Frank (Tiger) Walton was one of the best
football players in Pitt history, but tragically did not live to see
how capably his son,
Joe, followed in his footsteps. The elder
Watson died of cancer in 1953, the year Joe began his
highly successful grid career at the University of Pittsburgh. Frank earned All WPIAL
honors at Beaver Falls High School three times as a tackle, and
played with the 1928 Tiger gridders when they won their first WPIAL
title. At Pitt, he was a starting tackle for three years in the Jock
Sutherland era and played in the first College All Star Game in
1933. Frank began his pro football career with the Boston
Redskins, who later moved to Washington DC. Then he was head football
coach at Beaver Falls High from 1935 to 1940, and he and
Cal Hubbard
were co-coaches of the Geneva College football team in 1942. Frank
returned to the Redskins as a player and assistant coach from 1944
to 1946 and after that served as assistant football coach at
Colgate and at West Virginia University. He also coached the
Richmond Rebels semipro gridders. Thus the two Waltons both played
for Beaver Falls and Pitt and played and coached for the Redskins,
and they had the distinction of being the first father-son duo
inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame.
Frank (Tiger) Walton was one of the best
football players in Pitt history, but tragically did not live to see
how capably his son,