Ashel Monroe Day (August 3, 1898 – January 30, 1988), nicknamed Bum Day, was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player who was a

center 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 eccentricity ...

for both the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

of the

Georgia Institute of Technology 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 ...

and the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He was the first

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

player ever selected first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

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 ...

Gordon

He was captain of the 1917 Gordon College football team.

Georgia Tech

As the

did not have a football team, Day enrolled at Georgia Tech in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he played center for coach

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado in

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

.
2013 Georgia Tech Football Information Guide
', Georgia Tech Athletic Association, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 170, 178, 180 (2013). Retrieved August 20, 2014. He was a key two-way lineman during the team's 1918 season when the Yellow Jackets finished first in 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) with a win–loss record of 6–1. Day was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American following the 1918 season, when he was a first-team selection by

.''2014 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 2, 4, 14 (2014). Retrieved August 20, 2014. Day's selection by Walter Camp as a first-team All-American was a historic first; he was the first Southerner to be chosen for Camp's annual All-America first team, which had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Northeastern colleges. Day was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.

University of Georgia

Day did not complete his college football career at Georgia Tech, however. He later enrolled at the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, where he played for 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 ...

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

team in 1920 and 1921. He played in every minute of 1921. At Georgia his jersey number was 1. Day was recognized as a first-team All-Southern selection by the ''Atlanta Constitution'' and several other major newspapers following his 1920 and 1921 seasons playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. He made an all-time Georgia Bulldogs football team picked in 1935. He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.

Buck Cheves James Parks "Buck" Cheves (November 29, 1898 – April 12, 1995) was a college football player and referee. Cheves was a Southeastern Conference official for 35 years. Georgia Bulldogs He led the "ten second backfield" of the 1920 Georgia Bulld ...

said "I never saw a better center than Bum Day...He would snap the ball and then make the tackle on kicks".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Bum 1898 births 1988 deaths All-American college football players American football centers Georgia Bulldogs football players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players People from Berrien County, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) All-Southern college football players

Gordon

Georgia Tech

University of Georgia

See also

References