{{Short description|American football player (1914–1986)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college football player | name = Pepper Constable | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | school = Princeton Tigers | pastschools = Princeton (1932–1935) | currentnumber = | currentposition = Back | position = | class = | major = | bowlgames = | highschool = Gilman School | birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|4|24}} | birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1986|8|13|1914|4|24}} | death_place = Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S. | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 1 | weight_lb = 189 | highlights = }}
'''William Pepper Constable Jr.''' (24 April 1914 – 13 August 1986) was an American football back.
Constable was born on April 24, 1914, in Baltimore. His father was a Maryland lawyer. He attended high school at Gilman School before playing college football at Princeton. He was the president of class from 1934 to 1935 and named football team captain in '35.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81161542/the-evening-sun/|newspaper=The Evening Sun|via=Newspapers.com|date=July 24, 1934|title=Gains Princeton Academic Honors}} {{Open Access}}</ref> During his three seasons of football, the Tigers lost only one game, and won two national championships. He would bet against his team before each game because he "firmly believed that the wager brings a victory to the Tiger and a loss to himself."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81161513/the-central-new-jersey-home-news/|newspaper=The Central New Jersey Home News|via=Newspapers.com|date=October 17, 1935|title=Scandal! Scandal! Princeton Captain Wagers On Rutgers}} {{Open Access}}</ref> Constable finished fourth in the 1935 Heisman Trophy voting<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1935.html|title=1935 Heisman Trophy Voting|website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com}}</ref> and was subsequently selected in the 1936 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1936 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1936/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/playerc/cons00150.html|website=www.profootballarchives.com|title=Pepper Constable Stats - Pro Football Archives}}</ref> Rather than pursue a career in the National Football League (NFL), where he was selected 64th overall, Constable pursued a medical career, earning a Doctor of Medicine from Harvard University. After serving in World War II as a lieutenant commander, he became the Princeton University chief of medicine.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81160898/the-baltimore-sun/|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|via=Newspapers.com|date=August 17, 1986|title=Dr. W. Pepper Constable dies at 72}} {{Open Access}}</ref> Constable died on August 13, 1986, in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He was 72 and died after drowning.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/17/obituaries/dr-w-pepper-constable-72-ex-official-of-jersey-hospital.html|title=Dr. W. Pepper Constable, 72, Ex-Official of Jersey Hospital|work=The New York Times |date=August 17, 1986|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{1933 Princeton Tigers football navbox}} {{1935 Princeton Tigers football navbox}} {{Eagles1936DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constable, Pepper}} Category:1914 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Princeton Tigers football players Category:Players of American football from Baltimore Category:Gilman School alumni Category:Harvard Medical School alumni Category:Deaths by drowning in Massachusetts Category:20th-century American sportsmen
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