Bobby Marshall

Bobby Marshall

Bobby Marshall in 1905
Position:	End
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1880-03-12)March 12, 1880
Place of birth:	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of death:	August 27, 1958(1958-08-27) (aged 78)
Place of death:	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	295 lb (134 kg)
Career information
College:	Minnesota
Career history
Rock Island Independents (1920) Minneapolis Marines (1921–1924) Duluth Kelleys (1925)
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR
College Football Hall of Fame

Robert Wells Marshall (March 12, 1880 – August 27, 1958) was an American athlete. He was best known for playing football, however he also competed in baseball,track, boxing, ice hockey and wrestling.

When Marshall played baseball for Minneapolis Central High School, he played first base for three years. Central was the champion of the Twin Cities High Schools for Marshall's Junior and Senior years, of 1900 and 1901.

When he played baseball for the University of Minnesota, he also played first base for two years, 1904 and 1905, helping the University to win the Western Conference Championship in 1905.

Marshall played end for the football team of the University of Minnesota from 1904 to 1906. In 1906, Marshall kicked a 60-yard field goal to beat the University of Chicago 4-2 (field goals counted as four points). He was the first African American to play football in the Big Nine (later the Big Ten Conference). He graduated in 1907 and played with Minneapolis pro teams, the Deans and the Marines. From 1920 through 1924 he played in the National Football League with the Minneapolis Marines, the Kelley Duluths, and the Rock Island Independents. He along with Fritz Pollard were the first African Americans to play in the NFL.

Marshall was the son of Richard Marshall and Symanthia Gillespie Marshall. His maternal grandfather was Ezekiel Gillespie, a former slave and civil rights pioneer. His aunt was Jessie Gillespie Herndon, the second wife of Alonzo Herndon, founder and president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the most successful black-owned insurance businesses in the nation. In 1918, Marshall married Irene Knott of Great Falls, Montana. The couple had four children: Robert Jr., William, Donald, and Bette.