1.
Graham Vowell
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John Graham Vowell was an American football player for the Tennessee Volunteers, of the University of Tennessee. He was the schools first All-American, John Graham was born on February 27,1895 in Martin, Tennessee to John A. Vowell and Emma Floyd Wilson. Vowell played mostly at end and was a member of the 1914 SIAA champion Vols and he scored three touchdowns in that seasons final game against Kentucky. Vowell scored the touchdown in the victory over Vanderbilt in 1916 immediately dubbed the upset of the season. He was selected All-Southern in 1916, a year in which he was captain and helped lead the Volunteers to an 8–0–1 record, walter Camp placed Vowell on his All-America third-team. His older brother Morris Vowell was a tackle on some of the same teams, Graham and his family worked in the lumber business. Vowell was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for 2017 and he retired to Florida in 1954. Graham Vowell at Find a Grave
2.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
3.
College Football All-Southern Team
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The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions and it is analogous to the All-America Team and was most often selected in newspapers. Notable pickers of All-Southern teams include John Heisman, Dan McGugin, Grantland Rice, W. A. Lambeth, Reynolds Tichenor, Nash Buckingham, Innis Brown, virginias 115–0 drubbing by Princeton in 1890 signaled footballs arrival in the south. For example, North Carolina was in both the SIAA and SAIAA at different points in its history, and Virginia Tech had one year in the SIAA. Clemson, today in the ACC, was in the SIAA, the SIAA was the oldest of these, founded in the winter of 1894 by Vanderbilt chemistry professor William Lofland Dudley. This organization really represents the south, as its scope is wider. V. P. I. can scarcely be figured in the calculation as that institution hasnt played any of the S. I. A. A. representatives. South Atlantic writers of course were not fond of this, and would sometimes critique the latest All-Southern selection with titles such as Virginia, in 1922 teams from the SIAA and SAIAA left for the Southern Conference and All-Southern teams become effectively All-Southern Conference teams. By 1933 the contemporary Southeastern Conference was established, Walter Camps annual official All-America first team had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and other Northeastern colleges. Many selectors picked only Eastern players, in 1894, Michigan defeated Cornell and lobbied for its center Fatty Smith to be the first Western All-American. Notably the University of Michigan claims for their center Fatty Smith the supremacy in his position, but the western institutions have not yet mastered the eastern knowledge of all the details and fine points of the game. Smith has made a record against the west and even against Cornell. When brought to face a man like the Stillman of today or the Bulliet of last year, Smith would simply be lost, so it would be with all of the claimants for line positions from western teams. And no one claims for a moment that western back field men could play in the class with eastern men. The selectors were typically Eastern writers and former players who attended games in the East. The article noted, Eastern sporting editors must be devoid of all sense of humor, what man in the lot that have picked All-American elevens this fall, saw a single game outside the North Atlantic States. With a conceit all their own they fail to recognize that the United States reaches more than 200 miles in any direction from New York, suppose an Ohio football writer picked All-American teams. Ohio readers would not stand for it, but apparently the eastern readers will swallow anything
4.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
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The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, the SIAA was founded on December 21,1894, by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt, at the Kimball House in Atlanta. Dudley was a member of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, formed in 1886 with Dr. W. M. Baskerville as president, most students at Vanderbilt were members. The early sports played on the Vanderbilt campus were baseball, bicycling, Dudley was primarily responsible for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Sewanees opposition stopped it from occurring, the original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Virginia and North Carolina soon dropped before the inaugural 1895 season, the conference was originally formed for the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South. In 1903, a single-game football playoff occurred, but it seems to have been coordinated more so by the two competing schools than the conference itself, several other efforts over the years by individual schools to hold a conference title game fell through. Most SIAA titles claimed by schools in sports were actually more mythical in nature than officially sanctioned by the league. In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, generally, the larger universities opposed the eligibility of freshman players, while the smaller schools favored it. As a result, some of the universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. At the conferences annual meeting on December 10,1920, the SIAA rejected proposals to ban freshman athletes, in protest, some schools that had voted in favor of the propositions immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference. In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all at the expense of the SIAA, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. With the departure of most of the colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II, original charter members are denoted in boldface. Invited charter members are denoted with an asterisk, in the era in which the SIAA operated, teams tended to join in December, therefore, the first year of conference play in a given sport was often the following calendar year. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2016–17 school year
5.
