMayo Clinic.[27][28] In April 1930, Mohard married Dorothy Ann Harrison in a ceremony inRockford, Illinois.[29]
Mohardt subsequently opened a private medical practice on Michigan Avenue inChicago and became known as one of the leading brain specialists in the Midwest.[27]
In January 1942, at age 43, and after the attack onPearl Harbor, Mohardt closed his medical office on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and enlisted in theUnited States Army. While waiting to be called to active duty, Mohardt told a reporter he felt "just like he did when he sat on the bench and the late Knute Rockne sent him into his first college game."[27] Mohardt served in theU.S. Army Medical Corps, attaining the rank oflieutenant colonel. He was assigned to the 12th General Hospital Unit and served there during theNorth African andItalian Campaigns. He later became a surgeon at a veterans hospital inBayard, New Mexico, and eventually served as the assistant director of theVeterans Administration's Surgical Service.[7][30]
After retiring, Mohardt moved toLa Jolla, California.[31] In November 1961, at age 63, Mohardt committed suicide at his home in La Jolla by severing thefemoral artery in hisgroin.[2][32] He was buried at theFort Rosecrans National Cemetery inSan Diego, California.[33]