Pfann, George R.
Football
b. Oct. 6, 1902, Marion, OH
d. Dec. 19, 1996
An All-American quarterback at Cornell in 1923, Pfann was short and chunky at 5-foot-9 and 172 pounds. In the single wing of his era, the quarterback was often called the blocking back, but he also had to carry the ball on plunges into the line and was sometimes used as a pass receiver.
In Pfann's three years as a starter, Cornell won all 24 of its games and scored 1,051 points against 81 for its opponents. The school's most important games were against Pennsylvania. In 1921, Pfann was featured as a blocker in front of Edgar Kaw, who scored 5 touchdowns in a 41-0 victory. Pennsylvania was watching for Kaw in 1922 and Pfann did most of the ground gaining as Cornell won, 9-0. Kaw graduated in 1923. Pfann, captaining the team that fall, caught a 30-yard pass for one touchdown and ran 5 yards for the other as Cornell again beat Penn, 14-7.
George Trevor of the New York Sun put Pfann on the all-time All-American team he selected in 1938.
Pfann studied law after graduating and then spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. He became U. S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and, during World War II, was on Gen. George S. Patton's staff. He coached football at Swarthmore from 1931 through 1935.