DeWitt, John R.
Football
b. Oct. 29, 1881, Phillipsburg, NJ
d. July 28, 1930
A 6-foot-2, 198-pound lineman at Princeton, DeWitt once warned an opponent at the beginning of a game, "There are two ways to play me: Stay out of my way or get hurt." He became a starting tackle as a sophomore in 1901. He was also the team's kicker and often ran with the ball from kick formation. DeWitt's 50-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes beat Lafayette that season.
In 1902, he moved to guard and he drop-kicked field goals of 45 and 50 yards that season. DeWitt became team captain in 1903. Princeton won its first ten games without giving up a point and then faced Yale in the final game of the season. Yale, also undefeated, was strongly favored, but DeWitt ran more than 50 yards with a blocked kick to score a touchdown, kicked the conversion, and added a 43-yard field goal in Princeton's 11-6 victory.
An All-American in 1902 and 1903, DeWitt was also an outstanding weight man on the track team. He won the IC4A hammer throw championship four years in a row, 1901 through 1904, and won a silver medal in the event at the 1904 Olympics. His throw of 164 feet, 10 inches in 1902 was the world record for twenty years.