John Clum: Pioneer Footballer

John Clum is best known for his time in Tombstone, as a newspaperman, mayor, and friend of the Earps and Doc Holliday.  But when he was a bit young, Clum was a different sort of pioneer.

In September 1870, he attended Rutgers University in New Jersey and joined the football team. He knew nothing of the game, which was only a year old and closer to a mix between rugby and soccer than the modern game. There were only a couple of games that year; Clum quit college after that but had great memories of his athletic career.