Georgia Football Saved

A historic recant of how after a game day tragedy in early football, the game was preserved by the most unlikely of sources under the circumstances.

Today’s gridiron story was inspired by a pretty cool book titled A History of College Football in Georgia: Glory on the Gridiron, by Jon Nelson.

A name that I had not heard before, Richard Von Ablade Gammon came to light early in the book. Gammon was a player on the 1897 University of Georgia football team. Think about the game of American football in 1897 for a moment. 22 men were lined up in close quarters before every play with very little protective gear. The substitution rules gave very little relief of taking a breather during the contests. It was basically smash mouth football on steroids as every play was a running play. The legal forward pass would not be in the rule book at all until 1906 and really not be an effective option until 1912.

Photo is Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of  a picture of Richard Von Albade Gammon in his athletic attire circa 1897. Taken by an Unknown author.

Georgia Bulldog football had its start in 1892 as the squad played two games in their inaugural year. This was the Georgia Bulldogs' one and only season under the guidance of head coach Charles Herty, the so-called father of football at Georgia. The first was a 50-0 shallacking of Mercer. Georgia's second of 1892 was against Auburn, which marked the beginning of a rivalry that would later become known as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. This contest played at Piedmont Park in Atlanta ended in a 10-0 victory for Auburn.

Fast forward back to the 1897 season. Georgia was competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and their schedule consisted of three games under first yeat head coach Charles McCarthy. Georgia beat Georgia Tech for the first time and met both Clemson and Virginia for the first time. Week one they blanked Clemson 24-0 on October 9 at Herty Field in Athens, Georgia. A couple weeks later, on 10/23 they again played at Herty and once more whaite washed an opponent, this time Georgia Tech 28-0. 

The season finale was played at Piedmont Field in Atlanta against the University of Virginia. The Bulldogs suffered a devastating loss to UV 17-4 but what was far worse was that they lost a player, Von Gammon when he died from trauma suffered in the contest. 

This death rallied football critics around the state and a formal ban of the game in the State of Geoorgia was laid on then Governor William Atkinson’s desk, needing only his signature to outlaw the game from being played.

UGA along with Georgia Tech and Mercer disbanded their teams after the tragedy and the Atlanta Constituion even posted the headline of “Death Knell of Football” marking the end of the game. The future of football in the Peach State looked gloomy at best.

01 Nov 1897, Mon The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Newspapers.com

Football was saved from certain doom from a somewhat unlikely group… Gammon’s family. Von Gammon’s own mother, Ms. Rosalind Gammon wrote a letter to her local representative, pleading for the sport to be made safer and continued as the best memorial to her son. According to Jon Nelson the letter read:

"It would be the greatest favor to the family of Von Gammon if your influence could prevent hsi death from being used for an argument detrimental to the athletic cause and it advancement at the University. His love for college and his interest in manly sports, without which he deemed the highest type of manhood impossible, is well known by his classmates and friends, and it would be in expressibly sad to have the cause he held so dear injured by his sacrafice. Grant me the right that my boy's death should not be used to defeat the most chersihed object of his life. Dr. Herty's article in the Constition on the Nov. 2d is timely, and the authorities of the University can be trusted to make all needed changes for all possible consideration pertaining to the welfare of its students, if they are given the means and the confidence their loyalty and high sense of duty deserve."

Powerful words indeed. She didn't want the very thing her sone enjoyed, and ultimately killed him to be banned but in her son's name for it to be revised. Governor Atkinson read the letter and then he agreed with the grieving mother and college football in Georgia survived. Had Mama Gammon not written that letter of revision request who knows what the fate of football would have been in Georgia and in the South.

There is still a long way to go to make the game safer for participants, but in the spirit of Von Gammon's family wishes manufacturers, rules makers and coaches all over the country still strive to make player safety their number one goal.

The banner photo is of Wikimedia Commons of this is a cropped view of a photograph taken at the football game between Auburn University and the University of Georgia on November 28, 1895 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. The full photograph (at a smaller resolution) can be seen at Atlanta History Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites mentioned above including Today in Georgia History Website, Author Jon Nelson and his great book on Georgia Football history, Newspapers.com, and the Sports-Reference family of websites.