John Frederick Maulbetsch (June 20, 1890 – September 14, 1950) was an All-American football halfback at Adrian College in 1911 and for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1914 to 1916.

Maulbetsch became known as the "Human Bullet" because of his unusual low, line-plunging style of play, and was also known as the "Featherweight Fullback" because of his light weight and small size.

After his performance against Harvard in 1914, in which some reports indicated he gained more than 300 yards, eastern writers, including Damon Runyon, wrote articles touting Maulbetsch.

Maulbetsch quickly turned Phillips into one of the top programs in the southwest, as his teams beat Oklahoma and Texas and lost only one game in the 1918 and 1919 seasons.

"[2] After graduating from high school, Maulbetsch joined the Ann Arbor Independents, a football team made up of Michigan "varsity eligibles" and "townies."

Maulbetsch was once reportedly called upon to drive across the goal line for the Independents in a game in which a large crowd, including a farmer with his plow-horse, gathered in the end zone.

He has a corkscrew style of dashing, and even when tackled squarely has such a sturdy pair of legs that his assailant is usually carried back several yards.

"[9] Playing Vanderbilt the following week, Maulbetsch had runs of 25 and 35 yards, scored two touchdowns, "was worked overtime and probably advanced the pigskin more than any two other players.

"[13] According to Runyon, the Wolverines used "the mighty Maulbetsch as their battering ram", and he "gained enough ground against Harvard to bury a German army corps.

His peculiar, baffling style of attack, backed by phenomenal strength almost always earned for him gains of 5 to 20 yards every time he was called upon to carry the ball.

Many blamed Michigan's quarterback who switched to another back every time after Maulbetsch "took the ball to the shadow of the Crimson goal posts.

"[14] When Harvard reneged on an agreement to play a game in Ann Arbor in 1915, sports writers concluded it was to avoid facing Maulbetsch again.

"[23] An Iowa newspaper wondered how it was possible "for a man to smash into a line of human bodies with the force that Maulbetsch does and come out of the game without a broken neck.

[29] A Wisconsin newspaper noted that, "when it comes time to write a resume of the 1914 football season", Maulbetsch's play "will live in the minds of men .

"Now, Johnny's sister explains that each day his mother baked two pies for the athlete's supper, and that in addition he had everything else his appetite craved, including coffee.

"[36] It turned out that the indigestion was appendicitis, and Maulbetsch was hospitalized at St. Joseph's Sanitarium in Ann Arbor in April 1915, where he underwent an operation.

[37] As the 1915 season was set to get underway, Coach Yost reported, "Johnny told me he was feeling fine when I saw him recently, although he doesn’t weigh as much as he used to.

"[47] Sports writer Frank Menke described Maulbetsch's 1915 performance this way: "[The] Wolverine halfback skidded from the heights of greatness to the level of mediocre.

[49] On one trip, a giant coal passer claimed to be the strongest man in the world, and Maulbetsch agreed to a wrestling match on the boat.

"[50] As the season started, The New York Times wrote: "Michigan's come-back football team, headed by Bullet Maulbetsch, is going to be an eleven to be reckoned with on the gridiron this Fall.

"[51] Maulbetsch returned to his prior form, and one of the writers who had criticized him in 1915 said "the great Michigander using the same method of attack, has repeatedly broken in fragments this year the lines that he couldn’t dent in 1915.

In January 1917 newspapers reported that Maulbetsch had signed a contract to play professional football for Detroit Tigers owner, Frank Navin.

[55] In June 1917, Maulbetsch announced that he had accepted a position as the football coach (and professor of chemistry) at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma.

[1] Maulbetsch's next find was future Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Owen, who later spent 23 years with the New York Giants.

A third key player recruited by Maulbetsch was a Native American halfback named Levi, and dubbed "Big Chief" by Phillips fans.

Despite an overall record of 3–4–1, Oklahoma A&M won its first conference football championship by going 3–0–1 in games against Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponents.

In late November, the day after a 46–0 loss to Oklahoma, newspapers reported that "reliable sources" had said Maulbetsch intended to resign.

[74] In July 1929, Maulbetsch was hired by Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia to become head coach in charge of football and track.

During World War II, Maulbetsch took a job building B-24 Liberator bombers at Ford Motor Company's famed Willow Run Plant near Ypsilanti, Michigan.

[79] The award has been a good indicator of future success, as past recipients include Jim Mandich (1967), Rick Leach (1976), Charles Woodson (1996), Marlin Jackson (2002), and Jake Long (2004).