Bradbury Robinson
The St. Louis University quarterback who forever changed American football by throwing the sport's first legal forward pass in a 1906 game.
1884–1949 (age 65)·American football player and physician·Birthday: February 1·The Lost Generation
Biography
Bradbury Robinson's legacy is etched in a single, revolutionary play. A multi-sport athlete and pre-med student, he transferred to Saint Louis University in 1904, where he joined coach Eddie Cochems's innovative football program. The 1905 season had been so brutal that President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to ban the sport, prompting rule changes for 1906 that legalized the forward pass. Cochems, a tactical visionary, had been experimenting with the play in secret. On September 5, 1906, in a game against Carroll College, Robinson took the snap and launched a wobbly, incomplete pass to teammate Jack Schneider. Undeterred, he tried again later in the game, this time connecting with Schneider for a 20-yard touchdown—the first legal forward pass completion in football history. Robinson and the 1906 St. Louis team perfected the aerial attack, finishing undefeated and outscoring opponents 407–11. His life after football was equally consequential. He earned a medical degree, served as a U.S. Army doctor in both World Wars, championed public health and nutrition, and entered local politics in Wisconsin, embodying the ideal of the citizen-athlete-scholar.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Bradbury was born in 1884, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bradbury Was Born
The biggest hits of 1884
Bradbury's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1884Born
President: Chester A. Arthur
1889Started school
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1897Became a teenager
President: William McKinley
1900Could drive
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1902Could vote
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1905Turned 21
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1914Turned 30
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1924Turned 40
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1934Turned 50
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stars Fell on Alabama" — Jack TeagardenBest Picture: It Happened One Night
1944Turned 60
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1949Died at 65
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
Key Achievements
- Threw the first legal forward pass in American football history on September 5, 1906, for Saint Louis University.
- Quarterbacked the undefeated 1906 St. Louis University football team that pioneered the modern passing game.
- Earned a medical degree and served as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War I and a major in World War II.
- Served as the mayor of Spooner, Wisconsin, and was a proponent of conservation and public health initiatives.
Did You Know?
His first forward pass attempt in that historic game was incomplete, making the next successful one a moment of redemption.
Before focusing on football, he played baseball at the University of Wisconsin.
He was a personal friend of Wisconsin's progressive political family, Governor Robert M. La Follette and his wife Belle Case.
After his football career, he became a prominent physician and nutrition expert in Washburn County, Wisconsin.
“I threw it in a perfect spiral to Schneider downfield.”
