Eddie Arsenault: A Superstar Before Our Generation

By Eddie Marotta

When Ed lugged the ball at Toledo last year

He smashed like a demon, and ran like a deer.

He was traveling so fast that he must surely now be

Where the Mountains of Moran sweep down to the sea.

-Ray W. Mulcahy

With a rich history of athletes circling in and out of small-town John Carroll University in

University Heights, OH, it may be easy to overlook some of the individuals that influenced the

greats. Don Shula, London Fletcher, Tom Arth… all names that resonate deep within the minds

of fans and alumni of John Carroll sports. Spoiled in their greatness, some may forget a pioneer

that paved the way for many of these athletes. Nearly 80 years after his graduation, it is time to

re-visit the historic career of John Carroll’s first superstar athlete: Eddie Arsenault.

Edward Arsenault was born April 21, 1915 in Waterville, Maine. The eldest son of David and

Regina Arsenault was one of six children (three brothers: Clarence, George and Freddy, along

with two sisters: Marie and Juliette). Growing up in Winslow, Maine during the 1930’s, the

Arsenault’s embodied what it meant to earn your worth.

An immigrant family from Quebec, Ontario, the Arsenault family moved to the United States to

start a family. In a largely lower-middle class area during the 1930’s, Edward Arsenault began

working on a farm early on so he could afford to go to school, something that was unheard of at

that time: “Very few people from [Eddie’s] area went to college. He personally worked on a
farm so he could afford to go to college, but he always exceled in sports. He went to college at

Colby College for one year, was recruited to play football for John Carroll,” said Arsenault’s

eldest daughter, Lynette Arsenault.

Arsenault’s athleticism lead him to play in multiple sports at Winslow High School, including

football, hockey, basketball, baseball, track and field, and pole vaulting. His success in these

sports lead him to Cleveland, where he would attend and graduate from John Carroll University.

Recruited by Frank Gaul, another Winslow High School graduate who earned a coaching

position at John Carroll after attending Notre Dame for four years, Arsenault came to Cleveland

to bring competition sports programs that were sub-par before his arrival. “Carroll was looking

for athletes and Arsenault exceled in different sports. He was also bilingual, and spoke English

and French,” echoed Lynette. When asked what ultimately lead to Arsenault choosing John

Carroll after a year at Colby College in Maine, Lynette responded, “He said he would only go if

Fred Rancourt came with him. They were buddies in grade school.”
Arsenault and Rancourt came to

John Carroll, and their impact was

immediately felt by the other

members of the Big Four (the

conference that John Carroll played

in, members included Toledo, Kent

State, Case Western Reserve, and

John Carroll.) In fact, the first time

Arsenault touched the ball at John

Carroll, he scored on a 65-yard

touchdown run.

Dubbed, “The Flying Frenchman,”

“The French-Canadian Express”

and “The Kennebec Express,” Arsenault burst onto the scene in University Heights. With other

team’s game planning to stop him and the high powered Blue Streak offense, Arsenault managed

to set nearly every rushing record at John Carroll during his tenure. In addition to being named

“Outstanding Football Player of the Year” in 1938 and “Outstanding Halfback of the Year” in

1939, the French Canadian Express also helped the Blue Streaks win the Ohio Conference

Championship in 1938. “The John Carroll University Blue Streaks football teams owed much of

their brilliance in the late 1930’s to Edward J. Arsenault, a small but powerful halfback,” claimed

one newspaper after Arsenault’s death in 1967. Even as headlines printed, “Arsenault? Don’t Let

Him Get Started, Is Case Plan” or stories about him playing 57 minutes in a game circled,

Arsenault’s greatest impact in Blue Streak sports still may not have been on the football field.
 “When I took off my [football] helmet, I put on my [ice] skates.”

The Flying Frenchman is not only one of the best rushers in John Carroll history, but he is,

perhaps, one of its most storied hockey players as well. “A native of Maine, where is gets cold

and stays cold, Arsenault was far and away the best hockey player in the Big Four last winter,”

proclaimed Gordon Cobbledick. First learning how to skate on the river in his backyard in

Maine, Arsenault brought energy and leadership to the Blue Streaks. With Arsenault co-

captaining the John Carroll hockey team alongside Rancourt, the French Canadian was able to

win three Big Four Championships in four years, set nearly every school scoring record and lead

the team to a perfect 15-0 record in his senior season. In his final game, Arsenault scored seven

times to defeat Carnegie Tech.

After his graduation from John Carroll in 1940, Arsenault

stayed in Ohio, and adopted Cleveland as his hometown.

Laying down roots in Ohio, Arsenault went on to marry Lois

Quayle and have two daughters, Lynette and Janis. Following

a short stint with the Cleveland Barons hockey club and a job

at Thompson Products, the Flying Frenchman’s John Carroll

connection re-surfaced. Jack Spilino, a colleague that

graduated from JCU as well, approached Arsenault with an

offer to manage General Tire in Cleveland, and Arsenault

couldn’t refuse. Arsenault stayed involved with sports after college, as well, explained his

daughter, “He would always go to the stadium and hand out the game ball. When he did this, he

became friends with Chuck Heaton, Al Sutton, Lou Groza, and Dan Ryan.”
Chuck Heaton, a John Carroll alumni and former writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, was

never short for words when it came to Arsenault. “The late Eddie Arsenault, for instance, was

one of the finest natural athletes I’ve known. A superb broken field runner in football, he also

probably could have won a spot in professional hockey if he continued in that sport,” wrote

Heaton in an article in 1972. In the article, Heaton actually discusses his awe over Arsenault

before his admiration for another John Carroll graduate, Don Shula.

Arsenault passed away at the age of 52 following a heart attack. The year of his death, he was

inducted into the John Carroll Sports Hall of Fame. Information of this was leaked to him before

his death, so he was aware that he would have received this award for his accomplishments with

the Blue and Gold. Arsenault was also inducted into the state of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in

1993. With so many fantastic athletes to look back on in John Carroll history, it is time to revisit

the storied career of the New Englander that started it all.

“Eddie Arsenault, French-Canadian from Maine, is one of the greatest running halfbacks

ever to play for a Cleveland college. He’s Cleveland’s best collegiate hockey player.”
 References

Arsenault, Lynette M. Personal Interview. 10 April 2017.

Cobbledick, Gordon. “Conley Attributes Arsenault’s Spectacular Rise to Success as Hockey

Player” The Plain Dealer [Cleveland] November 1938. Print.

Heaton, Chuck. “Hall of Fame! Who, Me?” The Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 1972. Print.

LaVerdiere, Clayt. “Arsenault made his mark in Cleveland” Morning Sentinel [Maine] 27 June

1992. Print.

McAuley, Ed. “Eddie Arsenault- and Those 57 Minutes” The Cleveland Press 1938. Print.

Mulcahy, Ray W. “8 Schools Represented on Catholic College All-America” The Cleveland

Press 8 Dec. 1939. Print.

Newborn, Isi. “Arsenault? Don’t Let Him Get Started, Is Case Plan” The Cleveland Press 1939.

Print.

Author Unknown. “Edward J. Arsenault” Morning Sentinel [Maine] 1967. Print.