"Pioneering the Pigskin:" The Founders of Concordia Football
Football was first introduced to Concordia in 1909. Over the past century, Concordia’s football teams have won numerous championships, players and coaches have received high honors, and football has become a long-standing Concordia tradition.
In the early 1910s, students were learning football and playing informal games between groups on campus. The roughness of the game, however, created concern across the nation causing football to be banned at some fellow religious colleges such as Luther. Young Cobbers loved the game and supported its existence asserting that it was a necessary sport at Concordia. According to Carroll Englehardt, professor emeritus and author of Concordia’s centennial history On Firm Foundation Grounded, football “survived…for the same reasons it endured elsewhere; it was compatible with the collegiate goal of training and character.”
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Alfred M. “Pop” Sattre, the founder of Concordia athletics, formed Concordia’s first football team in 1916. Sattre also played an important role in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) serving as a charter member and Concordia’s athletic representative. In 1925, he was elected president of the association. The football program received an important break in 1917 when a petition to the faculty passed permitting the team to compete with other schools. Playing its games on a field located where Livedalen and Brown Halls now stand, the Concordia team experienced few victories that first year. Team morale and determination, however, remained strong.
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In December of 1920, Concordia joined the MIAC around which time Rudolph Lavik became the football coach. Two years later, the football team joined the ranks of Coach Fenwick Watkins. Watkins is known for boosting Concordia athletics and for recognizing the importance of scholarship and teamwork to athletic excellence. A biographical description in the 1926 Scout Yearbook states, “His [Watkins’] ability to develop material, whip rookies into shape, and instill fight into his teams has been a subject of much favorable comment.” To the regret of many, Coach Watkins retired in 1926 to devote more time to his real estate business in Fargo.
Frank Cleve replaced Watkins in 1926. In 1931, Cleve led the football team to its first MIAC championship—a feat that was rejoiced throughout campus. Many felt that the championship title proved Concordia’s athletic abilities and increased people’s awareness of the school. In 1934, the football team again won the MIAC championship under Cleve’s leadership.
Frank Cleve replaced Watkins in 1926. In 1931, Cleve led the football team to its first MIAC championship—a feat that was rejoiced throughout campus. Many felt that the championship title proved Concordia’s athletic abilities and increased people’s awareness of the school. In 1934, the football team again won the MIAC championship under Cleve’s leadership.
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Since the 1930’s, Concordia’s football teams have continued to excel. Coaching legends Jake Christiansen and Jim Christopherson led the Cobber gridders to a combined total of over 300 wins and more than 10 conference titles speckled with three national championships. In 1939, Alfred Sattre was asked what he thought was the best Cobber team for which he voted the 1931 conference champions. Seeing how football has evolved at Concordia would no doubt make “Pop” proud.
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1931 MIAC Champion Football Team
Back Row (left to right): Jay Smolley, Ernie Langseth, Richard Hausten, Goodwin Erickson, Ralph Miller, Arthur Dronen, Carroll Malvey, Olaf Fossum, Don Anderson, Elmer C. Rostedt, Ralph Ness, Harold Nohre, Maybourne Eid, Werner Brand
Front Row (left to right): Coach Benson, Oliver Everette, Walter Sogn, Hardean Bjerke, Robert Fritz, Cornell Otteson, Paul Figgenshaw, Basil Shipp, Lloyd Falgren, Herschel Lysaker, Donald Hilde, Clifford Nick, Theodore Renne, Earl Moran, Coach Cleve
Front Row (left to right): Coach Benson, Oliver Everette, Walter Sogn, Hardean Bjerke, Robert Fritz, Cornell Otteson, Paul Figgenshaw, Basil Shipp, Lloyd Falgren, Herschel Lysaker, Donald Hilde, Clifford Nick, Theodore Renne, Earl Moran, Coach Cleve
1934 MIAC Champion Football Team