| Navy Midshipmen | |
|---|---|
| Position | Running back |
| Class | Graduate |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1885-02-08)February 8, 1885 Bennettsville, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died: | December 21, 1972(1972-12-21) (aged 87) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Archibald Hugh "Toots" "Tootsie" Douglas (February 8, 1885 – December 12, 1972) was acollege football andbaseball player and distinguished veteran ofWorld War II.[1] He once commanded the aircraft carrierUSS Saratoga. He also served inWorld War I, as part of theNorthern Bombing Group.
Douglas was born on February 8, 1885, inBennettsville, South Carolina, but grew up inKnoxville, Tennessee,[2] the son of Archibald J. Douglas and Nan Harlan.[1]
Douglas was once a prominentrunning back for theTennessee Volunteers football teams of theUniversity of Tennessee.
The1902 Volunteers won a school record six games and beat rivalsSewanee andGeorgia Tech. 1902 was also the first time that Tennessee scored on Vanderbilt in theirRivalry game. The team closed the season with an 11 to 0 loss toJohn Heisman'sClemson Tigers. Douglas holds the record for the longest punt in school history when he punted a ball 109 yards (the field length was 110 yards in those days) during the Clemson game.[3][4][5] Heisman described the kick:
The day was bitterly cold and a veritable typhoon was blowing straight down the field from one end to the other. We rushed the ball with more consistency than Tennessee, but throughout the entire first half they held us because of the superb punting of "Toots" Douglas, especially because, in that period he had the gale squarely with him. Going against that blizzard our labors were like unto those ofTantalus. Slowly, with infinite pains and a maximum of exertion, we pushed the ball from our territory to their 10-yard line. We figured we had another down to draw on, but the referee begged to differ. He handed the ball to Tennessee and the "tornado." Their general cheerfully chirped a signal –Saxe Crawford, it must have been –; and "Toots" with sprightly step, dropped back for another of hisMilky Way punts. I visualize him still, standing on his own goal line and squarely between his uprights. One quick glance he cast overhead– no doubt to make sure that howling was still the same old hurricane.I knew at once what he proposed to do. The snap was perfect. "Toots" caught the ball, took two smart steps and – BLAM!–away shot the ball as though from the throat ofBig Bertha. And, say, in his palmiest mathematical mood, I don't believe SirIsaac Newton himself could have figured a more perfect trajectory to fit with that cyclone. Onward and upward, upward and onward, the crazy thing flew like a brainchild ofJules Verne. I thought it would clear theBlue Ridge Mountains. Our safety man, the greatJohnny Maxwell, was positioned 50 yards behind our rush line, yet the punt sailed over his head like a phantom aeroplane. Finally, it came down, but still uncured of its wanderlust it started in to roll–toward our goal, of course, with Maxwell chasing and damning it with every step and breath. Finally it curled up and died on our one-footline, after a bowstring journey of just 109 yards.[6]
In the loss toVanderbilt, Tennessee's only score was provided by an A. H. Douglas run around right end, breaking two tackles and getting the touchdown.[7] Douglas was selectedAll-Southern.[8]Nash Buckingham and Sax Crawford were teammates of his.
Douglas then played for theNavy Midshipmen from1904 to1907, a teammate ofBill Dague.
Douglas made the tying score in theArmy–Navy Game of1905.[9]
He wascaptain of the team in 1907. He was selected a third-team All-American byWalter Camp and a first-team All-American by theNew York Tribune. Captain Douglas called the tie toVanderbilt "the bitterest pill I have ever had to swallow."[10]
On the baseball team he was a pitcher.[1]
| International | |
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| National | |
