Ray Poppelman

A native of San Fernando, California,[1] Poppelman served in the United States Marine Corps as an enlistedman, and was stationed in Shanghai during the 1920s.

[3] The talents of Poppelman and Albert Woods, a Quantico teammate, attracted the attention of Maryland's head coach, Curley Byrd.

[1] To entice him to attend the school, Byrd arranged for Poppelman, who was dissatisfied with the standard dorm bunks, to receive a special bed.

[8] In 1931, Poppelman helped Maryland beat Navy, 6–0, on a double reverse where he pitched the ball to Paul Kiernan, who in turn passed to George Chalmers.

"[11] Poppelman finished the season with 1,350 rushing yards, which surpassed the previous school record of 1,255 set by Gerald Snyder in 1928.

It reasoned the unprecedented nature of that selection was due to the "complete dominance of State football by the University of Maryland during 1931" and "the manner in which that team swept aside all opposition in this territory".