The 1921 College Football All-Southern Team consists of American football players selected to the

College Football All-Southern Team The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions. It is analogous to the All-America Team and w ...

s selected by various organizations for the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. This was the last year before many schools left the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

(SIAA) for the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

(SoCon).

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

posted the SIAA's best record and upset

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

6–0.

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

was also undefeated in conference play, as were

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and Vanderbilt, the latter two posting one tie against the other. Vanderbilt was the only one to remain undefeated overall, and were selected as a national champion retroactively by selector Clyde Berryman.

Composite eleven

The composite All-Southern eleven awarded gold badges and formed by 30 sports writers culled by the ''Atlanta Constitution'' and ''Atlanta Journal'' included: *

Red Barron David Irenus "Red" Barron (June 21, 1900 – October 4, 1982) was an American football and baseball player. Barron was a three-sport letterwinner at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In football, he was named second or third team All Ameri ...

, halfback for Georgia Tech, also an All-Southern

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who played pro ball with the Boston Braves. He later coached high school football. Sam Murray, who played later for Georgia Tech as a substitute fullback, was asked about a certain strong runner in the 1930s, "He's good. But if I were playing again, I would have one wish – never to see bearing down upon me a more fearsome picture of power than Judy Harlan blocking for Red Barron." * Noah Caton, center for Auburn, died just a year later due to complications from an

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

operation. *

Bum Day Ashel Monroe Day (August 3, 1898 – January 30, 1988), nicknamed Bum Day, was an American college football player who was a center for both the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Bulldogs of the ...

, center for Georgia. Not a single point was scored all year through Georgia's line, and over two years (1920 and 1921) Georgia did not lose to a single southern opponent. In 1918, as a player for Georgia Tech, Day was the first Southern player selected first-team All-American by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

. * Goat Hale, quarterback for Mississippi College, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Got the nickname "Goat" in high school when he battered through the line, scoring a touchdown, and ran past the end zone until his head hit a wooden building, loosening several planks. * Judy Harlan, fullback for Georgia Tech, a senior captain and third-team All-American. *

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-tim ...

, quarterback for

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...

, unanimous selection, inaugural inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. He led Centre over defending national champion

6–0 in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history. In 1919, he was the second southern player selected first-team All-American by

. *

Owen Reynolds Owen Gaston Reynolds (January 12, 1900 – March 11, 1984) was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL). Reynolds played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, receiving All-Souther ...

, end for Georgia, played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in their inaugural season of 1925. *

Artie Pew Arthur "Artie" Pew Jr. (March 26, 1898 – December 1, 1959) was a college football and basketball player. Early years Pew was born on March 26, 1898, in Damascus, Georgia, to Arthur Pew Sr. and Bessie Harvey. University of Georgia Football P ...

, tackle for Georgia. He was also the team's kicker as well as a basketball player. *

Red Roberts :''This is an article about the baseball player. For the college football coach, see Red Roberts (American football).'' Charles Emory "Red" Roberts (August 8, 1918 – December 2, 1998) was a Major League Baseball player. Roberts played for ...

, end for Centre, this year the fifth southern player selected first-team All-American by Walter Camp. Roberts was a unanimous selection for the Associated Press Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era. Later coached the

Waynesburg Yellow Jackets Waynesburg University is a private university in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1850 and offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. The university enrolls over 2,500 students, including ...

. *

Albert Staton Albert Hammond Staton (December 4, 1899 – January 15, 1980) was a college football and basketball player for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Coca-Cola executive in Colombia. Early years Albert ...

, tackle for Georgia Tech, the starting end on the all-time Heisman era team. * Puss Whelchel, guard for Georgia, captain-elect and third-team All-American.

Composite overview

was the only unanimous choice for the composite selection. Caton and Staton were picked out of the ties due to having the most votes at multiple positions.

