Tim Chambers served as one of Penn football's best players during one of the most prosperous eras in the program's illustrious history.
Chambers was the first player in Penn history to win Ivy League Player of the Year accolades and was a three-time All-Ivy player for three Ivy League championship teams. In his three seasons on the varsity squad, the Quakers were 21-7-1 overall including a 17-3-1 mark against the Ivy League.
Prior to 1982, the Quakers had claimed the Ivy title just once in the 26-year history of the league. Chambers' first season with the varsity team marked the first of five straight Ivy League championships -- a feat that has never been duplicated.
Chambers made an immediate impact in his first season. As a sophomore -- freshmen were not allowed to compete on the varsity in that era -- the standout defensive back hauled in seven interceptions. To this day, that still stands as the third-highest single-season total in the history of the program. That same season -- and just one year after the varsity had finished with a 1-9 record overall -- the Quakers broke a 23-year Ivy League title drought, and Chambers earned second-team All-Ivy accolades. He led the team in punt returns, was second in tackles, and was named Division-1AA Rookie of the Year.
As a junior, Chambers once again led the team in punt returns and interceptions, was the third leading tackler, and earned first-team All-Ivy honors. As a team, the Quakers posted their first back-to-back winning seasons in more than a decade and once again claimed a share of the Ivy League title.
A year later, Chambers went out on top. The Red and Blue team swept through its Ivy League slate unbeaten for the first time in school history. The Sporting News named him to the pre-season All American Team. Chambers was awarded the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League's Most Valuable Player. He was just the second defensive player in Ivy League history to win the award, and he remains the only defensive back to ever do so.
En route to that honor and another first-team All-Ivy selection, the three-year letterwinner added four more interceptions to tie the school's career record. Once again, he led the team in punt returns and was third in team tackles. Chambers finished his career with 14 interceptions to match the legendary Chuck Bednarik's 36-year-old record. The two Penn Athletic Hall of Famers remain at the top of the record book today.
Following his career at Penn, Chambers' was signed as a free agent and spent time in camp with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts. In 2000, he was selected as one of the greatest defensive backs in Penn history and was named first-team All-Century.
