Donald Gordon Zimmerman Jr. (January 19, 1913 – May 25, 1974), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman", 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 with ...

player and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete for the

Tulane Green Wave The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent Tulane University, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). There are 14 Green Wave interco ...

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

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Early years

Donald Gordon Zimmerman Jr. was born on January 19, 1913, in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to Donald G. and Madeline Zimmerman. Don, Jr. grew up in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

Tulane University

Football

Zimmerman was a "triple-threat" player as a

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

passer ''Passer'' is a genus of sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus contains 28 species and includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow, two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds with thick bills for ...

, and

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

on coach

Bernie Bierman Bernard W. Bierman (March 11, 1894 – March 7, 1977) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces. Bierman was th ...

's and Tex Cox's Tulane football teams from

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. His first three years saw three

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 ...

championships. Zimmerman led the Green Wave to a win–loss–tie record of 25–4–1 (). Tulane football legend

Jerry Dalrymple Gerald Richard Dalrymple (August 6, 1906 – September 25, 1962) was an American football and basketball player and coach. Dalrymple worked odd jobs at Ouachita Junior College in Arkadelphia for three years. He was a prominent end for coach Berni ...

started playing the season before.

1930

The 1930 team lost only to Northwestern, Zimmerman scoring the first touchdown in the 28 to 0 victory over

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 ...

. He also ran a punt back 69 yards against Mississippi A&M. The 1930 team was Southern co-champion with national champion

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

1931

The 1931 team lost only to national champion

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

21 to 12 in the Rose Bowl in which Zimmerman threw a touchdown to

Vernon Haynes Vernon Carlton "Lefty" Haynes (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1973) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana College in 1940 and at The Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia ...

. Down 21 to 0 in the third quarter, Zimmerman led a running attack which ended with a 6-yard pass to Haynes for the score. Tulane's other score was a run by Wop Glover set up by 11 and 15 yard passes from Zimmerman to Dalrymple. Tulane still managed a Rose Bowl record for yardage gained. Zimmerman eclipsed 100 yards rushing in both the

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

games that year.

1932

The 1932 team saw Zimmerman get then school records with 1,885 yards total offense and a 5.5-yard rushing average. The latter mark still ranks second. Zimmerman was one of three consensus

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 ...

ns from Southern teams in '32, along with Pete Gracey of Vanderbilt and

Jimmy Hitchcock James Franklin Hitchcock Jr. (June 28, 1911 – July 23, 1959) was an American college football player and Major League Baseball player during the Depression Era. Hitchcock played for the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University (then Al ...

. Tulane was tied 6 to 6 by Vandy, breaking a Southern Conference winning streak two weeks away from lasting four years. The only score for Tulane came on a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown from Zimmerman. Tulane lost to Auburn, and then lost to

in the final game of the year with Zimmerman and several other regulars sidelined by a flu epidemic. "Zimmerman is probably the finest open field runner the South has seen in the past decade" wrote Henry McLemore announcing the ''

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

'' All-America team. He ended his Tulane career as the Green Wave's all-time leader in total offense (4,657 yards on 764 plays, an average of 6.1 yards per play) and pass interceptions, setting records that lasted for 40 years (12). He also ranks fifth in career rushing yards with 2,369. Zimmerman is a member the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame and was elected to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.

Track and field

Zimmerman was Tulane's first

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

track champion, winning the 1933

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

title. He held the national junior

mark at 13 feet 5 and 7/8 inches, recorded in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, in the summer of 1931.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Don 1913 births 1974 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks American football placekickers Tulane Green Wave football players Tulane Green Wave men's track and field athletes All-American college football players All-Southern college football players Sportspeople from Lake Charles, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Texas American pole vaulters