Matt Bullock
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David Madison "Matt" Bullock was born on August 4, 1886, in Maysville, Kentucky. He moved, with his family, to Champaign, Illinois, in 1907 and later took a job working in the University of Illinois gymnasium in 1913. The Ilini athletic trainer, "Wee Willie" McGill, noted that Bullock had worked with horses and hired Bullock as an assistant athletic trainer in 1914. In 1916, Bullock became the head athletic trainer and equipment manager at Illinois.
Bullock was known for two things, his humor and his ability to turn out good athletic trainers. Many of his students and assistants would go on to be head athletic trainers at major universities, including eight that have been inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame. These would include Samuel Bilik, Mike Chambers, Walter Bakke, Carl Erickson, Herb Patchin, Spike Dixon and Ken Rawlinson. For this he was known as the "trainer of trainers." Bullock also published a book, Athletic Training Methods, in 1925.
Bullock would retire from the University of Illinois in 1947. He would pass away on October 22, 1953. He was inducted into the initial class of the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962.
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