Poe Brothers, The

The Poe brothers

L to R: Arthur Poe, Samuel Johnson Poe, Neilson (Net) Poe, Edgar Allan Poe, Gresham Poe and John Prentiss Poe Jr.
Career information
College	Princeton University
Career history
As player
1882–1901	Princeton Tigers

The Poe brothers were six American football players who played football at Princeton University from 1882 until 1901. They were sons of John P. Poe, Sr., an 1854 Princeton graduate and the Attorney General of Maryland from 1891 until 1895. They were also second cousins, twice removed (see below), of the poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe, who died in 1849.

Edgar Allan was the quarterback of the 1889 team, which finished with a perfect 10-0 record. After that season, Poe was named the quarterback of the 1889 College Football All-America Team—the first such team selected. After Princeton beat Harvard, 41-15, a Harvard man reportedly asked a Princeton alumnus whether Poe was related to the great Edgar Allan Poe. According to the story, "the alumnus looked at him in astonishment and replied, 'He is the great Edgar Allan Poe.'"

John Prentiss Poe, Jr. made the varsity football team at halfback as a freshman, and finished the season tied for third in touchdowns scored for the team. However, he struggled academically and was asked to leave in the spring term. He re-enrolled the following fall and started at quarterback, moving to halfback midway through the season. Poe played better in his sophomore year than in the previous season, finishing second on the team for touchdowns scored. However, he was once again forced to leave the university for academic reasons, this time permanently. Poe Field at Princeton was provided in his memory by classmates and friends.

Arthur was selected retroactively by the Helms Athletic Foundation as the national college football player of the year for 1899, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969. He was also named to Walter Camp's All-American football second team in 1898 and first team in 1899. He made the plays that led to victories over Yale in both years. In 1898 he took the ball from a Yale runner's grasp and raced 100 yards for the game's only score. In 1899, with only 30 seconds to play Poe volunteered to attempt a game-winning field goal, despite never having before kicked in a game, because both of Princeton's kickers had been injured and left the game. His kick was good and delivered an 11–10 Princeton victory. Arthur's heroics in the biggest college football games of 1898 and 1899 inspired a book of comic heroic poetry entitled "Poe's Run and Other Poems." In 1914, a Pittsburgh Press article declared the last-minute winning field goal "Football's Greatest Moment".