Hall of Fame
Position: Center/Guard
Years: 1911-1913
Place of Birth: Englewood, NJ
Date of Birth: Jun 17, 1891
Place of Death: Seattle, WA
Date of Death: Nov 01, 1986
Height: 6-0
Weight: 175
High School: Englewood, NJ (Englewood HS)Lakeville, CT (Hotchkiss School)
They were years of change, socially and economically; years when football rule-makers were caught up in the rush to try something different. They were Hank Ketcham's years as an All-America lineman at Yale. Bareheaded Ketcham played center and guard in a fashion envied by the majority of his peers, for he was quick, powerful, alert and innovative. In 1911, he helped the Elis to a 7-2-1 mark. The following seasons, when a rules change increased the value of a touchdown to six points, reduced the field from 110 to 100 yards and added a fourth down to make 10 yards, Yale was making headlines with a 7-1-1 record. Then in 1913, Hank Ketcham captained the Elis squad. As captain, Hank tried something new, also. He appointed Howard Jones (Yale 1908) as the Eli's first salaried coach. Years later, Ketcham recalled his playing career: "I played every varsity game for three years and was taken out only once for a slight injury...I am generally credited with having developed the term 'roving center'. Except for today's platoon systems, football hasn't changed materially. We had the on-side kick, the ball was a bit larger in circumference and the drop kick was more popular than the place kick."
