John Hollis "Gus" Ripple (October 25, 1897 – July 27, 1965) was a

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.

North Carolina A&M

Ripple was a prominent tackle for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

of North Carolina A&M. One writer ranks Ripple as the fifth greatest player ever to grace the school. He was a member of the

Delta Sigma Phi Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig or D Sig, is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity established in 1899 at City College of New York, The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded on the basis o ...

fraternity.

1918

He was the first football player from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

ever to make an

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 ...

team when he was selected second-team All-American by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

. Camp rarely selected southern players,

Bum Day Ashel Monroe Day (August 3, 1898 – January 30, 1988), nicknamed Bum Day, was an American college football player who was a center for both the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Bulldogs of the ...

that year being the first southern Camp first-team All-American ever. North Carolina would not get a first-team All-American until Fred Crawford in 1933. Ripple was only a sophomore and had never played the sport before this year. He was not in the

First World War 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 ...

due to catching

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

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 ...

beat NC State 128 to 0 on

Grant Field Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets foo ...

. State's only highlight came in the third quarter, when Ripple recovered a teammate's fumble and returned the ball 75 yards for a touchdown. However, it was called back due to an offsides penalty. Camp attended that game.

References

External links

Guide to the J. H. (John Hollis) Ripple Scrapbook and Newsclippings 1917-1985
1897 births 1965 deaths People from Lexington, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football tackles NC State Wolfpack football players {{collegefootball-player-stub