ELKINS – When you look at Elkins High School football in the 1930s, one name, and one name alone, stands above the rest – Marshall “Biggie” Goldberg.

“Biggie” was Elkins’ favorite son who turned out to be a college and NFL superstar, a legend, an idol, a small town sports hero and a sensational performer who stands alone in athletic accomplishment and lore. Phrases like “the best ever” or “there are no comparisons” are often used to describe the greatest player in Tiger football history.

Legendary coach Frank Wimer ranked him as being the “greatest” he ever saw. And when you take into consideration the outstanding players Wimer coached and watched in nearly 60 years of being around Elkins football, that, to say the least, is some very high praise.

What’s in a nickname? During his teenage years he was small in football terms, weighing only 110 pounds as a sophomore. It was around that time he was dubbed “Biggie” by his friends. The nickname though, wasn’t just about his lack of size. It was due in part because he showed a tenacity and ability to compete with the older and bigger players on a consistent basis. And compete he did.

The unyielding and relentless Goldberg starred for Elkins from 1932-1934. As a prep schoolboy there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. He had a “dream” career for a high school athlete, winning All-State honors in football, basketball and track at EHS.

As the Tiger football captain in 1934 he led EHS to a 6-3 record and earned 1st Team All-State kudos. That year he scored 17 touchdowns, a mark still good enough to rank him tied for 5th on the single season touchdowns scored list.

His high school accomplishments aside, it was what he did afterward that staked his claim to Tiger Football Royalty.

In 1935 he arrived on The University of Pittsburgh campus and it didn’t take long for him to star for Jock Sutherland’s Panthers. His greatness was evident from the start, when in his very first collegiate game he rushed for 203 yards versus Ohio Wesleyan.

While at Pitt he helped lead the Panthers to a 25-3-2 record from 1936-1938, was part of two National Championship teams (1936-1937) and twice finished in the top five of the Heisman Trophy vote (he was runner-up in 1938 to Davey O’Brien of TCU fame).

After the 1936 season Pitt was selected to play in the Rose Bowl. After Goldberg and his teammates were given no chance to win, he helped Pitt to a 21-0 upset victory over the Washington Huskies.

He said of the game, “They said we (Pitt) were a bum of a choice to play in the Rose Bowl. Today, we showed them how a bum plays!”

During his All-American career he rushed for 1,957 yards and held all the school rushing records until future NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett came along and broke them in 1974. Goldberg’s number 42 was retired by Pitt in 1997, and is one of just nine jerseys to be retired by the school.

After college, the two-time All-American headed to the National Football League, where he played for the Chicago Cardinals from 1939-1943 and then again from 1946-1948. His absence from football, like many professional athletes of that era, was due to his military service as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II.

In 1941 he experienced his greatest season as a pro when he was named to the Pro Bowl after he led the NFL in interceptions (7) and all-purpose yards (1,182). Following the 1947 campaign he was named 1st Team All-Pro after helping to lead the Cardinals to an NFL championship, the only title in club history. His interception in the championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles helped to seal the win. His number 99 was retired by the Cardinals organization and placed in the Cardinals ring of honor.

Goldberg’s post-playing day accolades are numerous, and include membership into 14 different Hall of Fames, including induction into the College Football and the West Virginia Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He’s twice been named a Senior Finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1979 and 2007) and was selected by Sports Illustrated to their College Football All-Decade Team of the 1930’s.

Named a West Virginia Centennial All-Time Sports Great in 1963, Goldberg took his place among the greatest in Randolph County history when he was selected to the charter class of the Randolph County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Life after football was just as productive for Goldberg. After a turn selling insurance, he became an ultra-successful business man in the machine parts industry. Never leaving the Chicago area when his career was finished, he was always quick to call Elkins home. With a constant pride in his hometown, he found the time to keep in touch with past teammates and his old coach, Frank Wimer. He would visit Elkins on occasion and for many years gave away a scholarship to a graduating senior that bore his name. Today some of his personal items can be seen in a display case at the Elkins/Randolph County YMCA.

His shadow was always present for any Elkins football player that attended the old High School on Davis Avenue. A near life-size photo of Goldberg hung just inside the main entrance of the building, keeping alive the legacy of a player that grew in stature as the years wore on, and served as a constant reminder of a small town sports hero.

When the new school was built in its current location the picture disappeared and was never seen again, lost over time like so many things we’ve had and cherished. Even though the photo is gone, and the man himself has since passed away, we still have the memories and stories that have been handed down over time, of the greatest and most fabled Tiger player ever, an individual with a legacy that is inescapable, and a legend never to be forgotten.