20 Facts About Ben Crosby

Ben Crosby was a two-year starter on the football team and a backup on the crew team.

Ben Crosby was invited in 1892 to serve as head coach of the United States Naval Academy football program.

Ben Crosby received commendation for the victory, including a gift of a personalized trophy.

Ben Crosby graduated from the school in 1888, and the following year, he began classes at Yale University.

Ben Crosby was popular while at Yale, and was a member of both Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and the secret undergraduate society Skull and Bones.

Ben Crosby joined the university's crew team as a substitute the following year, and was described by classmates as being "quite prominent in athletics".

Ben Crosby remained popular through his senior year at the university, and he was one of three graduates presented with a class award.

In October 1892, shortly after he began attending New York Law School, Crosby was invited by former Yale coach Walter Camp to live in Annapolis, Maryland to serve as the coach for the United States Naval Academy football team; the program was acting in response to the appointment of Crosby's former teammate, Henry L Williams, as coach for the Army team.

Ben Crosby accepted the invitation, and became the second head coach in Navy history and the first who was independent of the program.

Shortly before the season began, Ben Crosby hired former St John's College, Johns Hopkins, and Lehigh player Paul Dashiell to serve as his assistant coach.

Ben Crosby's team played their next game three days later, against the Princeton Tigers.

Ben Crosby caught the attention of the press with his scheduling of more frequent practices leading up to the game, including night practices on a lighted field.

Ben Crosby closed all press and fan access to the practices, an unusual action at the time, because Navy officials claimed that Army had learned their plays the prior year by observing the practices.

Ben Crosby attended classes only for a brief time, because a serious illness he had contracted in Annapolis continued to worsen.

Ben Crosby was taken to St Luke's Hospital, where his condition progressively worsened over the following ten days.

Ben Crosby died on December 29,1892, at the age of 24.

Ben Crosby has the third-fewest losses among Navy coaches, while his.

Ben Crosby has been largely forgotten outside of Navy football history.

The most significant impact that Ben Crosby had with Navy was through his hiring of Dashiell.

Ben Crosby later became one of the longest-serving members of the college football Rules Committee, helping to legalize the forward pass and ban the flying wedge, among other things.