Sport: Football
Born: August 26, 1894
Died: April 5, 1978
Town: Asbury Park, New Jersey
Harold Joseph Rockafeller Jr. was born August 26, 1894 in Asbury Park, NJ. Quick and rugged, Harry was a standout athlete at Asbury Park High, excelling in football, basketball and track in the early ’teens. Harry and his brother Jack were terrors on the gridiron. Jack went to Penn and Harry became a star football player for Rutgers, bookending with Paul Robeson on the defensive line and earning All-America honorable mention in 1915. When the two players graduated, they were hailed as the greatest gridders in Queensmen history.
After serving in the army during World War I and working for US Rubber in New Brunswick, Harry followed the path of many star athletes and returned to his alma to coach in the mid-1920s.
In 1927, Rutgers made Harry head coach of the football team. He flourished in this position, going 19–16 without a ton of talent. However, he preferred running all of the school’s sports programs, not just football. Rutgers honored his request to become Graduate Manager of Athletics in 1931. He continued to coach the “150-pound” teams—the rough equivalent of a JV—and led them to three straight unbeaten seasons.
Known on campus as “Rocky,” Harry was a popular figure. When football coach Harvey Harman was drafted during World War II, he returned to the sidelines for four years and coach the team to a conference title in 1945.
From 1952 to 1961, Harry served as Athletic Director at Rutgers, retiring at the age of 66. By then he was known as “Mr. Rutgers.” In 1970, he was inducted into the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame. He also served as Mayor of Piscataway and headed Rutgers’ fundraising efforts. Harry passed away in 1978 at the age of 84.