Leonard Louis Charpier (February 17, 1897 – October 3, 1947) was an American football player. He was sometimes known by the nickname "Tank" and was "rated as one of the hardest hitting fullbacks who ever donned a moleskin."[1]
Charpier was born in 1897 in Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois where he played freshman football as a guard in 1915 and varsity football, again as a guard, in 1916. He was selected by Walter Eckersall on the 1916 all-conference team.[2] In 1917, he played at the fullback position for Illinois.[3]The Daily Illini noted at the time: "Being almost as broad as he is tall he is rather hard to tackle and it must be an almost perfect tackle to bring him down. . . . The real superiority of Charpier lies in his ability to run ends. The opponents are never sure when he intends to punt or run."[4]
He later played semipro football as a fullback position for the Pullman Thorns from 1918 to 1919 and the combined Chicago Thorns-Tornadoes team in 1920.[5][6]
