Bemus Pierce
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| Sport(s) | Football, baseball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | 1873 Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County, New York |
| Died | 1957 New York |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1894–1897 | Carlisle |
| 1900–1901 | Homestead Library & Athletic Club |
| 1902–1903 | All-Syracuse |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1899 | Buffalo |
| 1902–1903 | Sherman Institute |
| 1906 | Carlisle |
| 1908–1910 | Kenyon |
| 1911 | Lafayette HS (NY) |
| Baseball | |
| 1904–1905 | Wisconsin |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 29–14–2 (college football) |
Bemus Pierce (1873–1957) was an American football player and coach. He played as a guard in the 1890s and 1900s. Pierce played college football for the Carlisle Indian School teams from 1894 to 1897 and played professional football for the championship teams from the Homestead Library & Athletic Club of 1900 and 1901. He also played for the All-Syracuse team in 1902, the first indoor professional football team. Pierce served as the head football coach at the University of Buffalo in 1899, at the Carlisle Indian School in 1906, and at Kenyon College from 1908 to 1910.
Bemus Pierce, a member of the Seneca nation, was born on February 23 or 28, 1873 on the Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County, New York. He married Annie Gesis, a fellow Carlisle student, also from Cattaraugus, in April 1899 in the local Episcopal Church. Together they had three children.
He attended the Carlisle Indian School where he played on the first great Carlisle football teams from 1894 to 1897. Pierce was a large player for the 1890s at six-feet, one and one-half inches, and 225 pounds. He was selected as captain of the Carlisle football teams of 1895, 1896, and 1897. He also became Carlisle's first All-American as a lineman in 1896. In an 1896 game between Carlisle and Illinois played in Chicago, Pierce returned three kick-offs for touchdowns.
At Carlisle, Pierce was teammates with his brother Hawley Pierce. The two brothers, each weighing over 200 pounds, were both among the best players of their day. In 1906, The Washington Post declared them the greatest pair of linesman brothers in the history of the sport:
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