Looking Back:
No Mercy
The powerful Georgia Tech football team played Cumberland College in 1916. No one expected Cumberland to win, but the massacre was amazing. Cumberland had only 16 players and lost three players due to travel problems. The team stopped in Nashville to grab a ringer or two. It didn’t help. The score was 126 to 0 at the half. Amazingly the Georgia Tech (GT) coach warned his team at halftime to not let up. “You never know what those Cumberland players might have up their sleeves.” Some of the GT football players also played baseball and they had been beaten by CC last spring. The football game’s final score was 222-0, a record that still stands. Georgia Tech did this all on the ground, not one pass was thrown. To be fair, the forward pass was still not popular. It was not a legal part of football until 1906. The first legal forward pass was Saint Louis vs Carroll College on Sept. 5, 1906.
In the blow-out game, the Georgia Tech coach caught a lot of flack for running up the score, especially when the press found out about his halftime ‘pep’ talk. The game and the coach were often referred to using the “Ole Shut the Gates of Mercy” phrase. But the coach went on to become very well known, and was responsible for many football ‘innovations’ including: games being divided in four quarters, the center snap going directly to the QB (before this, the center generally rolled the ball to his QB), and the first collegiate athletic dorm for football players. The show-no-mercy GT coach also devised the T and I formations that are still used today.
In 1935 it was decided to give an annual trophy to the best college football player in the nation. It became the symbol of football excellence. The trophy was named for John Heisman. Yes, Heisman was the coach that ‘Shut the Gates of Mercy’ in 1916.” Clearly, there was no mercy clock at that time.
A brief history of the Heisman Award: It started out as the DAC (Downtown Athletic Club in NY City) but was changed to the Heisman after John Heisman’s death. It started out as an award for the best football player east of the Mississippi, but it became a national award. The first winner was Jay Berwanger a HB, that was drafted but chose not to play in the young NFL. Many of the Heisman winners are drafted #1, but some go late: Herschel Walker was drafted #114, and Doug Flutie #286. Archie Griffin is the only two-time winner (1974-75). Not all winners are successful NFL players, a recent example would be Johnny Manziel. Plus, most winners are seniors, but six sophomores have won. Tim Tebow was the first sophomore, winning in ‘07. Manziel and Jameis Winston are the only two freshmen to win the award, (they used Redshirt years). Eight of the last 10 Heisman winners have been QBs. Only occasionally does the award go to a receiver. Charles Woodson has been the only defensive player to win (‘97). Lamar Jackson is the youngest winner (age 19) in ‘17, and Chris Weinke is the oldest (age 28) in ‘00.
Which colleges have the most Heisman winners?: Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma with seven. USC had eight but one was vacated. (Reggie Bush in ‘05). Bush and USC were sanctioned by the NCAA, Bush had accepted ‘gifts’. The ‘22 winner was Caleb Williams, a sophomore QB from USC. Parents may be interested to know there is a High School Heisman Scholarship. They look for excellence in the classroom, the community, and on the playing field. Note: The scholarship is not a football award. Are you ready for some football?
Until next time.
