Early years In 1888, Magidsohn was born in
Tukums, a town that was then part of the
Russian Empire, but which is now part of
Latvia, and was Jewish. Magidsohn attended high school in
Elkton, Michigan. Magidsohn and
Dave Allerdice were the starting halfbacks for the
1909 Michigan football team that finished the season with a 6–1 record and outscored its opponents 116–34. In Michigan's 15–6 win over
Minnesota in 1909, Magidsohn scored both of Michigan's touchdowns, including a run for a touchdown in the first half and a interception return for a touchdown in the second half.
1909 football season The 1909 season marked the first time that any school from the "West" defeated one of the "Big Four" eastern schools, as Michigan defeated
Penn by a score of 12–6 in
Philadelphia. Penn came into the 1909 Michigan game with a 23-game winning streak in which they had allowed their opponents only 44 points. Magidsohn later said of the Penn game: "That 1909 Michigan-Penn game is the one I regard as my greatest... My All-America teammate, halfback and captain, Dave Allerdice, had a broken left hand so I was obliged to do most of the ball carrying."
1910 football season In 1910, Magidsohn started all six games at left halfback for an undefeated Michigan team (3–0–3) that outscored its opponents 29–9. Following Michigan's win over
Syracuse in November 1910, the press called Magidsohn, who scored both of Michigan's touchdowns, the "Star of the Game" and noted that "his plunges were one of the features of the game." At the end of the 1910 season, Magidsohn was chosen by at least a dozen selectors as a first-team member of the
1910 College Football All-America Team. He was also selected by E.C. Patterson as a first-team All-Western halfback in 1910. During Magidsohn's two seasons on the Michigan football team, the Wolverines lost only one game.
First Jewish letter winner at Michigan Magidsohn was the first Jew to win an "M", the
varsity letter awarded to competitors on the University of Michigan's varsity sports teams. After Magidsohn broke the barrier, other Jewish football players starred for Michigan, including All-Americans
Benny Friedman,
Harry Newman,
Merv Pregulman and
Dan Dworsky. According to several publications on Jews in sports, Magidsohn was the first athlete known to have refused to play on the Jewish High Holy Days. At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, Magidsohn was listed as a civil engineer residing in Chicago with his wife Jennie (née, Golden), age 30, son Elliot, age 5, and daughter Dorothy (age 2 years, 1 month). Magidsohn was one of the organizers of Knollwood Country Club, its first secretary and its second president. he died in Oak Park Michigan in 1969 at age 80 ==Hall of fame==