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

Phil Connell
Born
William Phillip Connell

(1874-08-24)August 24, 1874
DiedFebruary 13, 1932(1932-02-13) (aged 57)
Occupationbusiness man
College football career
Vanderbilt Commodores
PositionFullback/Halfback
Class1896
Career history
CollegeVanderbilt (1892–1897)
Career highlights and awards
  • SIAA championship (1897)
  • All-time Vanderbilt first team (1912)
  • All-Southern sub (1895)

Vanderbilt University

edit

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.

1892

edit

The oldest team in the memory of Grantland Rice was the 1892 team. Rice claimed Connell then would be a good player in any era.[6]

1894

edit

Connel featured in Vanderbilt's first ever defeat of Ole Miss in 1894, giving the school its only loss of the season by the score of 40 to 0.[7]

1895

edit

Connell was selected as a substitute for the All-Southern team.[3]

1897

edit

He and captain Howard Boogher dove to recover the ball after the victory in the school's rivalry game with Sewanee in 1897.[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] Casper Whitney said he was the South's finest football player.[10]

Connell won Bachelor of Ugliness.

References

edit
  1. ^ Vanderbilt University (1906). "Non Graduate Members of '96". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 6: 141–143.
  2. ^ cf. Vanderbilt University (1906). "The "Famous" Class of '96". Vanderbilt University Quarterly. 6: 246–248.
  3. ^ a b "[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 (1913). Vanderbilt University Quarterly. Vol. 13. p. 56.
  6. ^ Grantland Rice (November 24, 1937). "Two of Year's Outstanding Games in South This Week". Lincoln Evening Journal. p. 12. Retrieved May 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ "Seventh Province". The Sigma Chi Quarterly: 167–168. 1895.
  8. ^ Bill Traughber (September 14, 2011). "Vandy Students' 1897 cheer banned". Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  9. ^ Bill Traughber (October 11, 2006). "Vandy Shuts Out 1897 Opponents".
  10. ^ "The Football Teams of the South". The Courier-Journal. October 2, 1898. p. 18. Retrieved August 14, 2008 – via Newspapers.com.  
edit