Phil Connell

Phil Connell
Vanderbilt Commodores
Position Fullback/Halfback
Class Graduate
Career history
College Vanderbilt (1892–1897)
Personal information
Date of birth August 24, 1874
Place of birth Nashville, Tennessee
Date of death February 13, 1932 (aged 57)
Place of death Mexico
Career highlights and awards
  • SIAA championship (1897)
  • 1912 All-time Vandy 1st team

William Phillip "Phil" Connell (August 24, 1874 – February 13, 1932) was a college football player and later a prominent business man of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[1]

Vanderbilt University

He was a running back for the Vanderbilt Commodores football team of Vanderbilt University.[2] Considered one of the sport's early greats,[3][4] he was picked for an all-time Vanderbilt team in 1912.[5] Connell was captain of the 1895 and 1896 teams.

1894

He featured in Vanderbilt's first ever defeat of Ole Miss, giving the school its only loss of the season by the score of 40 to 0.[6]

1895

Connell was selected as a substitute for the All-Southern team.[7]

1897

He and captain Howard Boogher dove to recover the ball after the victory in the school's rivalry game with Sewanee.[8] Vanderbilt allowed no points on the season and split a claim to the championship of the south when it held Virginia to a scoreless tie.[9]

Bachelor of Ugliness

One of the highest honors that a student could achieve was the "Bachelor of Ugliness," a title given to the male undergraduate student believed to be most representative of ideal young manhood an the class's most popular member, devised by Professor William H. Dodd in 1885. In 1898, that honor was given to Connell.

References

  1. ↑ Vanderbilt University. "Non Graduate Members of '96". Vanderbilt University Quarterly 6: 141–143.
  2. ↑ cf. Vanderbilt University. "The "Famous" Class of '96". Vanderbilt University Quarterly 6: 246–248.
  3. ↑ "[No title]". The Daily Tar Heel. April 18, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ cf. "High School Defeats Normal". The Courier-Journal. November 30, 1900. p. 6. Retrieved April 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt University Quarterly 13. p. 56.
  6. ↑ "Seventh Province". The Sigma Chi Quarterly: 167–168. 1895.
  7. ↑ "[No title]". The Daily Tar Heel. April 18, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Bill Traughber (September 14, 2011). "Vandy Students' 1897 cheer banned".
  9. ↑ Bill Traughber (October 11, 2006). "Vandy Shuts Out 1897 Opponents".

External links