Tom Brown (American football, born 1890)

Tom Brown
Vanderbilt Commodores
Date of birth: July 2, 1890
Place of birth: Gallatin, Tennessee
Date of death: August 3, 1972 (aged 82)
Place of death: Sylvania, Ohio
Career information
Position(s): Tackle
Height: 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight: 180 lb (82 kg)
College: Vanderbilt University
Organizations
As player:
Football:
1910-13
1915-17
Basketball:
1910-13
Vanderbilt
Toledo Maroons

Vanderbilt
Career highlights and awards

Championships

  • 3 SIAA (1910, 1911, 1912)

Honors

  • 2x All-Southern (1912, 1913)
  • Toledo Chapter, Football Hall of Fame
  • 1912 All-time Vandy 1st team

Thomas Hartwell "Tom" Brown, Jr. (July 2, 1890 – August 3, 1972) was a college football and basketball player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. Brown was also a medical doctor.

Early years

Tom Brown was born on July 2, 1890 in Gallatin, Tennessee to Thomas Hartwell Brown, Sr. and Annie Donelson Hunt.

Vanderbilt

Brown graduated from Vanderbilt University with an M. D in 1913. In his senior year he was awarded the title of 'Bachelor of Ugliness,' given to the most liked fellow on campus.[1] Tom Brown was a prominent tackle on Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams,[2] selected All-Southern.[3] As a freshman he took part in the scoreless tie of defending national champion Yale.[1]

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 1915, that honor was given to Brown.

Toledo

Pro football

In World War 1 he served in the Army Medical Corps as a lieutenant. While interning at St Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, he played with the Toledo Maroons.[1] While with them, according to author Emil Klosinski, he played a part in the worst loss ever suffered by legendary coach Knute Rockne, a 40 to 0 win in 1917 over the "South Bend Jolly Fellows Club."[4]

Physician

Brown was an avid member of the Rotary Club for more than 38 years.[5] "He had no peers in his orthopedic ability and contributed greatly to Toledo medicine."[5] He was a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and President of the Lucas County Academy of Medicine.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 William E. Wright (December 27, 1966). Citation delivered at the Fifth Annual Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner.
  2. ↑ "Vanderbilt–A University of the New South". Outing 64: 320–331. 1914.
  3. ↑ "Consolidated All-Southern Chosen by Ten Scribes; Eleven Like Innis Brown's". Atlanta Constitution. December 3, 1912. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Emil Klosinski. Pro Football in the Days of Rockne. p. 135.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "In Memoriam, Dr. Thomas H. Brown". The Toledo Rotary Spoke. September 15, 1972.