1900 Stanford football team
Stanford's final game of the season against California, played on Thanksgiving Day in San Francisco, drew the largest crowd to that date to watch a sporting event west of the Mississippi River.
The weight of the spectators caused the roof to collapse, plunging a large group, primarily boys and young men, to the concrete floor and active furnaces of the factory.
The 1899 Stanford football team compiled a disappointing 2–5–2 record in their first and last year under head coach Burr Chamberlain.
[2] In December 1899, William Wesley "Babe" Burnett, a 26-year-old tackle and law student from Adelaide, California, was unanimously elected as the captain of the 1900 Stanford team.
Upon his return, Gildersleeve expressed confidence in the choice of Yost: "He impressed me as being a man of strong personality and wonderful magnetism, and he certainly knows the game from start to finish.
"[8] In early August 1900, Frank Slaker announced his intention to transfer to Stanford from the University of Chicago to study mining engineering.
[9] Slaker had been a second-team All-American and first-team All-Western player on Amos Alonzo Stagg's Chicago Maroons football teams.
The San Francisco Call reported that Slaker "showed remarkable speed in line-plunging, but was too fast for his support.
Willie Heston, who later played for Yost at Michigan, was the starting left halfback for the State Normal team.
[16] On October 13, 1900, Stanford played its second game against the Reliance Club, this time at the 16th Street Grounds in San Francisco before a crowd estimated at between 500 and 600 spectators.
Despite the score, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Stanford's "formations were slow and ineffective and every main in the team lacked life."
Stanford coach Yost was not present at the game, opting instead to travel to Berkeley to watch the University of California team play against the Reliance Club.
Adding to the defeat, Stanford's starting right halfback, Ralph Fisher, sustained a broken collarbone in the game.
[22] On Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1900, Stanford played the 10th edition of its annual rivalry game with California at the 16th Street Grounds in San Francisco.
[23] Stanford quarterback Charles Raitt was severely injured when he received a blow to the head in the second half; more than 10 days after the game, he was still unable to go outside.
19,000 spectators filled the stands, the largest crowd to witness a sporting event west of the Mississippi River.
[25] Many spectators chose not to pay the $1 admission and instead observed the game from the roof of the San Francisco and Pacific Glass Works across the street from the stands.
During the game, the weight of hundreds of spectators caused the roof to collapse, plunging a large group of primarily boys and young men to the concrete floor and active furnaces of the glass factory.
Yost was hired by Michigan, and his first recruit was Willie Heston from the California State Normal School in San Jose.
[30][31][32] Charles Fickert replaced Yost as Stanford's football coach and led the team to a 3–2–2 during the 1901 season.
