James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 – March 1984) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player.

Early years

James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905, in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate.

High school

Armistead attended

Hume-Fogg High School Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School is a public magnet high school serving grades 9–12 and located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. History Hume School, serving the first through 12th grades, opened in 1855 on Eighth Avenue ...

. The first game played at

Dudley Field FirstBank Stadium (formerly Dudley Field and Vanderbilt Stadium) is a football stadium located in Nashville, Tennessee. Completed in 1922 as the first stadium in the South to be used exclusively for college football, it is the home of the Vander ...

was between the home-standing Commodores and the powerful

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

. A goal-line stand by the Commodores preserved a 0–0 tie. The following Friday, nearby

played a game at Dudley. Senior Jimmie Armistead returned the opening kick for a touchdown, providing the first touchdown ever recorded in the stadium.

Vanderbilt

Armistead was a prominent

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

from

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. He was also bald, called by one writer "the

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

of Vanderbilt."

1926

He started slow; "Nature neglected to endow him with pugnacity; Or even aggressiveness. As a sophomore, he was so timid on attack that he was as easy to snuff out as a candle." He was always shy, and took no joy in seeing his opponent fail. In 1926, Vanderbilt lost its only game to national champion

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Armistead once caught a pass in the game and was tackled just a few yards short of the goal without fighting for extra yardage. From there Vanderbilt failed to score; and so some Vanderbilt fans blamed Armistead for the loss.

1927

He took the criticism of 1926 to heart and emerged a new player in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

. Armistead led the nation in scoring in

with 138 points, a year in which he was a target of

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Bill Spears William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992), known as "Bounding Bill Spears", was an American football player and stand-out quarterback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams from 1925 to 1927. Spears was ele ...

1928

When Spears graduated, Armistead was the triple-threat option, i.e. he now had to pass and kick, as well as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Armistead starred in the 14 to 7 victory over

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. He made the second-team of the composite All-Southern eleven behind

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

quarterback Clyde Crabtree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armistead, Jimmy Vanderbilt Commodores football players American football running backs American football quarterbacks All-Southern college football players 1905 births 1984 deaths Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee