Oliphant, Elmer Q.
Football
b. July 9, 1892, Bloomfield, IN
d. July 3, 1975
Short but solidly built at 5-foot-7 and 174 pounds, Oliphant developed strength and toughness by working as a coal miner during his summer vacations after entering Purdue in 1910. An end as a freshman, he was a starting halfback for his final three seasons at the school and distinguished himself as a runner and kicker.
Oliphant was named to the 1914 Helms Athletic Foundation basketball All-American team as a guard, and he also won letters in baseball and track, often competing in a track event between innings of a baseball game. He scored 43 points against Rose Polytech on Nov. 17, 1912, which is still the Purdue record.
After graduating in 1914, Oliphant was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Eligibility rules at that time allowed him to continue in sports. He played little in his first year, though he had an outstanding game against Maine, running for three touchdowns, two of them on 70-yard runs, and passing for a fourth touchdown.
In 1915, Oliphant scored all of Army's points in a 10-0 win over Georgetown and a 14-0 win over Navy. He was an All-American the following season, when he set Army records by scoring six touchdowns and and 45 points against Villanova.
Because of World War I, Walter Camp didn't name an All-American team in 1917, Oliphant's final season. If he had, Oliphant undoubtedly would have made it, for he had 125 points in only eight games that season.
Oliphant also won letters in baseball, basketball, and track. As a junior, he gave up basketball for ice hockey and became the only Army athlete in history to win letters in five different sports.
In 1920 and 1921, while serving at West Point, he played some professional football with the Buffalo All-Americans, and he coached Army's track team for two seasons. After leaving the Army in 1922, he was athletic director at Union College in Schenectady, NY, for a year before entering the insurance business.