COLUMBUS — Gaylord Roscoe “Pete” Stinchcomb was small even by the standards of his day, more than 100 years ago. But his footspeed, quickness and agility more than made up for his lack of size whenever he stepped on a football field.
Stinchcomb did just that for the first time at Fostoria High School.
Fostoria star
Born in Sycamore, in Seneca County, Pete was the son of James Stinchcomb, a road and bridge contractor.
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound youngster attended Fostoria High School, where he joined a powerhouse program. The Redmen won state championships in 1902, 1906, 1907, 1910, 1911 and 1912.
The 1912 team was declared national champions after defeating Buffalo Central High, the champion of New York State, 74-0, on Thanksgiving Day. The Redmen outscored their opponents 596-0 and went 8-0 that year. That club still has a claim as perhaps the greatest squad in Ohio history.
Even in that storied environment, Stinchcomb fashioned a legendary career — Stinchomb Drive in Fostoria is named for him.
As a junior in 1914, the Redmen were selected football champions of Michigan and Ohio by defeating Ann Arbor 25-0 on Thanksgiving Day. Fostoria beat Tiffin 112-3 on its way to scoring 548 points for the season.
In Pete’s senior campaign of 1915, Fostoria stopped Wellston 13-7 for the state championship on Thanksgiving Day. Stinchcomb was selected an All-Ohio halfback after that season.
He was also an elite track athlete. As a high school junior at the 1915 state track meet, Stinchcomb competed in the finals of the 220-yard dash, and finished third behind Locke of East Cleveland Shaw, who busted the tape at 23.1 seconds. The runner-up in that race, just ahead of Stinchcomb, was a Columbus East blur named Chic Harley.
Stinchcomb would follow Harley in many ways over the next several years.
As a senior in high school, Pete won a state track title in the broad jump at 21 feet, 3 inches.
He then cast his lot with Ohio State and starred on the 1916 freshman team while Harley was leading the varsity Buckeyes to a 7-0 record and their first Big Ten championship.
On to Ohio State
The following year, 1917, Stinchcomb joined Harley in a dream backfield.
“Harley and his teammate, Stinchcomb, of Ohio State, outstepped their rivals and made the greatest pair of backs ever seen in the Western Conference,” the Fort Wayne Sentinel noted.
The 1917 Buckeyes went 8-0-1, a scoreless tie at Auburn marring an otherwise perfect campaign, and racked up yet another Big Ten championship under coach John Wilce by outscoring opponents 292-6. Harley was an All-American, his second straight selection, while Stinchcomb earned all-conference honors.
Both Harley and Stinchcomb joined the military as the U.S. entered World War I, and missed the 1918 season. Pete played football while in the Navy, and the Des Moines Daily News described him as “the star line-plunger on the Cleveland Naval Reserve 11.”
Both Stinchcomb and Harley returned in 1919, and again Ohio State was a force. The Buckeyes finished 6-1, losing only their final game 9-7 on Bob Fletcher’s 26-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining to lift Illinois to a stunning victory.
That loss cost the Buckeyes another Big Ten crown, although they did outscore their foes 176-12 for the season, and collected their first win over Michigan in a 13-3 verdict at Ann Arbor. Like Harley, Stinchcomb was a consensus All-American.
In 1920, with Harley gone, Pete took center stage as a senior. He was spectacular, earning All-America honors and pushing the Buckeyes to a 7-0 regular-season record, including the first home win over Michigan, a 14-7 decision. The Buckeyes outscored their opponents 150-20 during the regular season.
Ohio State also qualified for its first Rose Bowl trip, which took place on Jan. 1, 1921 in Pasadena, and resulted in a 28-0 loss to California.
In its game story, the Decatur Herald said left halfback Stinchcomb “did everything expected of him and more, but the California defense, which had been perfected to stop him, was impassable and although Stinchcomb gained probably more yardage than any other player today, his work demonstrated that one man cannot win from a trained varsity.”
Pete also earned letters in basketball and track. He won the NCAA national championship in the broad jump with a leap of 23 feet, 3 1/2 inches.
Playing in the NFL
According to the Staley Museum in Illinois, Pete signed with George Halas in Chicago on Aug. 15 to play for the Decatur Staleys. However, Stinchcomb was late arriving in Decatur at the start of the season due to his marriage to Anne Jane Summers of Columbus on Sept. 20, 1921.
So, he only played in 11 of the 12 games that year at both quarterback and halfback. He scored four touchdowns that season, including bolts of 50 and 11 yards to beat Jim Thorpe’s Cleveland Tigers at Cubs Park on Nov. 20. Pete struck again with a 45-yard TD dash in a victory against Curly Lambeau and the Packers the following Sunday in Green Bay.
The 1921 Staleys were NFL champions.
In 1922, Stinchcomb followed Halas to the Chicago Bears where he played in all 12 games, scored three TDs on offense and saw action on defense, too. The Bears were league runners-up in the 1922 NFL standings.
Pete earned first-team All-Pro honors in 1921 and 1922 and was second-team All-Pro in 1923.
He became a football gypsy after that, a fairly common theme at the time. Stinchcomb appeared in seven NFL games for the Columbus Tigers and one contest for the Cleveland Indians.
After playing some independent league football and amateur basketball, he played in at least three NFL games in 1926 for the Louisville Colonels. Pete lost his last pro game against Halas and the Bears on Nov. 7, 1926 at the now-named Wrigley Field.
Stinchcomb’s pro career far eclipsed Harley’s exploits, as the latter battled mental illness upon leaving Ohio State and never made a dent in the NFL.
A businessman
Meanwhile, Stinchcomb, no doubt under his father’s influence, began working in construction and sales. On Aug. 17, 1922 he got the contract to lay out the new gridiron at the newly built Ohio Stadium.
Today “Stinchcomb Drive” is located to the north of “Harley Drive” in the “University Village” area of Columbus. In 1935, Pete also served briefly as a backfield assistant coach at Ohio State under head coach Francis Schmidt.
In the 1950s, Stinchcomb was owner and president of Rae Columbus, Inc. Later he moved to Findlay and served as president of Linworth Homes and of the Eagle Creek Utility Company.
He passed away at Blanchard Valley Hospital at age 78 on Aug. 24, 1973 after a brief illness.
His Hall of Fame biography explains that, “Although a lightweight at 165 pounds, Stinchcomb was a halfback blitz, quick and shifty as he made his way through enemy defenses.” “G.R. Pete Stinchcomb” now rests at Union Cemetery in Columbus.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Ohio State Hall of Fame in 1978.
Pete had just been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, but died before his induction ceremony.
He is buried at Union Cemetery in Columbus, not far from Woody Hayes’ gravesite.