Knapp capitalized on athletic chances

Jerry Knapp was such a talented, all-around athlete that his coaches marveled at the variety of disciplines that he mastered.

This was especially apparent in track and field, where Knapp's best event likely was the high jump, but he also excelled in the broad (long) jump, high hurdles and shot put. The former Watertown High School standout impressed so often that coaches pegged him for an eventual Olympic decathlete, who would follow the tradition of two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Bob Mathias in the 1956 Summer Olympics.

That scenario never panned out for Knapp. He endured shoulder injuries while competing as a receiver for the Cornell University football team, cutting short his Olympic bid.

Knapp began competing in football, basketball and track for WHS. He took first place in the high jump in the state Intersectional meet, which included the majority of the state's sections, in 1952. The following fall he was named an end on the All-Upstate New York Scholastic team after a stellar football season.

After three years of competition at WHS, Knapp moved on to Blair Academy in Blairtown, N.J., where his talents drew notice. He was named to the All-New Jersey football team in the fall of 1953. Then, in the Spiked Shoe club track meet, a national indoor meet in Philadelphia, Knapp broke marks in the high jump and shot put and tied another in the high hurdles. This was after Knapp took a title in a national prep school indoor meet at Madison Square Garden.

Knapp's performances prompted his coach at Blair, Jim Pender, to tell the Times, "I'll bet right now that he'll be the Olympic champion in 1956."

By 1956, Knapp was a football player and track athlete at Cornell University. As a freshman, he caught five passes for 116 yards and led the team in touchdown receptions.

But the next fall, Knapp suffered a shoulder dislocation. Then, during a scrimmage the following year, he suffered the same injury and Knapp was forced to quit the team rather than risk a life-long injury. Knapp remained captain of the football team despite being unable to play.

He also continued competing on the track team and took first place in the high jump in the Empire Games, a two-day meet in Dublin, Ireland.

Knapp married, had four children and worked in business for years. An avid hunter and sportsman, he later opened a sportsmen's shop in Clayton, winning acclaim as duck decoy carver, winning several national carving contests.

Knapp died at age 61 in 1996.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All-Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com