William D. Cochran

William D. Cochran

William D. Cochran, c. 1915
Date of birth	March 22, 1894
Place of birth	Houghton, Michigan
Date of death	December 5, 1951(1951-12-05) (aged 57)
Career information
Position(s)	Guard, tackle
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	235 lb (107 kg)
College	Michigan
High school	Houghton High School
Career history
As player
1913–1915	Michigan
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-Western player, 1914

William Duscharme "Pink Cheeks" Cochran (March 22, 1894 – December 5, 1951) was an American football player. He played guard and tackle for the University of Michigan from 1913 to 1915. He was a first-team All-Western lineman and the captain of Michigan's 1915 football team. He later operated a freight trucking line based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He also served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1936 to 1950, including five years as the Deputy Chairman from 1946 to 1950.

A native of Houghton in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cochran played football at Houghton High School and was the Upper Peninsula shot put and discus champion.

He enrolled at the University of Michigan as a student in the College of Pharmacy. While at Michigan, Cochran played as a tackle or guard in every game for Fielding H. Yost's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1913 to 1915. He was known among his teammates by the nickname "Pink Cheeks."

Playing at the tackle position, Cochran established himself as one of the stars of the 1914 Michigan Wolverines football team. The authors of "Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide" dubbed Cochran one of the three stars of the 1914 Michigan team (along with John Maulbetsch and James Raynsford): "Michigan has two other stars in Capt. Raynsford, at center, and Cochran, at tackle. Both big, powerful men, they had the real foot ball intuition and worked wonders with an otherwise green line."

At the end of the 1914 season, Cochran was unanimously elected as the captain of the 1915 Michigan Wolverines football team. Upon his election as captain, The Michigan Alumnus reported: "Michigan's new captain starred on defense all during the season just past, and was also effective in opening up holes for his backs." Cochran was also selected as a 1914 first-team All-Western player by Walter Eckersall in the Chicago Daily Tribune.