John Ashley "Daff" Gammons (March 17, 1876 – March 24, 1963) was an American baseball and football player,

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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach, amateur golfer, and insurance agent. He played professional baseball for one season, 1901, for the

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

. Gammons served as the head football coach at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1902, 1908, and 1909, and as its head baseball coach from 1901 to 1903.

Early life

Gammons was born on March 17, 1876, in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

. He attended

, where he earned

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

in football from 1895 to 1897, and baseball, including on the 1896 national championship team. He graduated from Brown in 1898, and then attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1899 and 1900.

Professional career

After college, Gammons embarked upon a professional career in the insurance business. In 1901, he founded his own insurance company, John A. Gammons, Inc. (later Gammons & Son), in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, which still remained in business more than one hundred years later. One source considered Gammons to be "one of the leading insurance agents of Providence".''The Standard'', p. 213. Gammons also continued his playing career in both football and baseball. In 1898 and 1899, Gammons played football for the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club. At the end of Duquesne's 1898 season, he ran 60 yards on a

punt return In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...

for a score against the Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team. He played football for the

Homestead Library & Athletic Club The Carnegie Library of Homestead is a public library founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1898. It is one of 2,509 Carnegie libraries worldwide; 1,689 built in the United States. It was the sixth library commissioned by Carnegie in the U.S. and the se ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

and

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

, followed by the

Pittsburgh Stars The Pittsburgh Stars or Pittsburg Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that were only in existence for one season in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the first National Football ...

of the 1902 National Football League. Gammons played semiprofessional baseball from 1898 to 1900 with clubs in

Attleboro Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461. Attleboro is ...

and North Attleboro, Massachusetts. In 1901, Gammons was approached by two professional teams: the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

and the

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. He was hesitant to play professionally, because he wished to focus on his newly founded insurance business, but eventually signed with the Beaneaters. Gammons played with Boston for one season.Daff Gammons
Baseball Reference, retrieved June 20, 2010. Gammons also coached the Brown baseball team from 1901 to 1903. In 1902, his coaching duties were expanded to include that of head coach of the football team. Brown compiled a 5–4–1 record that season. Gammons later returned to that position in 1908 and 1909, in which the football teams compiled records of 5–3–1 and 7–3, respectively. In 1917, Gammons led a group of investors which purchased the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

baseball team of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He was named the club's president, but resigned that post in 1918 when he was appointed to the advisory committee of the Bureau of Mines during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Gammons was also a skilled amateur golfer. A contemporary source called him "one of New England's best golfers." He won the 1924 Rhode Island Amateur Championship,Rhode Island Amateur Champions
Official Website of the Rhode Island Golf Association, retrieved June 20, 2010. in which he had previously finished as runner-up in 1919 and 1920. Gammons died in

East Greenwich, Rhode Island East Greenwich is a town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island. It is part of the Providence metropolitan st ...

, on March 24, 1963. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1971.Exceptional Bears
Brown University, retrieved June 20, 2010.''2009 Football Media Guide'', p. 65.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links