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 ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, has graduated a number of athletes. This includes graduates, non-graduate former students and current students of Vanderbilt who are notable for their achievements within athletics, sometimes before or after their time at Vanderbilt. Intercollegiate

sports team A sports team is a group of individuals who play sports ( sports player), usually team sports, on the same team. The number of players in the group depends on type of the sports requirements. Historically, sports teams and the people who play ...

s at Vanderbilt are known as the "

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

", due to founder

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

. Vanderbilt University currently sponsors teams in six men's and ten women's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

sanctioned sports:Vanderbilt Commodores , Official Athletic Site
/ref> men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's bowling, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, and women's track and field. Well-known

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 wi ...

athletes include former students

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...

Jamie Duncan Jamie Robert Duncan (born July 20, 1975) is a former American football linebacker in the NFL. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1998 NFL Draft. He also played for the St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons. A two time All-America ...

, Shelton Quarles, and

Will Wolford William Charles Wolford (born May 18, 1964) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Playing career Wolford attended St. Xav ...

, former Vanderbilt football coaches

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 ...

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

, and

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He was head coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California at Los Angeles (1949–1957), compili ...

, and all-time greats such as

Lynn Bomar Robert Lynn Bomar (January 21, 1901 – June 11, 1964) was an American football end in the National Football League (NFL). Bomar played college football, basketball and baseball for Vanderbilt University, following coach Wallace Wade and ...

Josh Cody Joshua Crittenden Cody (June 11, 1892 – June 17, 1961) was an American college athlete, head coach, and athletics director. Cody was a native of Tennessee and an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he played several sports. As a versatil ...

, Bucky Curtis,

Carl Hinkle Carl Columbus Hinkle, Jr. (March 3, 1917 – November 15, 1992) was an American college football player who was a stand-out center for the Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt Univers ...

, Bill Spears, John J. Tigert, and

Bill Wade William James Wade (October 4, 1930 – March 9, 2016) was an American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). He is considered one of the greatest athletes in Nashville and Vanderbilt University h ...

. Former Vanderbilt chemistry professor

William Lofland Dudley William Lofland Dudley (April 16, 1859 – September 8, 1914) was an American chemistry professor at both the University of Cincinnati and Vanderbilt University and an athletics pioneer during the Progressive Era. At Vanderbilt, he was appoint ...

was known as the "father of Southern football." Vanderbilt's entrants into the NBA include Charles Davis,

Festus Ezeli Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue (born October 21, 1989) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player. He previously played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Vanderbilt before being s ...

, Shan Foster, John Jenkins,

Dan Langhi Daniel Matthew Langhi (born November 28, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was raised in the small western Kentucky town of Benton. In addition to his high school basketball career, where h ...

Clyde Lee Clyde Wayne Lee (born March 14, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player who had his most success as an All-American center at Vanderbilt University, where the two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year was among the mo ...

, and

Will Perdue William Edward Perdue III (born August 29, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a member of four NBA championship teams, three with the Chicago Bulls (1991–1993) and ...

. Award-winning baseball stars include Pedro Alvarez, David Price, Scotti Madison, and Mike Minor. Sportswriters

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

and

Fred Russell Fred Russell (August 27, 1906 – January 26, 2003) was an American sportswriter from Tennessee who served as sports editor for the ''Nashville Banner'' for 68 years (1930–1998). Beginning in the 1960s he served for nearly three decades as ...

had both been members of the baseball team.

Olympics

American football

Baseball

* Antoan Richardson (born 1983), Bahamian Major League Baseball outfielder and coach

Olympics

American football

Baseball

Basketball

Golf

Soccer

Tennis

References