All-Southerns of 1921

Ends

, Georgia (C, D, BD, JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, SM, MB, ED, GAB, MCK, EH, S, KS, CM, JS, FW, DH, TU) *

, Centre (C, D, BD s t JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, SM, MB, ED, GAB, MCK. EH, ER, BB, S, KS s t CM s t JS, DH, TU) *

Lynn Bomar Robert Lynn Bomar (January 21, 1901 – June 11, 1964) was an American football end in the National Football League (NFL). Bomar played college football, basketball and baseball for Vanderbilt University, following coach Wallace Wade and ...

, Vanderbilt (College Football Hall of Fame) (JLR s t MM s t SM s t * Bill James, Centre (BD, CM) *

John Staton John Curtis Staton (June 9, 1902 – September 16, 1990) was a college football player and Coca-Cola executive. Early years John Curtis Staton was born June 9, 1902, in Atlanta, the son of John Curtis Staton and Bivien Hammond Staton. He at ...

, Georgia Tech (BB) *

Graham Vowell John Graham Vowell (February 27, 1895 – November 17, 1963) was an American football player for the Tennessee Volunteers, of the University of Tennessee. He was the school's first All-American. Vowell was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall ...

, Tennessee (KS) *

Rodney Ollinger Rodney Ollinger was a college football player for the Auburn Tigers football team. He played first for Spring Hill, where he was a renowned punter. Ollinger was an end for coach Mike Donahue's team, a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athl ...

, Auburn (FW, DH

s hb S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

* Tom Ryan, Vanderbilt

Tackles

, Georgia (C, BCL, CEB, MB, ED, GAB, MCK, S, JS, FW, DH) * Al Staton, Georgia Tech (C, D, SM, MB, ED, ER s e * Fletcher Skidmore, Sewanee (C, JLR s g MM, SM, MCK, EH, ER, BB, TU) * Joe Bennett, Georgia (C, D, S, KS, DH) *

Ben Cregor Benjamin Woodbury Cregor (January 31, 1898 - February 20, 1968) was a college football player and coach. Early life Benjamin Woodbury Cregor was born on January 31, 1898."United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917–1940," datab ...

, Centre (BD, SM s g CM) Noahcaton

Pink Wade William James "Pink" Wade (August 18, 1899 – March 1, 1966) was an American football player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. Wade was the captain of the 1921 SIAA champion Vanderbilt football team. He was the father ...

, Vanderbilt (CEB, EH, ER, BB) * Pos Elam, Vanderbilt (GAB) * Tot McCullough, Vanderbilt (FW) *Summers, VMI (VMI)

Guards

* Puss Whelchel, Georgia (C, JLR, BCL, CEB, MB, ED, GAB, S, KS, JS, FW, TU) * Noah Caton, Auburn (C, D s c BD, BCL s t MM, CEB, ED, MCK, EH, ER, BB, CM, JS s t * Oscar Davis, Georgia Tech (C, D, BCL, MB, S, KS, TU) *

Tootie Perry Carl Esmond "Tootie" Perry (February 4, 1896 – August 9, 1946) was an American college football player. He played at the guard position and was the first All-Southern player for the Florida Gators football program of the University of Florid ...

, Florida (C, JLR s t GAB, JS) *Charles Lindsay, Tennessee (MCK, ER, BB) *Noisy Grisham, Auburn (FW) * Thurston Anthony, Georgia (DH) *George M. Chinn, Centre (DH)

Centers

, Georgia (C, D s g BD s g JLR, MM s g BCL, CEB, SM, MB, ED, GAB, MCK, EH s g ER, BB, CM s g JS, FW, DH, TU) * Ed Kubale, Centre (BD, CM) *

Alf Sharpe Alfred D. Sharp (February 6, 1902 – November 1981) was an American football player for the Vanderbilt Commodores football, Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. Early years Sharp was born in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville on Feb ...

, Vanderbilt (MM) *

Eddie Reed James Edwin Reed (March 31, 1901 – August 18, 1960) was an American lawyer and college football coach. He served as the head coach at Loyola University New Orleans in 1926 and again from 1935 to 1936, compiling a record of 16–12–1. Early ...

