Thomas Bowman Zerfoss (June 15, 1895 – August 5, 1988) 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 ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player and coach. He played for both the
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...
of the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
and the
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 ...
of
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 coached the latter's
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
football team and served as an assistant under head coach
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 ...
. Zerfoss was selected as an All-Southern football player in 1919 by Charles A. Reinhart, sporting editor for the ''
Louisville Courier-Journal
The ''Courier Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017,
is the highest circulation newspape ...
'', and J. L. Ray, sporting editor for the ''
Nashville Tennessean
''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...
''.
Zerfoss also was
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the 1919–20
SIAA champion
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team which went 14–4. As a player, he weighed 155 pounds.
He graduated from Vanderbilt with an
M. D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
The Zerfoss Student Health Center at Vanderbilt bears his name. A plaque upon it reads "Named in honor of Thomas Bowman Zerfoss Sr., M.D. ... physician, guide, philosopher and friend to Vanderbilt students for more than 40 years." Zerfoss was Vanderbilt's
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...
from 1940 to 1944. During the nationwide anti-
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
campaign, Vanderbilt issued a mandatory tuberculosis screening of all students in 1948. Students complied by making appointments for chest
X-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
s with Zerfoss.
It was Zerfoss who got tennis great
Joe C. Davis, Jr. to come to Vanderbilt.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zerfoss, Tom
1895 births
1988 deaths
All-Southern college football players
American football ends
American football halfbacks
Basketball players from Kentucky
Centers (basketball)
Forwards (basketball)
Kentucky Wildcats football players
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players
Physicians from Kentucky
Physicians from Tennessee
Players of American football from Kentucky
Sportspeople from Ashland, Kentucky
Vanderbilt Commodores athletic directors
Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches
Vanderbilt Commodores football players
Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball players
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni
American men's basketball players