In 1920, Roy Niswander began an illustrious career on the gridiron as a fullback on the Fresno High School team. He was famed for his line smashing and was the terror of the local prep competition.

He was captain of the Warriors in 1922.

Matriculating to the University of California, he became a guard on the Bear freshman eleven.

As a sophomore, he made the varsity at Cal and soon developed into one of the finest linemen at the Bay school. In 1926, Niswander won the Roos Trophy as a most valuable player on the team and was named to the first string of the All-Pacific Coast Team.

He was also named to the Grantland Rice All-American as an honorable-mention guard.

Niswander also played baseball and was a catcher of repute in the erstwhile Fresno Twilight League and in intramural play at Cal.

After graduation from Cal, he returned to Fresno High as an assistant to football coach Leo Harris.

When Harris went to Fresno State in the early 30s, he took Niswander with him.

Roy handled the line and was a hard taskmaster and developed many fine linemen at both schools.

James Bradshaw took over coaching chores at FSC and retained the hard-working, hard-driving Niswander.

p After a great stint as an athlete and coach, Niswander passed away in 1958. But, he still lives in the stories of athletic feats, told at the gatherings of sports fans of his day.