Fritz Shiverick
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| Date of birth | c. 1896 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois |
| Date of death | 1936 |
| Place of death | Chicago, Illinois |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| College | Cornell University |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1915–1916, 1919 | Cornell |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Honors | First-team All-American, 1916 |
Francis T. "Fritz" Shiverick (c. 1896 – 1936) was an American football quarterback and halfback. He played for Cornell University in 1915, 1916 and 1919, and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1916. He was posthumously inducted into Cornell's Hall of Fame in 1987.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Shiverick graduated in 1914 from the University School of Chicago where he had played halfback for three years. Shiverick then enrolled at Cornell, where he played for the school's varsity football team from 1915–1916 and 1919.
As a sophomore in 1915, Shiverick began the season as a substitute back for the Cornell varsity. He made a name for himself in Cornell's 1915 victory over Percy Haughton's 1915 Harvard team—the first loss suffered by Harvard since 1911. Replacing Charley Barrett, Shiverick came into the game with a 7–0 lead. Backed up to their own goal line, Cornell was forced to punt into a strong wind. Shiverick was called on to punt for Cornell and kicked the ball 86 yards for what proved to be the longest punt of the year in college football. Later in the same game, Shiverick drop-kicked the ball for a field goal from the 40-yard line. Shiverick's teammate Ray Van Orman later described Shiverick's long punt against Harvard as the headiest play he ever saw. Van Orman wrote that Shiverick called a couple of signals and then stalled for time. Shiverick was punting into the open end of the stadium with the wind pouring in. Shiverick tossed grass into the air and noted that, after the wind blew the grass back, it was picked up by "a reverse current that would carry it up the field as though it were flying against the wind." Concluding that the wind was circling through the stadium like a whirlpool, Shivercik delayed the snap from center until he felt a reverse current. He then drove a low, hard kick that was carried by the reverse current over the head of Harvard's safety man, Eddie Mahan.
After the 1915 season, Shiverick was selected for Outing magazine's Football Roll of Honor.
In 1916, Shiverick returned as Cornell's starting quarterback and led the Big Red to wins over Michigan and Penn. In Cornell's 23-20 win over Michigan, he drop-kicked two field goals, including one from the 45-yard line. After the 1916 season, Shiverick was selected as a first-team All-American by the United Press and sports writer Paul Purman, and a second-team All-American by the International News Service and Michigan Coach Fielding H. Yost. Shiverick was also selected for membership in the Quill and Dagger society and elected captain of the 1917 Cornell football team. The press reported:
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