Wabash College Athletics

Milstead came to Wabash in the fall of 1920 from Rock Island, Illinois. A tough, hard-nosed athlete, he was an All-State football selection in Illinois. A giant of a man, Milstead brought his 6'4", 230-pound body to Wabash and is remembered as one of the fiercest defensive tackles of the era nation­wide. As a rookie on Coach Pete Vaughan's 1920 team, Milstead was named honorable mention All-American and was named an Indiana collegiate All-Star the next season. In 1921, Wabash beat DePauw 22-0, prompting Ted Ogden, DePauw's center, to remark: "Milstead stopped three and four men at a time." In 1922, Milstead left Wabash for the East, where football's popularity gained momentum. A graduate of Yale, Milstead was named All-American and was later inducted into Yale's Athletic Hall of Fame. He played professional football for the New York Giants, where he switched to offense and opened holes for the likes of Jim Torpe. He later coached at Yale and as a member of the Lambert Trophy Committee and the Touchdown Club of New York. In 1977, Milstead became Wabash's first ever inductee to the National College Football Hall of Fame.