William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992) known as "Bounding Bill Spears" was an

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

player and stand-out

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...

Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...

teams from

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

. Spears was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1962.College Football Hall of fame, Hall of Famers, Bill Spears Member Biography Retrieved March 12, 2010.

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

said of Spears that he was one of the fastest quarters he had ever seen.

Early years

High school

Spears attended

The McCallie School The McCallie School is a boys college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 250 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 669 day students in grades 6–12 ...

Vanderbilt

Playing years

Known as "Bounding Bill;" "Spears can run a team like a playing coach, drop kick, boot from placement, and pass and accurately in the teeth of a charging line."

1925

Edwin Pope John Edwin Pope (April 11, 1928 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist known for his sportswriting at the ''Miami Herald'', where his work appeared from 1956 until his death in 2017. He covered Super Bowl I through Super Bowl XLVII. Som ...

writes "In 1925 McGugin came up with his finest quarterback in Bill Spears. Spears learned much from his coach and in three seasons had an unbelievably low number of interceptions He led the Commodores three years in which they only lost to Georgia Tech and Auburn in '25, Alabama in '26. and Texas in '27."

1926

The 1926 team suffered its only loss to national champion

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

1927

One fellow wrote Vanderbilt produced "almost certainly the legit top Heisman candidate in Spears, if there had been a Heisman Trophy to award in 1927." In a 32–0 victory over

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

, Spears had touchdown runs of 88 and 77 yards. Spears received the most votes for the 1927 All-Southern team, and was selected the first-team All-American quarterback by the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

''. The 1927 Vanderbilt Commodores included the nation's leading scorer in

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

Jimmy Armistead James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 – March 1984) was an American college football player. Early years James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905 in Nashville, Tennessee to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate. High school Ar ...

. His understudy at quarterback was later coach Henry "Red" Sanders.

=Statistics

Coaching years

1929

Spears was an assistant on the 1929 team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spears, Bill 1906 births 1992 deaths American football drop kickers American football placekickers American football quarterbacks Baseball shortstops Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Vanderbilt Commodores football players All-American college football players All-Southern college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Jasper, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee