Edmund R. Gilmartin (1977) - Hall of Fame - Brown University Athletics

Edmund R. Gilmartin

Induction:
1977
Class:
1933

Edmund Russell Gilmartin '33
Hometown: Warwick, RI
Sport: Football
Year Inducted: 1977

Edmund Russell Gilmartin '33 was one of the backfield stars on the Cinderella football team of 1932, a team that met and defeated previously undefeated opponents through the first seven games before losing to Colgate on Thanksgiving morning before a crowd of 32,000 at Brown Stadium. A halfback on that team, the 5-11, 177-pound Gilmartin was a superb passer. He could fire the football like a bullet, a result, perhaps, of his exploits on the baseball field. The former LaSalle Academy and Moses Brown star was also a dangerous runner with good speed and exceptional cutting ability. He had his greatest day lugging the football in Brown's crucial 14-0 victory over Harvard near the end of the 1932 season. The Crimson overshifted to stop Brown's power attack to the right and Coach Tuss McLaughry had Gilmartin sweeping to the short side on reverses that accounted for better than 100 yards of Harvard's fair turf. "Ed was a smart, heady player," says Bill Gilbane '33, captain of the 1932 team. "He was also ahead of his time as a passer, and he gave our club that extra dimension that helped us become one of the nations top-rated elevens that year." After his playing days were over, Ed Gilmartin enjoyed a long career as a football official. He is a past president of the Rhode Island Football Officials Association and a member of the Providence Gridiron Club Hall of Fame. A resident of Warwick, R.I., Ed Gilmartin is a retired assistant manager of General Motors Acceptance Corp., Providence.