1916 Tennessee Volunteers football team
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The 1916 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1916 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. John R. Bender served his first season as coach of the Volunteers. Because of World War I, Tennessee did not field another varsity squad until 1919, the 1916 Vols won eight games and lost none. This season also saw the first homecoming game in Tennessee football history, hosting rival Vanderbilt. The New York Herald ranked quarterback Buck Hatcher as the premier punter. Captain and end Graham Vowell was the only unanimous All-Southern selection. Next to him on the line was his brother, Morris Vowell. Next to him was Chink Lowe, at the other end was Lloyd Wolfe. Coach Bender came to Tennessee from Kansas State, effectively switching jobs with former Volunteers head coach Zora G. Clevenger, Bender ran a short punt system. In 1916, football used a system in which players played both offense, defense, and special teams. Quarterback Buck Hatcher was a triple-threat, the Vols blanked the Florida Gators in Tampa 24–0 in the two rivals first-ever meeting. Hatchers punts were the feature of the contest, the starting lineup was G. Vowell, M. Vowell, Lowe, Robinson, Shoulders, Hambaugh, Wolfe, A. Hatcher, Shelby, Emory, Luck. Tennessee beat Chattanooga 12–7, the most points scored on the Vols all season, Tennessee upset the Vanderbilt Commodores 10–6. Vanderbilts lone score came on a 70-yard run by Rabbit Curry, Graham Vowell scored Tennessees winning touchdown. Buck Hatcher regularly outpunted Tom Zerfoss, both ends, Vowell and Lloyd Wolfe, helped stop Curry. The starting lineup was G. Vowell, M. Vowell, Lowe, Robinson, Henderson, Hambaugh, Wolfe, A. Hatcher, Emory, Twifford, the Volunteers beat the Sewanee Tigers 17–0. Morris Vowell had a 99-yard interception return, the starting lineup was G. Vowell, M. Vowell, Lowe, Robinson, Henderson, Hambaugh, Wolfe, A. Hatcher, Emory, J. Luck, Ring. The New York Herald ranked quarterback Buck Hatcher as the premier punter
6.
Pup Phillips
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George Marshall Pup Phillips was an American football player and coach. George Marshall Phillips was born on September 24,1895 in Carnesville, Georgia to George Sullivan Phillips, Phillips was a prominent center for John Heismans Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a starter for the 1916 Georgia Tech team which, as one writer wrote, the season included the 222 to 0 rout of Cumberland. Phillips that year was the first Tech center elected All-Southern and he was a member of Techs first national championship team in 1917 which outscored opponents 491 to 17. Phillips received the Hal Nowell trophy for the most efficient play during the season and he left to join the American effort in the First World War as a marine just a week after celebrating the national championship. Phillips played again in 1919, when he was captain, dick Jemison selected Phillips first-team All-American. Phillips coached the University School for Boys
7.
