Red Smith (American football)
| Cumberland Bulldogs | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center |
| Class | 1905 |
| Personal information | |
| Born | October 10, 1881 Tennessee |
| Died | April 2, 1931 Columbia, Tennessee |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Mooney School |
| College | Cumberland (1903–1905) |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
Frank Dorsey "Red" Smith (October 10, 1881 – April 2, 1931) was a college football player and farmer from near Columbia, Tennessee.[1]
Early years
He attended preparatory school at Mooney School in Franklin, Tennessee along with Ed Hamilton and Frank Kyle.[2]
Cumberland
Smith was a prominent center for the Cumberland Bulldogs of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, inducted into the Cumberland Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.[3] Cumberland coach A. L. Phillips said Smith was the "only man he ever saw who has reduced football to a science."[4] In 1915, John Heisman selected the 30 greatest Southern football players, and mentioned Smith seventh.[5]
1903
At Cumberland he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, praised for his athleticism along with M. O. Bridges.[4] Smith, M. O. Bridges, and M. L. Bridges helped lead Cumberland to a share of the 1903 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) title. Smith was selected All-Southern.[6]
That year, Cumberland defeated Vanderbilt and tied coach John Heisman's Clemson Tigers football team at the end of the year in the game billed as the "SIAA championship game" in Montgomery, Alabama on Thanksgiving Day. Cumberland rushed out to an early 11 to 0 lead. Wiley Lee Umphlett in Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football writes, "During the first half, Clemson was never really in the game due mainly to formidable line play of the Bridges brothers–giants in their day at 6 feet 4 inches–and a big center named "Red" Smith, was all over the field backing up the Cumberland line on defense. Clemson had been outweighed before, but certainly not like this."[7]
1904
He was captain of its 1904 team. Smith was called the South's greatest center.[8]
1905
Smith was again selected All-Southern in 1905.
References
- ^ "Smith-Cochran". The Herald and Mail. March 31, 1911 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mooney, Russell E.; Burke, Marianne Turpin (1964). A Mooney genealogy and miscellany with some allied lines. p. 75.
- ^ "Cumberland Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ a b Verner M. Jones (1904). "The Editor's Desk". The Kappa Alpha Journal. 21 (5): 639.
- ^ J. W. Heisman (January 25, 1915). "Dixie's Football Hall of Fame". Atlanta Georgian.
- ^ "Sadler Is Made Captain of All-Southern Team". Atlanta Constitution. November 29, 1903.
- ^ Wiley Lee Umphlett (1992). Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football. p. 67. ISBN 9780313284045.
- ^ "103 To 0". Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle. Clarksville, Tennessee. November 17, 1904. p. 6. Retrieved April 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .