Grailyn Hewitt "Grailey" Berryhill (August 17, 1896 – January 10, 1976) 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,

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and politician. He was a star

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He scored six

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in the 76 to 0 win over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in 1918, and was captain-elect for 1921. Berryhill received one of the school's highest honors that a student could achieve, the "

Bachelor of Ugliness The Bachelor of Ugliness was a title conferred onto Vanderbilt University's most popular male undergraduate. One of the highest honors that a student could achieve, it was given to the male undergraduate student believed to be most representative of ...

." He was also a three-term member of the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

Early years

Grailey Berryhill was born on August 17, 1896, in

McKenzie, Tennessee McKenzie is a city at the tripoint of Carroll, Henry, and Weakley counties in Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,310 at the 2010 census. It is home to Bethel University and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at McKenzie. ...

, to Adam Douglas Berryhill and Harriett Costen.

Vanderbilt

When Berryhill did not return to the

1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team The 1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team representing Vanderbilt University during the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was Dan McGugin's 17th season as head coach, and Wall ...

sports writer Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

Ferguson "Fuzzy" Woodruff wrote "While prospects seem fair to middling in most of the big

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 ...

colleges, there are two notable exceptions.

expects nothing of Vanderbilt this year. Dan has lost Berryhill, his only reliable

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

man, through the matrimonial route." Berryhill graduated with an MD from Vanderbilt University in 1921.

References

External links

* 1896 births 1976 deaths American football halfbacks Vanderbilt Commodores football players Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni Players of American football from Tennessee Tennessee Republicans Tennessee Democrats Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Physicians from Tennessee All-Southern college football players 20th-century American legislators People from McKenzie, Tennessee {{Tennessee-politician-stub