View source for Charles Zeitler

{{Navbuttons}}'''Charles W. Zeitler''' (August 1871—1903) was an [[American football]] player from [[South Bend, Indiana]].  Zeitler holds the distinction of being the first [[quarterback]] for the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|University of Notre Dame]] to win four games—a mark that would not be surpassed until [[Angus Daniel McDonald|Angus McDonald]] led the team to six victories in 1899.

Zeitler was born to a family of [[Bavaria]]n immigrants in [[Clay Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana|Clay Township]], just north of [[South Bend, Indiana]].  His father, John V. Zeitler, was a very wealthy landowner and farmer who had held local office as a trustee and assessor.

Joining the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame football team]] in 1893 at a time when the program had just begun to schedule major opponents in earnest, Zeitler made the most of the opportunity, beginning the season 4-0 with victories over [[Kalamazoo College|Kalamazoo]], [[Albion College|Albion]], DeLasalle and [[Hillsdale College|Hillsdale]], before finally falling 0-8 to [[Chicago Maroons football|Chicago]] in a road game on [[New Year's Day]].  The following season, Zeitler moved to the right end position, yielding the quarterback job to [[Nicholas Dinkel]].

Zeitler returned to his homestead after graduation, where, sadly, in 1903 he succumbed to an attack of [[Typhoid fever]].  He is buried in the South Bend City Cemetery.

==References==
* Steele, Michael R. ''The Fighting Irish Football Encyclopedia.'' Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing LLC (1996).
* ''Pictorial and Biographical Memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties, Indiana.'' Chicago: Goodspeed Bros. Publishers (1893)

{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback navbox}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Zeitler, Charles
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American football quarterback
| DATE OF BIRTH     = 1871
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
| DATE OF DEATH     = 1903
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitler, Charles}}


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[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players]]
[[Category:1903 deaths]]