Sheldon Fitts (November 1, 1899 – October 26, 1985) was an American college football player and lawyer.
 Fitts, c. 1920 | |
| No. 31 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback, Halfback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 1, 1899 Jemison, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died: | October 26, 1985 (aged 85) Alabama, U.S. |
| Career history | |
| College | Georgia (1920) |
| High school | Georgia Military College |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Biography
editFitts was born in 1899 in Jemison, Alabama.[1] He prepped at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville.[2] Fitts had a half-sister, author Mary Ward Brown.[2]
Fitts played as a quarterback and halfback for the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, a member of the "ten second backfield"[a] of 1920. Fitts caught the pass to beat Furman[4] and starred in the 56–0 win over Florida.[5][6]
While at Georgia, Fitts was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity,[7]: 156 and played as a center fielder on the Bulldogs baseball team.[7]: 271 He was awarded varsity letters in both football and baseball.[8]: 334 Georgia lists Fitts as only earning a football letter for the 1920 season,[9] with contemporary newspaper reports from the 1921 season noting that he was unable to play due to a knee injury.[10] While he was reported to have returned to the team in October 1922,[11] there are no contemporary accounts of him playing again for Georgia.
Fitts went on to become an attorney.[12] At the time of his death in 1985, he was a resident of Marion, Alabama.[12][13] He was survived by a son, Sheldon Jr.,[12] and predeceased by his wife, Frances, who died in 1984.[14]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Draft Registration Card". fold3.com. Selective Service System. February 1942. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Brown, Mary Ward (2009). Fanning the Spark: A Memoir. University of Alabama Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780817316457. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "Advent has ten-second backfield". The Cincinnati Post. November 11, 1913. p. 6. Retrieved September 9, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ga. Barely Overcome Furman Crew". The Red and Black. October 22, 1920. p. 8.
- ^ "'Gators Lose To Georgia In One-Sided Bout". The Florida Alligator. Vol. 9. November 19, 1920.
- ^ "'Gators Are Beaten By Red and Black In One-Sided Game". The Red and Black. November 19, 1920. p. 8.
- ^ a b Pandora. University of Georgia. 1921. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via usg.edu.
- ^ Pandora. University of Georgia. 1922. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via usg.edu.
- ^ "All-Time Georgia Football Lettermen". georgiadogs.com. July 24, 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "Georgia Looking for Tough Game from Virginians". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. November 3, 1921. p. 10. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
The quandary of the coaches in these losses is rendered doubly serious by the inability to play of Sheldon Fitts who has been unable to play a minute this season on account of an injured knee.
- ^ "Sheldon Fitts Returns to Georgia Grid Squad". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. October 11, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Sheldon Fitts, Sr". Selma Times-Journal. Selma, Alabama. October 28, 1985. p. 3. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Social Security Death Index". fold3.com. Social Security Administration. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
- ^ "Frances B. Fitts". Selma Times-Journal. Selma, Alabama. October 17, 1984. p. 2. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
