Hall of Fame
Position: Guard
Years: 1901-1903
Place of Birth: Phillipsburg, NJ
Date of Birth: Oct 29, 1881
Place of Death: New York, NY
Date of Death: Jul 28, 1930
Height: 6-1
Weight: 198
High School: Lawrenceville, NJ (Lawrenceville Prep)
Things were not looking good for the Princeton Tigers in their annual battle with Yale. Their 10-game winning streak was in jeopardy when the Bulldogs scored the first points of the season against the Tigers. The Elis were about to increase their 6-0 lead as Ledyard Mitchell set to drop-kick a field goal. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, came the rush of John De Witt. He caught the ball in mid-air and raced 70 yards for a Tiger touchdown, then kicked the conversion point that tied the game at 6-6. Late in the contest, De Witt struck again, this time on a 53-yard field goal which provided the winning points in an 11-6 Princeton victory. Princeton finished the season at 11-0-0 and won the national championship, due largely to the efforts of this drop-kick specialist. But De Witt was more than a kicking machine. He was a relentless blocker and tackler, a strongman whose ferocity struck fear into the hearts of many an enemy lineman. An All-America selection in 1902 and 1903, De Witt had brought a definite brilliance to the forward wall on those great teams of coach "Doc" Hillebrand. During De Witt's three varsity seasons, the Tigers were 28-2-1. Yale, with triumphs of 12-5 and 12-0, was the only team to beat the Tigers.
