Frank Hudson (American football)

Frank Hudson
Photograph of Hudson from the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame
Born	1875 Paguate, New Mexico
Died	December 24, 1950 (aged 74–75) Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Frank Hudson (1875 – December 24, 1950) was a Native American football player and coach. He was a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe from New Mexico.

He played college football for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1895 to 1899 and was considered the greatest kicker in the early years of American football. In 1898, he became the first Native American player of the sport to be selected as an All-American. He was selected as a first-team All-American by Outing magazine in both 1898 and 1899.

From 1904 to 1906, he served as an assistant coach of the Carlisle football team, becoming one of the first non-white coaches in college football history.

Hudson was born around 1875 in Paguate, New Mexico. His date of birth was unknown. He was a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe.

Hudson left his home and tribe in New Mexico to attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, an Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, formed for the purpose of assimilating Native American children from 39 tribes into the majority culture. While at Carlisle, Hudson became a star on the school's football team. He was the quarterback at Carlisle as early as 1895. In December 1896, he played in what is reported to have been "the first game under electric light"—a victory over Wisconsin. According to a press account from 1897, Hudson was only five feet, three inches tall, and weighed 130 pounds.

In 1897, Hudson gained acclaim for drop-kicking field goals against two of the top teams in the country—Yale and Penn. Hudson accounted for all of Carlisle's points in a 20-10 loss to Penn at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The New York Times wrote that "little Hudson showed his ability as a kicker by dropping the ball squarely between the posts." The game against Yale was played at the Polo Grounds in New York, and The New York Times described Hudson's field goal as follows: