Second-team All-Pro (1924) 2× All-American (1921, 1922) First-team All-Big Ten (1922) Paul Gordon Goebel (May 28, 1901 – January 26, 1988) was an American football end who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1920 to 1922.

He officiated football games for the Big Ten Conference for 16 years and also served in the U.S. Navy on an aircraft carrier in World War II.

When Ford returned from World War II, Goebel urged him to run for U.S. Congress and was part of the original Ford-for-Congress committee.

Goebel was later the chairman of a committee formed in 1960 to name Ford as the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate on the ticket with Richard Nixon.

He played at the end where he developed a reputation as one of the country's best forward pass receivers and as a tenacious defensive player.

[5] Despite the limitations of the knee brace, Goebel led the Wolverines to victory in the first game played at Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State fans recalled for years afterward how Goebel and his teammate Harry Kipke managed to turn Dedication Day sour for the Buckeyes.

In the first period, Goebel blocked a punt and then kicked a long field goal from the 30-yard line for the game's first points.

[7] As the game wore on, the Buckeyes "seemed to realize (Goebel's) importance in the Michigan lineup because he was forced to take plenty of punishment.

He tried to induce his teammates that he was able to play, and tried to break away from their grasp, but the punch was gone and he was forced to give way as the big crowd cheered him to the echo.

[7] The rotunda at Ohio Stadium is painted with maize flowers on a blue background due to the outcome of the 1922 dedication game against, an enduring tribute to Goebel's performance that day.

His particular forte lies in his ability to not only plunge in and break up the interference of the opposing team, but after so doing, nail the man with the ball and down him in his tracks.

A 1923 wire service report in the Capital Times noted that Goebel was "considered one of the best ends in the country and his work on receiving forward passes hasn't been excelled on the gridiron.

Kirk had been a popular figure, and his funeral was covered widely in the national press, with Michigan Governor Alex Groesbeck, U-M President Marion LeRoy Burton, and the coaches of the Big Ten Conference football teams all in attendance.

[12] In February 1923, Goebel refused an offer to become the head football coach at Wichita State University (then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation.

Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop of the Chicago Bears.

[21] With the score tied 26–26, Ohio State threw an incomplete forward pass into the end zone as the gun sounded.

However, Ohio State assistant coach Ernie Godfrey had noticed Goebel, who was the head linesman, drop a handkerchief to signal a penalty.

"[27] Ford did run for Congress in 1948, and Goebel was one of his close circle of early supporters, the original Ford-for-Congress group.

[32] Ford delivered a speech at Calvin College in Grand Rapids the week before the election in which he said: "Paul Goebel I have known since he was just a lad.

But I have known the Goebel family a long time, and they are strong and they are tall, and they are the kind of people who are dedicated to public service.

He ran for mayor of Grand Rapids as part of the same anti-McKay reform movement that brought Gerald Ford to office.

[28] According to one newspaper account, Goebel "spearheaded a reform movement which brought him into office in 1950," ousting incumbent George W. Welsh, who had been elected mayor five times and also served as the state's lieutenant governor.

[33] At the time, Goebel was the partner in a sporting goods store and was described in the press as tall and rangy, a candidate "who looks like a blond Abraham Lincoln without a beard.

[33] In October 1953, Goebel announced he would not run for a third term, saying he had no further political ambitions and would devote his time to his family and business.

[33] Within a short time, however, he changed his mind and ran for a third term with the support of the reformist Citizens Action Group.

[39] In 1968, the Regents voted to eliminate curfews for all women students in residence halls and to allow each housing unit to set its own visitation hours.