Thomas Louis Spence (April 17, 1896 – November 27, 1918) was an American college football player. Spence also played on the baseball, basketball, and track teams.[1]
 | |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Fullback |
| Class | 1917 |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | April 17, 1896 Thomasville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died: | November 27, 1918 (aged 22) France |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 168 lb (76 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | Georgia Tech (1914–1916) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Georgia Tech
editFootball
editSpence was a prominent fullback for John Heisman's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1914 to 1916 . He was posthumously elected to the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976.[2]
1915
editIn 1915, near the end of the LSU game, he returned an interception 85 yards.[3] He made a 40-yard drop kick field goal against North Carolina.[4]
1916
editSpence was a starter for the 1916 team which, as one writer wrote, "seemed to personify Heisman."[5] In Georgia Tech's record-setting 222-0 win over Cumberland College in 1916, Spence scored the second-most behind Everett Strupper when he netted five touchdowns.[6] He was selected All-Southern that season.[7] Walter Camp gave him honorable mention.
World War I
editSpence was a casualty of the World War I.[8] He is the namesake of Spence Air Base.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Thomas Spence Killed In Airplane Accident". The Gazette Times. December 18, 1918.
- ^ "Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame".
- ^ "Georgia Techs Walloped Tigers of Louisiana". The Charlotte News. October 24, 1915. p. 10. Retrieved May 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Possessing No Offense and a Weak Defense, Carolina Proved Easy For The Jackets". Charlotte News. October 31, 1915. p. 12. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
- ^ Heisman, John M. (October 2, 2012). Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy. Simon and Schuster. pp. 144. ISBN 9781451682915.
- ^ "A Monumental Victory". October 6, 2006.
- ^ Intercollegiate Athletic Calendar. Vol. 1. 1917. p. 167.
- ^ Wiley Lee Umphlett (1992). Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 141. ISBN 9780313284045.
- ^ "Spence Air Base". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
