Hall of Fame
Position: Guard
Years: 1893-1896
Place of Birth: Magnolia, DE
Date of Birth: Jan 01, 1868
Place of Death: Dover, DE
Date of Death: Nov 15, 1949
Height: 6-3
Weight: 210
High School: Smyrna, DE (Smyrna HS)
Buck Wharton was the oversized guard on Pennsylvania's "unbalanced line" which carried the Quakers to national championships in 1894 and 1895. Wharton was a 6-3, 210- pound lineman who played opposite fellow Hall of Fame guard Charlie Gelbert, a 160-pound mighty mite. Together, the two destroyed opposing fronts, each displayed unusual quickness and agility. Buck Wharton was a blocking dynamo, often taking out entire sides of an enemy line in the style of an axe- swinging Paul Bunyan. The Quakers mounted a 34-game victory march which finally ended in a bitter 6-4 loss to Lafayette in 1896. During Buck Wharton's career at Penn, the Quakers won 52 of 56 games and the behemoth of a lineman twice garnered consensus All-America honors. Wharton received his degree from Penn then stayed on to acquire a medical degree in 1899. For the next 30 years, Buck Wharton continued his dedication to sports, serving as line coach at Penn as well as the school's director of field athletics. During World War I, Buck and Walter Camp joined forces to organize the Naval and Air Services physical fitness programs. Wharton also served as state senator in Delaware from 1914 to 1917.
