In this enlightening discourse, we unveil a remarkable revelation concerning the father of modern American football, Walter Camp, whose historical narrative is unexpectedly marred by an allegation of attempted murder. We delve into the intricate details of this episode, as explored by Timothy B. Brown of Football Archaeology, who meticulously unravels the circumstances surrounding Camp's arrest in the late 19th century. The discussion encompasses the convoluted tale of a love triangle that culminated in violence, casting a shadow over Camp's otherwise illustrious legacy. Through this examination, we endeavor to illuminate lesser-known aspects of football history that significantly shape our understanding of its prominent figures. Join us as we explore the intersection of personal turmoil and professional achievement within the annals of American football.

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We have breaking news from over 150 years ago in football history.

The father of modern American football may have been a felon.

Timothy B.

Brown of Football Archaeology digs into this subject and tells us all the scoop.

And Tim's coming up in just a moment.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron day at a time.

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of Pigskind dispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal deposit of football history.

And welcome to another Tuesday where we get to visit with our friend Timothy p.

Brown of footballarchaeology.com Tim, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Aaron, how you doing?

Looking, hoping that this podcast provides a shot in the arm for you.

Yeah, real, real shot in the arm.

Or shoulder, you know, one of the two.

Yeah, somebody's gonna get.

Get pinched a little bit here, get a cap in them, but hopefully it won't be you or I because we're just telling a story.

We're just the messengers delivering the message.

That's right.

And the message we're delivering is something that you delivered recently on one of your tidbits on footballarchaeology.com it was titled Walter Camp arrested for attempted murder.

The father of Football Attempted murder.

Tell us it's not true.

Bad guy.

Bad guy.

Yeah, well, it turned out that, you know, he wasn't a bad guy, but he was arrested.

So.

Yeah, so old Walter, you know, he had his eyes on a young lady back in like 84, 85 young lady named Sally Barnes who lived in New Jersey and was a, apparently a reasonably wealthy orphan.

So one way or another, you know, Camp met her and ultimately proposed to her and she turned him down.

No reason stated in the articles, but she turned them down.

So he went off and, you know, you, you know, he graduated from Yale, had ended his time, you know, going to med med school as well, and he was working in New York City, living there.

And then he run back and forth to Yale and New Haven all the time, you know, for Yale events.

And his parents still live there.

So.

So one day In March of 87, a guy named George Day Condit Smith was found on a park bench after he was shot in the shoulder.

And so the police came.

You know, they, there had been some kind of quasi witnesses.

You know, supposedly some guy had run away.

And.

But this Smith was not real Talkative.

He didn't really, you know, he claimed that somebody came up to him, shot him, and somehow the thing came out that it had been like a jealous lover.

So not, not Smith's lover, but that in the meantime Smith had started courting that Sally Barnes, the woman that Camp had proposed to.

So, you know, one way or another, this detective got hot after, you know, suspected it was Camp.

And supposedly, you know, he found the pistol and could trace it back to Camp.

And, you know, like how he did that overnight.

Tim, I'm.

I'm a criminal justice major.

That's what my degrees in and back in school, that's what they taught you.

That's one of the first things you look at for solving a crime.

The love triangle is one of the first things you, you do.

And so this, this guy's spot on to the book or so far, except.

That somehow he's tracing a pistol to Camp that we find out later it wasn't true.

So anyways, then like the following morning, he ends up encountering Camp at his, the business office for this clock company.

And then comes back a little bit later and basically arrests him, take him to the.

Takes him to the hospital where the Smith and the Smith is recuperating.

You know, so, you know, no two Way Mirror, you know, kind of thing going on.

And he says, no, that's not the guy that shot me.

So in the meantime, you know, the, the press has gotten ahold of the fact that this star, you know, and one of the head guys in the football world has been arrested for attempted murder.

So it's going on, on all, you know, newspapers.

And so some of them were even, even in the first article, they were retracting what was said earlier.

But anyway, so.

And one of the other things that's funny about it is that when the Smith was shot, Camp had been in New Haven that evening and he was at like a Yale festival where there were like four or five hundred people there who saw him.

So, you know, he definitely wasn't the shooter.

So then it, you know, the whole thing kind of quieted down pretty quickly and it's like, it just seemed kind of a little goofy.

And then, you know, a couple months later, then the newspapers come up with a thing about that Smith had shot himself, that he was trying to get sympathy from this Sally Barnes.

And I guess maybe he Thought the best way to do that is to shoot himself, you know, so he shot himself in the shoulder and, you know, whatever.

So she didn't want any part of either one of these guys then or camp.

She and Smith got married.

Like two, two, three months later, they get married.

But that was a real shot on an arm for him, wasn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, maybe she was triggered by the.

You know, by the shooting or something.

But anyway, so she.

I never figured out what she died from.

Then, like, four years later, he.

He remarries.

Four years later, he dies of tuberculosis.

So now both of their daughters are orphaned, other than they're living with their stepmother and turns out to maybe have tried to get their money and yada, yada, yada.

So crazy things going on back then.

So.

So he was.

That's kind of the story of Walter getting arrested for attempted murder.

And he was on out on the Lamb, or on the Lamb from then on.

Yeah.

Can you imagine that?

You know, first the.

The young lady rejects Camp, and then not too much longer, he's arrested because of his knowing her, the relationship with her.

That's.

That's just crazy.

He really.

That's really kicking a guy while he's down, you know, brokenhearted and, you know, and cuffs or whatever they did back then.

So she must have been a Harvard fan.

Yeah, it must be.

Must be.

Or Columbia or somebody.

Wow.

That.

I mean, that is a story that you don't hear much about.

You hear a lot about Walter Camp in history, but I think that's the first time I've ever heard that story is when I read your tidbit not too long ago, and that's pretty interesting.

Did you get that, like, through the newspaper, just an article in a paper?

Yeah, it was just one of those, like.

Like a lot of them.

I'm searching for one thing and happen to notice a headline, you know, next door in the newspaper, you know, in the columns.

It's like, walter Camp arrested for attempted murder.

Because, like, what.

It's got to be another Camp.

It can't be the same guy.

And I think I've read one or two books on him, and I still.

I don't remember that being in there.

I'm sure it was, but I.

You know, I've read like three books on him.

I don't remember that ever being said.

That'd be something you would be pretty memorable.

But hey, that's why you are the football archaeologist.

And you find these little stories that some about famous people that, you know, nobody really knows about, you know, 160 years later.

And that's what's great about the tidbits you have on footballarchaeology.com maybe you could tell us a little bit about the tidbits and how people can find them.

Yeah, just go to footballarchaeology.com it's a substack site newsletter so you can subscribe and then you'll get an email every, every time that I publish a tidbit.

Otherwise, you know, just visit whenever you want, bookmark it, you can watch or read it on the substack app or follow me on Blue sky because I post, you know, every time that I release when I post it on there too.

So whatever works for you.

All right, Tim.

Well, we really appreciate the, the great story, the great research on this most famous person in football, maybe the most famous person in early football anyway, and appreciate you coming on and sharing the story with us today.

Very good.

That's all the football history we have today, folks.

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