Walker Glenn "Bill" "Big Six" Carpenter (June 3, 1893 – September 24, 1956) 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 ...

tackle for

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 ...

's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the

Georgia Institute of Technology 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 ...

. He and teammate

Everett Strupper George Everett Strupper Jr. (July 26, 1896 – February 4, 1950), known variously as "Ev" or "Strup" or "Stroop" was an American football player. He played halfback for Georgia Tech from 1915 to 1917. Strupper overcame deafness resulting from ...

were the first players from the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

selected to 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, in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

. Carpenter was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1965. He is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Helms Football Hall of Fame.

Early years

Walker was born June 3, 1893 in

Newnan, Georgia Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010. History Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...

to Starling V. Carpenter and Glenn L. Camp.

Georgia Tech

Carpenter entered The Georgia Institute of Technology in the fall of 1914, elected president of the freshman class. He graduated from Tech with a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

Football

His coach

once said of Carpenter: "On three of Georgia Tech's greatest teams Bill Carpenter—Big Six—played right tackle in the manner that makes coaches believe that life is good. Even the coaches of the teams we walloped were given to saying that it was worth a beating to watch Bill." He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.

1914 and 1915

His first year on the football team saw Carpenter suffer a serious injury during the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

game which caused him to have one of his

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

s removed. It was wondered if he would ever play football again. Carpenter defied the odds and stepped out on the field for the first game of 1915 against

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

1916

Carpenter would be a starter the next year for the famous 222–0 defeat of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

1917

He 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 one of Tech's greatest teams in

, winning a

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 ...

and outscoring opponents 491–17. He was responsible that year for training new recruits

Si Bell Robert Strickland "Si" Bell (April 18, 1894 – March 12, 1972) was a college football player. Georgia Tech Bell was prominent end for the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was twice selected All-Sou ...

Bill Fincher William Enoch Fincher (November 12, 1896 – July 17, 1978) was an American college football player and coach. He played the end and tackle positions for the Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team of the Georgia Institute of Technology. ...

, and

Dan Whelchel Dan Whelchel (August 26, 1894 – March 1, 1988) was a college football player and fruit horticulturalist. Early years Dan Whelchel was born in Dawson County, Georgia on August 26, 1894 to Jordan Davis Whelchel and Amanda Jane Palmour. At ...

.The Technique, Volume 7, Issue 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Walker 1893 births 1956 deaths People from Newnan, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football ends American football tackles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players All-Southern college football players Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's track and field athletes