Ormond Simkins (May 16, 1879 – December 4, 1921) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player for the

Sewanee Tigers The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an off ...

of Sewanee: The University of the South. He was the son of William Stewart Simkins, who may have fired the first shot of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Early years

Ormond was born on May 16, 1879, in

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in and the county seat of Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 50 miles southeast of Dallas, Texas, Dallas. Its population was 25,109 at the 2020 census. Corsicana is considered an important ...

, to William Stewart Simkins and Elizabeth Ware.

Sewanee

Ormond entered

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the Unit ...

in 1896 as a law student. He was

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of the 1900 class.

Baseball

On the

team he was the

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and when

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 ...

of the team in 1901, moved to

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Football

Simkins was an All-Southern

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

and punter of the

Sewanee Tigers football The Sewanee Tigers football team represents Sewanee: The University of the South in the sport of American football. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division III as members of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA). The 1899 Sewanee Tigers footbal ...

team from

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

1901 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

. A stained glass window at Sewanee depicts Simkins handing a football to

Henry D. Phillips Henry Disbrow Phillips (January 16, 1882 – June 29, 1955) was an American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal bishop (1938–1955) and college football player and coach (1900–1909). Early life Henry Disbrow Phillips was born on J ...

1899

He was a member of the 1899 "Iron Men" of Sewanee that went undefeated and won 5 road games in 6 days all by shutout.

Fuzzy Woodruff Lorenzo Ferguson "Fuzzy" Woodruff (May 27, 1884 – December 7, 1929) was an early 20th-century American sportswriting, sportswriter known throughout most of the American Southeast, southeast for his vivid writing. He was also a music and drama cr ...

wrote of the only game in which Sewanee was scored upon, the 11 to 10 win over Auburn, "Under

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

's tutelage, Auburn played with a marvelous speed and dash that couldn't be gainsaid and which fairly swept Sewanee off its feet. Only the remarkable punting of Simkins kept the game from being a debacle." In a 1944 interview former coach

Billy Suter Herman Milton "Billy" Suter (December 10, 1874 – October 31, 1946) was an American football and baseball player, coach, referee, and athletic director. He was also a newspaper publisher. Early life Suter was born on December 10, 1874, in Gree ...

said of Simkins, "one of the greatest football players I ever saw, a fine kicker, a fine ball carrier, and the most terrific tackler and blocker I ever saw." Simkins is the fullback on the All-Time Sewanee football team, one publication of which notes "Sewanee's greatest backfield ace, Ormond Simkins, unfortunately died some years ago from the effects of a football injury from which he never recovered after leaving college. A wonderful punter and a hard running ball carrier, he deserves much of the credit for Sewanee's wonder team of 1899." A documentary film about the team and Simkins' role was released in 2022 called "Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899."

Death

Simkins had suffered injuries to both legs while playing football. In later years, his left foot had to be amputated. While working for the War Risk Bureau in

Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

he entered

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

in order to have the other one amputated, and died.

Henry Seibels Henry Goldthwaite "Ditty" Seibels (August 22, 1876 – September 29, 1967) was a prominent American athlete, playing football, baseball, and golfer for the Sewanee Tigers of Sewanee: The University of the South, a small Episcopal school in the T ...

would later tell his two sons and an inquiring newsman it was Simkins, not he, who was the best player from Sewanee's 1899 team. A field house with his name is part of the

Juhan Juhan () is a common Estonian male given name. Given name * Juhan Aare (1948–2021), Estonian journalist and politician *Juhan Aavik (1884–1982), Estonian composer * Juhan Mihkel Ainson (1873–1962), Estonian politician *Juhan af Grann (1944 ...

Gym at Sewanee, where the school plays

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simkins, Ormond 1879 births 1921 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football fullbacks American football punters Baseball catchers Baseball shortstops Sewanee Tigers football players All-Southern college football players Players of American football from Corsicana, Texas Sports deaths in Washington, D.C. Baseball players from Navarro County, Texas