The Nashville Garnet and Blue football team represented the

University of Nashville University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...

intercollegiate 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

competition. The program was active from 1889 until 1909, when it was discontinued. In

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

, the school challenged local Vanderbilt to a game, leading to the first intercollegiate game in

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 ...

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 ...

, whose

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 ...

team defeated Nashville 14–4 in 1897, said

Bradley Walker Bradley Walker (October 14, 1877 – February 3, 1951) was a Nashville attorney who, in his youth, was found to be naturally proficient at virtually any sport he tried, including football, baseball, track, boxing, tennis and golf— in all th ...

was the best ever to play for the Nashville football team. The 1901 team, coached by

Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire (baseball), umpire in Major League Baseball and as a college football, collegiate an ...

was one of the South's first great teams. In

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

, E. A. Wreidt, the team's coach, resigned and Nashville football was threatened with its end, but it survived for a few more years.

References

{{Nashville Garnet and Blue football navbox American football teams established in 1889 American football teams disestablished in 1909 1889 establishments in Tennessee 1909 disestablishments in Tennessee