Phil Connell | |
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Born | William Phillip Connell August 24, 1874 |
Died | February 13, 1932 | (aged 57)
Occupation | business man |
College football career | |
Vanderbilt Commodores | |
Position | Fullback/ Halfback |
Class | 1896 |
Career history | |
College | Vanderbilt (1892–1897) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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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]
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.
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]
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]
Connell was selected as a substitute for the All-Southern team. [3]
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.