 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1892-08-07)August 7, 1892 Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 1966(1966-06-14) (aged 73) Davenport, Iowa, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1913–1915 | Wisconsin |
| 1916–1920 | Canton Bulldogs |
| 1921–1925 | Green Bay Packers |
| Position | Tackle |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1916 | Wisconsin (assistant) |
| 1917–1919 | Carleton |
| 1923 | Lawrence |
| 1927–1928 | Miami (FL) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1917–1919 | Carleton |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 21–20–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Howard Pierce "Cub"Buck (August 7, 1892 – June 14, 1966) was an Americanfootball player and coach. He played as atackle at theUniversity of Wisconsin, captaining the team and earning consensusAll-American honors in 1915.[1] Buck then played professionally for 10 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) with theCanton Bulldogs (1916–1920) andGreen Bay Packers (1921–1925). He served as the head football coach atCarleton College from 1917 to 1919, atLawrence College in 1923, and as the first head coach at theUniversity of Miami from 1926 to 1928. Buck was inducted into the Wisconsin State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1956, theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1977, and the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department Hall of Fame in 1991.[2]
Buck was born on August 7, 1892, inEau Claire, Wisconsin. He attended high school there and was named to Wisconsin's all-state prep team as acenter. Playing for theWisconsin Badgers from 1913 to 1915, he never missed a game and earned three All-Western Conference honors.
After graduating, Buck served as an assistant football coach at Wisconsin in 1916.[3] That year he also starting playing professional football for theCanton Bulldogs. Buck played under an assumed name, Moriarity, because his parents didn't want him playing professionally, especially on Sundays.[4] Buck coached at Wisconsin during the week and for games on Saturdays, then travelled to the site of the Bulldogs game on Sunday.[5]
In 1917, Buck was hired as the head football coach andathletic director atCarleton College at age 25.[6] Coaching throughWorld War I and the1918 influenza pandemic, in three years his teams were 10–7. He continued to play withJim Thorpe and the Bulldogs through 1920, the first year of the American Professional Football Association. Thorpe called Buck the greatest lineman he had played with or against.[2]
Buck added an extra game in 1920 by playing in the Green Bay Packers' last game of their season.[6] In 1921, the Packers joined the fledgling professional league that would become theNational Football League (NFL).Curly Lambeau made Buck the first Packer with a guaranteed salary by paying him $75 per game.[5] That year was the first Green Bay–Chicago game and it featured the first cheap shot of thestoried rivalry.John "Tarzan" Taylor slugged Buck and broke his nose.[5][6]
Buck played for the Packers through the 1925 season. Besides playing both sides of the line, Buck was the punter and placekicker. From 1922 to 1925, Buck made 24 of 35 extra points and 10 of 28 field goals for a total of 54 points.[7] He led the Packers in scoring in 1923 and threw a touchdown pass in 1924.[5] While playing for the Packers, Buck coached for theLawrence Vikings, mainly as an assistant, but he was the head coach for the 1923 season. He was also the executive director of the Boy Scouts in Appleton.[6]
In 1926, Buck became the first head coach of theMiami Hurricanes football program. Before the team could play its first game, a hurricane destroyed the under-construction stadium and postponed the start of the season. Thefirst team was a freshman squad; they went 8–0, including two defeats of theUniversity of Havana, one in Miami and one in Havana.[8] During the first two varsity seasons, the Hurricanes were 3–6–1 in1927 and 4–4–1 in1928.
Buck left football coaching in 1929, but he often went to three football games each weekend during the season.[9] He moved toRock Island, Illinois and opened a car dealership.[5] He died inDavenport, Iowa in 1966.[10][11]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carleton(1917–1919) | |||||||||
| 1917 | Carleton | 4–1 | |||||||
| 1918 | Carleton | 2–2 | |||||||
| 1919 | Carleton | 4–4 | |||||||
| Carleton: | 10–7 | ||||||||
| Lawrence Vikings(Midwest Conference)(1923) | |||||||||
| 1923 | Lawrence | 4–3–1 | 2–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Lawrence: | 4–3–1 | 2–1–1 | |||||||
| Miami Hurricanes(Independent)(1927–1928) | |||||||||
| 1927 | Miami | 3–6–1 | |||||||
| 1928 | Miami | 4–4–1 | |||||||
| Miami: | 7–10–2 | ||||||||
| Total: | 21–20–3 | ||||||||
