Football Outlawed in Georgia, Until Bereaved Mother Saves the Game

As football season approaches and thousands of players prepare for the upcoming season at the youth, high school and collegiate levels, it's hard to believe that the both houses of the Georgia Legislature once passed legislation to outlaw the state's most popular sport.

Can you imagine Georgia without football? The state legislature voted to ban the sport before it was saved by a grieving mother.Photo byGraphic: DeanLand

And perhaps even stranger, the sport was saved from a state-wide ban by a bereaved-but-determined mother who interceded with the state's governor.

The story begins in Rome, GA, where Richard Von Albade Gammon was born on September 22, 1879, the second son of parents, Mary Kate Pattillo Gammon and William Lee Gammon. The Gammons enjoyed watching their athletic son grow up, shining in several sports but excelling in football. By the time he was offered a football scholarship to the University of Georgia, friends had dropped his first name and everyone referred to him as Von.

An illustration of Von Gammon was made by the Atlanta Constitution from a photo taken by the University of Georgia.Photo byAtlanta Constitution, 1897

According to newspaper accounts of the time, Von Gammon was a well-liked leader on the Bulldog football team. In his freshman year of 1896, the Bulldogs finished the season with a 2-3 record, earning victories over South Carolina and Auburn. The season was the last for innovative coach Glen “Pop” Warner, who had developed a reputation as both a strategist and innovator in the young game of college football

When the 1897 football season approached, Charles McCarthy had joined the team as a first-year coach. Returning for his second year, Von Gammon was considered a linchpin of Georgia's success playing a crucial running back position in the offense as well as playing on the defensive side, too.

Georgia's third game of 1897 was played at Atlanta's Brisbane Field versus the University of Virginia. More than 5,000 Georgia fans attendedPhoto byUniversity of Georgia Library

Going into their third game of the season at Atlanta’s Brisbine Field against the University of Virginia on Oct. 30, the Bulldogs sported a 2-0 record after victories against Clemson and Georgia Tech. According to historical documents stored at the University of Georgia, a special train carrying 5,000 fans arrived from Athens, with supporters filling the stands.

Accounts vary about the specific circumstances of the fateful play which led to Von Gammon’s death. The Atlanta Constitution reported it this way the following day:

“Gammon . . .  made a lunge at the (Virginia) player who had the ball. He missed his tackle and was thrown violently to the ground. Some say Gammon's head hit his shoe as he almost doubled as he was thrown. Others claim his head struck the hard ground. The fall stunned Gammon and he was picked up dazed . . . He soon became unconscious.”

The Atlanta Constitution reported that Gammon was taken to Atlanta’s Grady Hospital, where he was diagnosed with “a concussion of the brain,” and at 2:30 am,  “attending physicians say it is impossible for him to live until daylight.”

Reports of Gammon’s death and the brutal nature of the football game which precipitated it were widely circulated by newspapers in Georgia and beyond. The November 1 edition of the Savannah Morning News included a typical account of news coverage of the time.

Gammon’s death was followed by finger-pointing and swift public reaction from the public, university community and politicians.

Newspaper accounts of Von Gammon's injury and death appeared in newspapers throughout Georgia and beyond.Photo bySavannah Morning News Nov 1 1897

A game report filed by a reporter for the Savannah Press claimed that the Virginia team had tried deliberately to injure Georgia players during the fateful game, citing injuries to Georgia player Tichner and Gammon. In a letter sent to the Savannah Press, the captain of the VIrginia team vigorously denied the accusation.

Within days, the faculty at UGA had gone on record with a vote to ban participation in football by university students. Then, the university’s chancellor announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 1897 football season for the Bulldog squad, according to accounts in the Atlanta Constitution.

By November 3, the newspaper Atlanta Journal called for the abolition of football in the state, writing, “It is high time in Georgia to put a stop to this so-called sport.”

Georgia Governor Atkinson vetoed the anti-football bill after it passed both houses of the Georgia legislature.Photo bySavannah Morning News 1897

Over the coming weeks, the Georgia Legislature weighed in. Both the Georgia House of Representative and the Georgia Senate approved a bill which would have outlawed football in the state. The bill was sent to the governor for signature, a move which would have banned the sport.

As the legislative debate was underway, Mrs. Mary Kate Gammon, the mother of Von Gammon, wrote an impassioned letter to State Representative James Nevin of Floyd County. Her request: that her son’s death should not be used as an argument against athletics or to harm football at the university.

Her letter, reprinted in the Atlanta Constitution, stated:

“It would be the greatest favor to the family of Von Gammon if your influence could prevent his death from being used as an argument detrimental to the athletic cause and its advancement at the university. His love for his college and his interest in all manly sports, without which he deemed the highest type of manhood impossible, is well known by his classmates and friends, and it would be inexpressibly sad to have the cause he held so dear injured by his sacrifice. Grant me the right to request that my boy's death should not be used to defeat the most cherished object of his life. Dr. Herty's article in The Constitution of November 2nd is timely, and the authorities of the university can be trusted to make all needed changes and for all possible consideration pertaining to the welfare of its students, if they are given the means and the confidence their loyalty and high sense of duty should deserve.”

On Dec. 7, 1897, Georgia Governor William Yates Atkinson vetoed the bill that would have banned football in the state, as reported in the Savannah Morning News. The newspaper account stated that the governor believed the decision on football participation should be left to the individual schools. The account also verified that Mrs. Gammon’s letter had influenced the governor’s decision.

When September 1898 rolled around, football had resumed fully around the state. The University of Georgia Bulldogs returned to the field, competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and compiling a 4–2 record.

In another unfortunate twist of fate, the Gammon family would lose a second son in a freak accident related to sports. In August 1900, WIll Gammon, the younger brother of Von Gammon, died after he fell from a train. His legs were crushed in the accident, and Will Gammon died after surgery to amputate both legs. According to a report in the Marietta Journal, the younger Gammon had jumped from the train in Cartersville after riding from Rome to play a game of baseball.