| Alabama Crimson Tide | |
|---|---|
| Position | End |
| Class | Graduate |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 7, 1893 Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Died: | January 2, 1938 (aged 44) Missouri |
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | Alabama (1911–1913) |
| High school | Tuscaloosa |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Coleman Hargrove Van de Graaff (September 7, 1893 – January 2, 1938) was a college football player. He was an advocate for an airport in Tuscaloosa.[1]
Hargrove was born on September 7, 1893, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Circuit Judge Adrian Sebastain Van de Graaff Sr. and Minnie Cherokee Jemison Van de Graaff.[2]
He helped organize sports at Tuscaloosa High School with football, baseball, and track.[3]
Hargrove was an All-Southern end for the Alabama Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama.[4] His brothers Adrian and William also played for Alabama. William, known as "Bully," was Alabama's first All-American. Hargrove was the smallest of the three.[5] Hargrove also played baseball and lettered in track. Robert J. Van de Graaff, the inventor of the Van de Graaff generator which produces high voltages, was another brother.
Following a hard-fought scoreless tie with Georgia Tech in 1911, coach John Heisman declared that he had never seen a player "so thoroughly imbued with the true spirit of football as Hargrove Van de Graaff."[2][5] In a game in 1913 against Tennessee, Hargrove nearly lost an ear and tried to rip it off to avoid leaving the game.[5][6][7]
After graduation, Hargrove followed Adrian into the military.[2] He served in Mexico and in France in the First World War. Hargrove came back with the Croix de Guerre.[5]