Jimmy Armistead

American football player (1905–1984)

Jimmy ArmisteadVanderbilt Commodores

Position| Running back/Quarterback
Class| Graduate
Personal information
Born:| (1905-08-29)August 29, 1905
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died:| March 1984
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Height| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight| 174 lb (79 kg)
Career history
College| Vanderbilt (1926-1928)
High school| Hume-Fogg
Career highlights and awards

* All-Southern (1927, 1928)

James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 - March 1984) was an American college football player.

## Early years

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James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate.

### High school

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Armistead attended Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, Tennessee. The first game played at Dudley Field was between the home-standing Commodores and the powerful Michigan Wolverines. A goal-line stand by the Commodores preserved a 0–0 tie.[1] The following Friday, nearby Hume-Fogg High School played a game at Dudley. Senior Jimmie Armistead returned the opening kick for a touchdown, providing the first touchdown ever recorded in the stadium.[citation needed]

Armistead c. 1928

## Vanderbilt

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Armistead was a prominent running back for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University from 1926 to 1928. He was also bald,[2] called by one writer "the bald eagle of Vanderbilt."[3]

### 1926

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He started slow; "Nature neglected to endow him with pugnacity; Or even aggressiveness. As a sophomore, he was so timid on attack that he was as easy to snuff out as a candle."[4] He was always shy, and took no joy in seeing his opponent fail.[5] In 1926, Vanderbilt lost its only game to national champion Alabama. Armistead once caught a pass in the game and was tackled just a few yards short of the goal without fighting for extra yardage. From there Vanderbilt failed to score; and so some Vanderbilt fans blamed Armistead for the loss.[5]

### 1927

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He took the criticism of 1926 to heart and emerged a new player in 1927.[5] Armistead led the nation in scoring in 1927 with 138 points,[6] a year in which he was a target of quarterback Bill Spears.[7]

### 1928

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When Spears graduated, Armistead was the triple-threat option,[4] i.e. he now had to pass and kick, as well as captain.[8] Armistead starred in the 14 to 7 victory over Kentucky.[9] He made the second-team of the composite All-Southern eleven behind Florida quarterback Clyde Crabtree.[10]

## See also

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* List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders

## References

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1. ^ "Vanderbilt Stadium". Vanderbilt Athletics. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved September 8, 2007.
2. ^ "Family Stuff, Says Armistead, As He Explains His Bald Head". The Pittsburgh Press. August 26, 1928 - via Google News.
3. ^ "Southern Grid Teams to Lose Many Stars At Close of Season". The Evening Independent. December 1, 1928 - via Google News.
4. ^ a b Blinkey Horn (November 13, 1928). "Armistead of Vanderbilt Dixie's Brightest Star". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2015 - via Google news archive.
5. ^ a b c "Bald Headed Grid Captain Leads Vandy". The Montana Standard. November 13, 1928. p. 13. Retrieved March 28, 2015 - via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ Ernie Couch (July 30, 2001). SEC Football Trivia. ISBN 9781418571788.
7. ^ Mark Purcell (November 1988). "Spears and Vandy excitement in 1927" (PDF). College Football Historical Society. 2 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 11, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
8. ^ "Southern Star". Daily Illini. September 28, 1928.
9. ^ "Leads Vanderbilt Attack" (PDF). The Technique. November 9, 1928.
10. ^ "All Southern Selections". The Kingsport Times. December 7, 1928.

* v
* t
* e

Vanderbilt Commodores starting quarterbacks

* Pat Estes (1890)
* William E. Beard (1892)
* W. J. Keller (1893–1894)
* Myles P. O'Connor (1895–1896)
* Joe Goodson (1897–1898)
* Frank Godchaux Sr. (1899–1900)
* Fred Hume (1901)
* Frank Kyle (1902–1905)
* Jimmy R. Haygood (1904–1905)
* Sam Costen (1906–1907)
* Ray Morrison (1908–1911)
* Zach Curlin (1912–1913)
* Hord Boensch (1913)
* Irby Curry (1914–1916)
* Sam Wilhite (1917)
* Dooch Sherman (1918)
* Swayne Latham (1919–1920)
* Frank Godchaux Jr. (1921)
* Oliver Kuhn (1921–1923)
* E. M. Waller (1924)
* Neil Cargile (1924–1925)
* Bill Spears (1925–1927)
* Jimmy Armistead (1928)
* Benny Parker (1929–1930)
* Tommy Henderson (1930–1932)
* Rand Dixon (1933–1935)
* Lunny Huggins (1936–1937)
* Bert Marshall (1937–1938)
* Junius Plunkett (1939)
* Charlton Davis (1940)
* Jack Jenkins (1941–1942)
* Jack Kaley (1943)
* John Rich (1945)
* Jamie Wade (1946–1947, 1949)
* Bobby Berry (1948)
* Bill Wade (1950–1951)
* Bill Krietemeyer (1952)
* Jim Looney (1953–1954)
* Don Orr (1955)
* Boyce Smith (1956–1958)
* Russ Morris (1959)
* Hank Lesesne (1960–1962)
* Jon Cleveland (1963)
* David Waller (1964)
* Bob Kerr (1965)
* Gary Davis (1966)
* Roger May (1967)
* John Miller (1968)
* Watson Brown (1969)
* Denny Painter (1970)
* Steve Burger (1971)
* Steve Lainhart (1972)
* Fred Fisher (1973–1975)
* David Lee (1974)
* Randy Hampton (1976)
* Mike Wright (1977)
* Van Heflin (1978–1979)
* Whit Taylor (1980–1982)
* Kurt Page (1983–1984)
* John Gromos (1985; 1989)
* Mark Wracher (1986)
* Eric Jones (1987–1988)
* Mike Healy (1990)
* Marcus Wilson (1991–1992)
* Ronnie Gordon (1993–1994)
* Damian Allen (1995–1997)
* Greg Zolman (1998–2001)
* Jay Cutler (2002–2005)
* Chris Nickson (2006–2008)
* Mackenzi Adams (2007–2009)
* Larry Smith (2008–2011)
* Jared Funk (2010)
* Jordan Rodgers (2011–2012)
* Austyn Carta-Samuels (2012–2013)
* Patton Robinette (2013–2014)
* Stephen Rivers (2014)
* Wade Freebeck (2014)
* Johnny McCrary (2014–2015)
* Kyle Shurmur (2015–2018)
* Riley Neal (2019)
* Deuce Wallace (2019)
* Ken Seals (2020–2021, 2023)
* Mike Wright (2021–2022)
* AJ Swann (2022–2023)

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