William Blackburn "Warbler" Wilson (November 28, 1878 – December 8, 1958) 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 and city recorder.

College football

Wilson was an All-Southern

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

South Carolina

Wilson came from

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...

, and played as a backup for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

in 1896.

Sewanee

In part due to Luke Lea, Wilson came to Sewanee:The University of the South as a

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

student. He was a prominent

from

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

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 ...

1898

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

he led the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

to an undefeated year, playing through a

broken leg The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb ext ...

in the 19–4 victory over Vanderbilt.

1899

Wilson was the quarterback and a key member of the undefeated 1899 " Iron Men" who won five road games by shutout in six days. Supposedly he also played with a broken leg for 45 minutes in the last game of the road trip of '99, against Ole Miss. A documentary film about this team and Wilson's role was released in 2022 called "Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899."

1900

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 the team in

City recorder

He was the first city recorder in his native town of Rock Hill.

References

1878 births 1958 deaths American football quarterbacks South Carolina Gamecocks football players Sewanee Tigers football players Players of American football from South Carolina People from Rock Hill, South Carolina All-Southern college football players 19th-century players of American football {{quarterback-stub