 "Bum" with Tech in 1918 | |
| Georgia Bulldogs – No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1898-08-03)August 3, 1898 Nashville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died: | January 30, 1988(1988-01-30) (aged 89) Ogden, Utah, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| High school | Porter Military Academy |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Ashel Monroe Day (August 3, 1898 – January 30, 1988),[1][2][3] nicknamed "Bum Day", was an Americancollege football player who was acenter for both theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets of theGeorgia Institute of Technology and theGeorgia Bulldogs of theUniversity of Georgia. He was the firstSouthern player ever selected first-teamAll-America byWalter Camp, who had historically selected college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Northeastern colleges.
He was captain of the 1917Gordon College football team.
As theUniversity of Georgia did not have a football team,[4] Day enrolled at Georgia Tech inAtlanta, where he played center for coachJohn Heisman's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado in1918.[5] He was a key two-way lineman during the team's 1918 season when the Yellow Jackets finished first in theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) with a win–loss record of 6–1.[5] Day was recognized as a consensus first-teamAll-American following the 1918 season, when he was a first-team selection byWalter Camp.[5][6] Day's selection by Walter Camp as a first-team All-American was a historic first; he was the firstSoutherner to be chosen for Camp's annual All-America first team, which had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and other Northeastern colleges.[7][8] Day was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.[5]
Day did not complete his college football career at Georgia Tech, however. He later enrolled at theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, where he played for coachHerman Stegeman'sGeorgia Bulldogs football team in 1920 and 1921.[9] He played in every minute of 1921. At Georgia his jersey number was 1. Day was recognized as a first-teamAll-Southern selection by theAtlanta Constitution and several other major newspapers following his 1920 and 1921 seasons playing for the Georgia Bulldogs. He made an all-time Georgia Bulldogs football team picked in 1935.[10] He was nominated, though not selected, for anAssociated Press All-Time Southeast 1869–1919 era team.[11]
Buck Cheves said "I never saw a better center than Bum Day...He would snap the ball and then make the tackle on kicks".[12]