, Tulane (EH) *Kenneth Grizzard, Tennessee (S, KS)

Quarterbacks

*†, Centre (College Football Hall of Fame) (C, D, BD, JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, SM, MB, ED, GAB, MCK, EH, ER, BB, S, KS, CM, JS, FW, DH, TU)

Halfbacks

, Georgia Tech (C, D, BD, JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, SM, MB, ED, GAB, EH, ER, BB, S, KS, CM, JS, FW, DH) * Goat Hale,

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

(College Football Hall of Fame) (C, BD, JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, SM

s fb S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

MCK, EH, BB, KS, FW, TU) * Herb Covington, Centre (SM, MCK, S

* Jim Tom Reynolds, Georgia (ER, JS) *

Dode Phillips David Gardiner "Dode" Phillips III (January 2, 1900 – December 29, 1965) was an American football player and coach. He coached high school in Anderson, South Carolina and then his alma mater. He also played several years of minor league baseball ...

, Erskine (S, TU) *

Milton McManaway Milton Edward McManaway (November 15, 1901 – 1946) was an American college football player. He later coached high school football before becoming a successful attorney in Chicago. He also spent time as an insurance agent in Spartanburg, South C ...

, Furman (ED) *

Terry Snoddy Hall Terry Snoddy (March 18, 1899 – ?) also known as Terry Snowday was a college football player. Early years Hall Terry Snoddy was born on March 18, 1899, in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Carey Snoddy and Ruth Hall. Centre College Snoddy was a ...

, Centre (CM)

Fullbacks

* Judy Harlan, fullback, Georgia Tech (C, D, BD, JLR, MM, BCL, CEB, MB, ED, GAB, BB, CM, FW, TU) * Ed Sherling, Auburn (D

MCK, EH, ER, JS, DH) * Roe Campbell, Tennessee (GAB

KS)

Key

Bold = Composite selection * = Consensus All-American † = Unanimous selection C = Received votes for a composite All-SIAA eleven selected by 30 sports writers and culled by the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Con ...

'' and ''

Atlanta Journal ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

. ''Each of the composite eleven selected were presented with gold football badges. D = selected by

Mike Donahue Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, soccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head fo ...

, coach at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. BD = selected by Bruce Dudley, sporting editor of the ''

Louisville Herald ''The Louisville Herald-Post'' was a newspaper that was published in Louisville, Kentucky. Origins ''The Herald-Post'' was created in 1925 from the merging of the old '' Louisville Herald'' and '' Louisville Post'' newspapers. Louisville financ ...

''. JLR = selected by J. L. Ray of the ''

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unti ...

''. MM = selected by Marvin McCarthy of the ''Birmingham Age-Herald''. BCL = selected by B. C. Lumpkin of the ''Athens Daily News''. CEB = selected by C. E. Baker of the ''Macon Telegraph''. SM = selected by Sam H. McMeekin of the ''Courier-Journal''. MB = selected by

Morgan Blake William Morgan Blake (February, 1889 – July 26, 1953) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter in the South who in his 24 years on the job covered seven Rose Bowl games. He also taught the south's largest Sunday School class. Early ye ...

of the ''Atlanta Journal''. ED = selected by Ed Danforth of the ''Atlanta Georgian''. GAB = selected by George A. Butler of the ''Chattanooga News''. MCK = selected by William McG. Keefe of the ''Times-Picayune''. EH = selected by Ed Hebert of the ''Times-Picayune''. ER = selected by

, captain of the Tulane eleven. BB = selected by Bill Brennan, associate coach at Tulane. S = selected by coach

Herman Stegeman Herman James Stegeman (January 21, 1891 – October 22, 1939) was a player and coach of American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field athletics, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Beloit C ...

of the University of Georgia. KS = selected by the ''Knoxville Sentinel'' CM = selected by coach

Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional American football coa ...

of Centre College. JS = selected by John Snell of the ''Enquirer-Sun''. FW = selected by

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

. DH = selected by Dunbar Hair of the ''Augusta Chronicle''. TU = selected by the ''Times-Union''.

References

{{College_Football_All-Southern_Teams 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season College Football All-Southern Teams