Irby Curry
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Irby Rice Rabbit Curry was an American football quarterback for Vanderbilt University from 1914 to 1916. He was selected as a first-team All-Southern player in 1915 and 1916, in August 1918, while serving as a pilot in the 95th Aero Squadron during World War I, he was killed in aerial combat over France. He was described as the player who has most appealed to the imagination, admiration, Curry was born on August 4,1894 in Marlin, Texas to his parents, Oscar E. Curry and Emma C. He attended Marlin High School, where he was a stand-out athlete. In 1912, he was the Texas state champion in the vault as a junior with a then-record 104. After graduating from school, Curry enrolled at Vanderbilt University where he became the quarterback for the schools football team from 1914 to 1916. He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team, Curry weighed only 130 pounds while playing football for Vanderbilt. He was a runner who reportedly only needed the suspicion of an opening to wriggle through, and once into the open — zip, flash. Curry also played center field on the team and would pole vault, hurdle. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Delta Sigma Delta medical fraternity. As a junior in 1915, Curry led Vanderbilt to a season in which they scored 514 points in 510 minutes of actual playing time. Following an 85-yard touchdown run in Vanderbilts one loss, The Washington Post wrote that the little Curry was quick as a flash, in Vanderbilts 1915 game against Mississippi, the team traveled by train from Nashville to Memphis, Tennessee, where the game was to be played. The players complained about the lack of food on the train, the manager later recalled that Curry ate many of the green apples and proceeded to score six touchdowns and kick eight goals after touchdown against Ole Miss. Vanderbilts final game of the 1915 season was a Thanksgiving Day game against Sewanee, near the end of the last quarter, when Clark punted, Curry received the ball on his own 20-yard line and ran 80 yards for a touchdown. Another time he ran 34 yards for a touchdown, time after time Curry made 10,15 and 20 yard gains, and his work was largely responsible for Vanderbilts victory. Sewanee coach Harris Cope said I think Curry is one of the greatest players I have ever seen, at the end of the 1915 season, Curry was selected as a first-team All-Southern back by all ten Southern sporting writers in a composite poll published by The Atlanta Constitution. In December 1915, Currys teammates elected him captain of the 1916 Vanderbilt football team, during the 1916 football season, Curry led Vanderbilt to a 7–1–1 record. Curry had runs of 61,40 and 11 yards against Virginia, scored a touchdown, at the end of the 1916 season, Curry was selected as an All-Southern quarterback and as a third-team All-American by Walter Camp for Colliers Weekly
8.
Walter Camp
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Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the Father of American Football. Among a long list of inventions, he created the line of scrimmage. With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost and he attended Yale College, where he played and coached college football. Camps Yale teams of 1888,1891, and 1892 have been recognized as national champions, Camp was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951. Camp wrote articles and books on the gridiron and sports in general, by the time of his death, he had written nearly 30 books and more than 250 magazine articles. Camp was born in the city of New Britain, Connecticut, Walter Camp was of English descent. He attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, entered Yale College in 1875, at Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, the Linonian Society, and Skull and Bones. He attended Yale Medical School from 1880 to 1883, where his studies were interrupted first by an outbreak of typhoid fever, in 1873, he attended a meeting where representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale universities created the intercollegiate football association. They created the rule that each team is only allowed 15 plays per drive and he played as a halfback at Yale from 1876 to 1882. Harvard player Nathaniel Curtis took one look at Camp, then only 156 pounds and he worked for the New Haven Clock Company beginning in 1883, working his way up to chairman of the board of directors. On June 30,1888, Camp married Alice Graham Sumner, sister of sociologist William Graham Sumner and they had two children, Walter Camp, Jr. who attended Yale as well and was elected as a member of Scroll and Key in 1912, and Janet Camp Troxell. Camp served as the football coach at Yale from 1888 to 1892 before moving to Stanford University. On Christmas 1894, he and Amos Alonzo Staggs Chicago Maroons organized an early intersectional contest, Camp was on the various collegiate football rules committees that developed the American game from his time as a player at Yale until his death. English Rugby rules at the time required a player, when the ball was fairly held. College Football 1880 rules convention that the contested scrimmage be replaced with a line of scrimmage where the team with the ball started with uncontested possession and this change effectively created the evolution of the modern game of American football from its rugby football origins. This is significant as rugby union has no point value award for this action, the NCAA emerged from the national talks, but worked to Yales disadvantage relative to rival Harvard, according to Branch. By the time of his death, he had written nearly 30 books and his stories also appeared in major daily newspapers throughout the United States. He also selected an annual All-American team, by the age of 33, twelve years after graduating from Yale, Walter Camp had already become known as the Father of Football
"All-Southern Football Team As Picked By Sport Writers". Augusta Chronicle. December 3, 1916.
