Chief Elkins

Fait Vernon "Chief" Elkins (August 16, 1899 – August 9, 1966) was an American football player and decathlete.

Chief Elkins

Elkins in 1928
Personal information
Born:	(1899-08-16)August 16, 1899 Utica, New York
Died:	August 10, 1966(1966-08-10) (aged 67) Philadelphia
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
Position:	Back
High school:	Haskell (KS)
College:	Haskell, Southeastern State Teachers (Durant, Oklahoma), Dallas University, Nebraska
Career history
Frankford Yellow Jackets (1928–1929) Chicago Cardinals (1929) Cincinnati Reds (1933)
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Elkins was born in Utica, New York, in 1899. He enrolled at the Haskell Indian School at age 15.^[1] He played college football at Haskell (1921–1923), Southeastern State Teachers College, Dallas University, and Nebraska (1926–1927).^[1][2] He held the national decathlon record in 1928 while attending Nebraska.^[3][4] He pulled a tendon that prevented him from competing in the 1928 Summer Olympics.^[1][5]

Elkins also played professional football the National Football League (NFL) as a back for the Frankford Yellow Jackets (1928–1929), Chicago Cardinals (1929), and Cincinnati Reds (1933). He appeared in 20 NFL games, 10 as a starter.^[6]

Elkins died in Philadelphia in 1966.^[6][7]

He was posthumously profiled by Sports Illustrated in 1991 as "among the greatest athletes ever seen in this country — a golden sportsman during sport's golden age."^[1]