Hoyt "Wu" Winslett (January 22, 1904 – October 2, 1998) 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 and businessman. He was part of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

Crimson Tide's first two

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

teams in

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* January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria.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 Italia ...

and

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

. Winslett is also recognized as Alabama's first Associated Press All-American.

University of Alabama

Winslett was a prominent football player for coach

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

team at

. He played for two years as a reserve back before being moved to

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

in 1926, where he excelled. He could also pass, connecting many times with

Herschel Caldwell Herschel Amos Caldwell (August 13, 1903 – July 31, 1989) was a college football player and coach. University of Alabama Caldwell was a prominent end and fullback for Wallace Wade's Alabama Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama. 1925 He w ...

for gains. He was a member of both the

and 1926 squads which won both 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 ...

and the

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. He also was part of the 1924 squad that won the Southern Conference championship. For his performance during the 1926 season, Winslett was named to the All-America Team First Team 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. newspa ...

. His selection was the first by the Associated Press for a player from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

to the All-America Team First Team. He was inducted into the

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame ...

in the Class of 1973 for football. In 1992, Winslett was named the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Awards in recognition of his service within the community since the end of this playing career.

Post-football career

After he graduated from Alabama in 1926, Winslett stayed in Tuscaloosa where he served as a branch manager for the West Alabama Branch of

Protective Life Protective Life Corporation is a financial service holding company in Birmingham, Alabama.https://protective.newshq.businesswire.com/sites/protective.newshq.businesswire.com/files/press_kit/file/We_Are_Protective_Life_-_Company_Overview_and_Financ ...

. He worked at Protective Life though his retirement in 1969. Winslett also served as the state president of the National Exchange Club, as director of the Tuscaloosa Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the Tuscaloosa Chapter of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. In 1995, he

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

$120,000 to establish The Wu and Louise Winslett Endowed Scholarship Fund. The

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

is for entering freshmen from Dadeville High School, where Winslett and his wife attended in the 1920s.

Personal life

Winslett was married to Louise Winslett though her death in 1981. His nickname "Wu" was given to him by his Alabama teammates in the 1920s due to his resemblance to the movie character Mr. Wu.

References

External links

ASHOF Inductee Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winslett, Hoyt 1904 births 1998 deaths Alabama Crimson Tide baseball players Alabama Crimson Tide football players Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players All-American college football players All-Southern college football players People from Tallapoosa County, Alabama Players of American football from Tuscaloosa, Alabama American men's basketball players