Jimmy Armistead
{{Short description|American football player (1905–1984)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
|name=Jimmy Armistead
|image=
|image_size=
|caption=
|birth_date={{birth date|1905|8|29}}
|birth_place=Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
|death_date=March 1984
|death_place=Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
|currentposition=Running back/Quarterback
|school=Vanderbilt Commodores
|height_ft=5
|height_in=10
|weight_lb=174
|class=Graduate
|pastschools=Vanderbilt (1926–1928)
|highschool=Hume-Fogg
|highlights=
- All-Southern (1927, 1928)
}}
James Cate Armistead (August 29, 1905 – March 1984) was an American college football player.
Early years
James Cate Armistead was born on August 29, 1905, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Wirt Mayo Armistead and Sarah Adeline Cate.
=High school=
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.{{cite web|title=Vanderbilt Stadium|url=http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-stadium.html|publisher=Vanderbilt Athletics|accessdate=September 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929224616/http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-stadium.html|archive-date=September 29, 2011|url-status=dead}} 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|date=October 2014}}
Vanderbilt
Armistead was a prominent running back for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University from 1926 to 1928. He was also bald,{{Cite news |date=August 26, 1928 |title=Family Stuff, Says Armistead, As He Explains His Bald Head |work=The Pittsburgh Press|via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19280826&id=aW8bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RUoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3805,362416}} called by one writer "the bald eagle of Vanderbilt."{{Cite news |date=December 1, 1928 |title=Southern Grid Teams to Lose Many Stars At Close of Season |work=The Evening Independent|via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19281201&id=hvJPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1lQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3182,167650}}
=1926=
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." He was always shy, and took no joy in seeing his opponent fail.{{cite news|title=Bald Headed Grid Captain Leads Vandy|work=The Montana Standard|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2083460/the_montana_standard/|date=November 13, 1928|accessdate=March 28, 2015|page=13|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} 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.
=1927=
He took the criticism of 1926 to heart and emerged a new player in 1927. Armistead led the nation in scoring in 1927 with 138 points,{{cite book|title=SEC Football Trivia|author=Ernie Couch|date=30 July 2001|isbn=9781418571788|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9qcRV21QkgC&dq=football+armistead+vanderbilt&pg=PT168}} a year in which he was a target of quarterback Bill Spears.{{cite journal|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv02/CFHSNv02n1a.pdf|journal=College Football Historical Society|volume=2|number=1|date=November 1988|title=Spears and Vandy excitement in 1927|author=Mark Purcell|access-date=2014-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911232525/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv02/CFHSNv02n1a.pdf|archive-date=2016-09-11|url-status=dead}}
=1928=
When Spears graduated, Armistead was the triple-threat option,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19281113&id=ca1RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=viEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5971,1581968|work=The Milwaukee Journal|title=Armistead of Vanderbilt Dixie's Brightest Star|author=Blinkey Horn|author-link=Blinkey Horn|accessdate=March 28, 2015|via=Google news archive|date=November 13, 1928}} {{Open access}} i.e. he now had to pass and kick, as well as captain.{{cite news|url=http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=DIL19280928.2.81|work=Daily Illini|title=Southern Star|date=September 28, 1928}} Armistead starred in the 14 to 7 victory over Kentucky.{{cite news|url=https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/33484/1928-11-09_18_07.pdf|title=Leads Vanderbilt Attack|work=The Technique|date=November 9, 1928}} He made the second-team of the composite All-Southern eleven behind Florida quarterback Clyde Crabtree.{{cite news|title=All Southern Selections|newspaper=The Kingsport Times|date=December 7, 1928}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armistead, Jimmy}}
Category:Vanderbilt Commodores football players
Category:American football running backs
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:All-Southern college football players
Category:Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee