Tiny Maxwell

Robert Wallace "Tiny" Maxwell (September 7, 1884 – June 30, 1922) was a professional football player and referee.

Maxwell's struggle with a speech impediment made his physical presence less intimidating and in fact increased his popularity.

During an October 7, 1905 game between Swarthmore College and Penn, played at Franklin Field, Maxwell's nose was broken, his eyes were swollen nearly shut and his face dripped with blood.

However Maxwell reportedly continue to play until near the end of the game, when his face was so bloody and swollen that he could no longer see, yet he never complained of the physical beating.

The photograph of Maxwell's face shocked and enraged the President into threatening to abolish football, if the colleges themselves did not take steps to eliminate the brutality and reduce injuries.

As a result, it became the official account of 1905 and was enshrined in Jack Falla's history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and is mentioned at the College Football Hall of Fame.

[6] What is absolutely certain is that on October 9, 1905, Teddy Roosevelt held a meeting of football representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

Yardage for a first down was changed from five to 10 yards; a neutral zone was established between opposing lines, and the time of the game was reduced from 70 to 60 minutes.

During this time, Maxwell insisted on wearing his Swarthmore jersey with its big "S" in all team pictures during his pro career.

A Massillon newspaper alleged that Bulldogs coach Blondy Wallace and Tigers end Walter East conspired to fix a two-game championship series between the two clubs.

According to Stewart, Tiny Maxwell and Bob Shiring of Massillon had been solicited to throw the first game by East.

While coaching, Maxwell also enrolled at Jefferson Medical College, located in Philadelphia where he completed his pre-clinical studies.

[2] Because of his tremendous size, quickness, and knowledge of the rules, Maxwell was soon in demand to officiate major games as Harvard-Yale, Army-Navy and Pitt-Penn State.

Bob worked the famed Penn-Dartmouth game at the Polo Grounds in 1919, referred to as "The Bloodiest Battle of World War I".

[2] In 1921, Maxwell served as the referee for a game between the Union Quakers of Philadelphia and the pre-National Football League, Frankford Yellow Jackets.

[3] In friendly bet between Record Herald and a rival newspaper, Maxwell defeated his colleague in an eating contest.

[10] Fearing a holdup, he sped up to go around the car and ran head-on into a truck that was taking a group of Boy Scouts home from a picnic.

Maxwell spent the next few days in a hospital located in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he was suffering from seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a dislocated hip.