Thomas Leonard Shevlin (March 1, 1883 – December 29, 1915) was an American college football player and coach at Yale University and a businessman.

His family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota when he was a young boy, and his father became successful in the lumber business and active in Republican Party politics.

[5] In 1905, college football came under fire by university presidents and others who felt that its violent nature was a negative influence on institutions of higher learning.

He has planned to go into the lumber business in the West, but strong pressure will be brought to bear to induce him to return to Yale as coach.

[8]While best known for football, Shevlin also received varsity letters at Yale as a hammer thrower for the track and field team.

In 1904, heavyweight boxing champion "Gentlemen Jim" Corbett agreed to a three-round bout with Shevlin at the Yale gymnasium.

Corbett won the match, but praised Shevlin afterward: "He hits the hardest blow and is the best man at foot work I ever met with the exception of [James J.]

[16] Shevlin drew a further fine when he and a friend drove an automobile "at furious pace" up and down past the dormitories of Smith College as young women "waved responsively to the reckless autoing.

As exemplified in his purchase of the $15,000 French automobile and hiring the world's champion hammer thrower as a trainer, Shevlin developed a reputation as a free spender.

At the conclusion of the academic year, Yale held its annual "tap-day" custom in which juniors were selected for the school's three senior societies—Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, and Wolf's Head.

Some reports indicated that Murphy was "disgusted" over the snub of Shevlin and "the growth of aristocratic as opposed to democratic sentiments" at New Haven and did not care to remain there.

As the handsome son of a millionaire and one of the most famous athletes in the United States, Shevlin's courting of, and engagement to, Elizabeth Sherley was the subject of extensive press coverage.

"[25][26] Sherley was described as "one of the prettiest girls who ever sat in a grandstand waving a blue banner and cheering a good play on the gridiron.

Shevlin insisted that the couple was, in fact, engaged, and the back-and-forth between the two men received extensive press coverage in the last half of 1906.

[30][31] After Shevlin's second engagement in less than a year was called off, one newspaper asked, "Has the little love god deserted Tom Shevlin, Yale's ex-football captain, when not long ago the mere effect of his big, manly self plowing across a player-strewn football field set a hundred feminine hearts a-flutter?

... Betty's father was Thomas Shevlin, famous football end, captain of the Yale team during his senior year, and present advisory coach for Old Eli's players.

He looked into her violet eyes, saw her long black lashes, gave one glance at her radiant complexion, and, while losing his heart, did not fail to win hers.

"[18][21] After his death, a friend recounted a story of the passion for football displayed by Shevlin in coaching the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Northrop Field.

Shevlin attended a practice in an expensive business suit, overcoat, derby and light colored gloves.

Not satisfied with "verbal participation," Shevlin joined in the scrimmages, and at the end of an hour's work he "was thoroughly happy, but his natty clothes were hanging from him in shreds.

On several occasions, Shevlin also returned to Yale to help coach the school's football team during periods of difficulty.

The New York Times reported as follows:Thomas Shevlin, the famous Captain and end, who was called from the West to show the Yale men how the game was being played in his section undertook to give the team the benefit of his knowledge.

[37]Shevlin succeeded in turning the program around in 1910, as he coached the team to a 5-3 win over Princeton and a scoreless tie against Harvard.

Shevlin continued assisting the Yale football team until the time of his death, and his colorful presence on the Yale sidelines was described as follows:In that familiar heavy Persian lamb lined overcoat, wearing that familiar derby at that rakish angle, carrying that famous cane, with his horseshoe diamond pin in that flashy tie, and smoking that inevitable cigarette, he will run down the field with the varsity ends under kicks, and beat the youngsters in their togs every time.

[18]In November 1915, Shevlin led Yale to a 13-7 win over Princeton in front of 50,000 fans at New Haven—the largest crowd ever to view a Yale-Princeton game.

After the game, Shevlin was hailed as "the miracle man of football" who had "saved Yale from the worst gridiron defeat in her history.

"[38] Shevlin had been called east in October 1915 and was credited with having "made order out of chaos" in just two weeks training the Yale team.

The rest in California improved his condition, and he cut the stay short to return to Minneapolis to attend to his business interests.

"[5] A Midwestern newspaper wrote:The death of Tom Shevlin at Minneapolis, Minn., his home, closes one of the finest careers a college athlete ever led.

The following text from a full-page advertisement in The Atlanta Constitution is an example:The value of an officer or worker in any partnership or corporation is most realized at his death.