1897 Montana State football, with Reno Sales top middle (third from right) and Will Flaherty (second from left, second row)
BOBCATS 125: Will Flaherty
5/1/2022 4:05:00 PM | Football
Football took root at Montana State for many reasons, but the school's ability to play games began with a literal band of brothers
Will Flaherty, FB, 1897-1901
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team
HONORS: None available to earn
A CLOSER LOOK: It's hard to get a firm grip on Will Flaherty's career, for several reasons. He was part of Montana State's first seven football teams, as a student until he graduated in 1903 and that fall as a rancher who would come from the family ranch near Whitehall to bolster the Bobcats after the turn of the century. There were no real statistics kept at the time, other than (sometimes) scores. Rosters didn't really exist, there were no concrete eligibility rules, schedules changed mid-season, Montana State occasionally changed home fields mid-year. College football was nothing like the proposition it is today. Flaherty was a successful rancher after his days playing football for the Bobcats, returning to campus often from his ranch near Willow Creek. People of a certain age will know him as the father of Marje Paisley, a Bobcat legend herself who was a beloved Montana State professor administrator for many decades. His brothers Dick and Charley were also mainstays in the MSAC lineup, and with the Jeffers brothers – Clarence and Clifford – those sets of siblings comprised nearly half the squad for a few seasons. The Flahertys could flat play, and Will was widely regarded as the best of the bunch.
FROM THE EXPONENT: "Although he was a "Jack-of-all-Trades" his greatest ability was, the backfield. He is the oldest man to be chosen on the mythical eleven, having played on the 1901 aggregation. Professor Brewer ranks him as the outstanding fullback of that time."
OF NOTE: Will was widely regarded as Montana State's best player in the program's first few seasons, but Richard, Charles and George also moved to Bozeman from the family ranch near Whitehall and joined the campus revelry.
ALL-TIME TEAM: 1933 Exponent 1st Team
HONORS: None available to earn
A CLOSER LOOK: It's hard to get a firm grip on Will Flaherty's career, for several reasons. He was part of Montana State's first seven football teams, as a student until he graduated in 1903 and that fall as a rancher who would come from the family ranch near Whitehall to bolster the Bobcats after the turn of the century. There were no real statistics kept at the time, other than (sometimes) scores. Rosters didn't really exist, there were no concrete eligibility rules, schedules changed mid-season, Montana State occasionally changed home fields mid-year. College football was nothing like the proposition it is today. Flaherty was a successful rancher after his days playing football for the Bobcats, returning to campus often from his ranch near Willow Creek. People of a certain age will know him as the father of Marje Paisley, a Bobcat legend herself who was a beloved Montana State professor administrator for many decades. His brothers Dick and Charley were also mainstays in the MSAC lineup, and with the Jeffers brothers – Clarence and Clifford – those sets of siblings comprised nearly half the squad for a few seasons. The Flahertys could flat play, and Will was widely regarded as the best of the bunch.
FROM THE EXPONENT: "Although he was a "Jack-of-all-Trades" his greatest ability was, the backfield. He is the oldest man to be chosen on the mythical eleven, having played on the 1901 aggregation. Professor Brewer ranks him as the outstanding fullback of that time."
OF NOTE: Will was widely regarded as Montana State's best player in the program's first few seasons, but Richard, Charles and George also moved to Bozeman from the family ranch near Whitehall and joined the campus revelry.
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