Base Football Dominant in Its Heyday

QUANTICO, Va. -- In the 1920s, before the days of Super Bowls, tailgate parties, AstroTurf and even face masks, the booming popularity of college football seeped into the ranks of the Corps, especially here at Quantico.

Fueled by the enthusiasm and under the direction of Gen. Smedley Butler, the Quantico football program began in 1919 with a team made up of Marines from throughout the Corps, most of whom had previously played for a college football team.

After a year spent building the team’s foundation, 1920 was a year of molding and grooming the players’ skills, leading to a winning season. The efforts were led by teammate 1st Lt. Walker “Boots” Brown, the star quarterback from the Corps’ first football team, which was started in Mare Island Training Station in California.

Brown’s career as a Marine pilot and talented football player was tragically cut short when he was killed in a plane crash in June 1921. Despite such a harrowing event, the “Quantico Marines” ran with the momentum from their previous year’s success, searched and found more athletic Marines to add to the team. During the search, the football team recruited Frank Goettge. Goettge, who played college ball for Ohio State University, soon became one of the most prominent athletes in Marine Corps history. Other familiar names to have appeared on the “Quantico Marines” roster include Emery “Swede” Larson – who previously played for the Navy football team, Harry Liversedge from the University of South Carolina, and famous kicker Johnny Groves.

The “Quantico Marines’” schedule included games against the Army, Navy, various athletic clubs and college teams, such as Ohio State University, University of South Carolina and St. Mary’s College.

Quantico’s football team proved to be great for Marine Corps public relations, as it remained in the spotlight for many years for holding an overwhelming winning record and for the crowds the team drew to games. The “Quantico Marines” always arrived with its own players, crowds, mascot and band, as well as Butler, who paraded the sidelines, cheering for his Marines. When the team played near Washington, D.C., some games drew up to 60,000 fans and members of the presidential cabinet were even known to attend.

Support for the team reached an all-time high during a game against the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor during the Corps’ anniversary in 1923. Thousands of Marines and fans traveled from Quantico on special trains to attend the game. Many of the Marines spent their entire month’s paycheck and more just to pay for the venture.

The first four seasons of the team’s existence were its glory days. The Marines played 42 games, winning 38, losing only two and tying two.

The publicity and popularity of the team eventually waned over the years, and the “Quantico Marines” football team left the national scene in the 1970s. Although Marine Corps Base Quantico no longer holds tryouts for the sport, Marines can often be found in front of the barracks, out on the field at Butler Stadium tossing a football around, getting a quick game in for physical training, or just for fun.

Editor’s note: Information for this story was compiled from “Quantico: Crossroads of the Marine Corps,” by Lt. Col. Charles A. Fleming, Capt. Robin L. Austin and Capt. Charles A. Braley III and “Quantico: Semper Progedi, Always Forward,” by Bradley E. Gernard and Michelle A. Krowl.