Ormond Simkins

Ormond Simkins (May 16, 1879 – December 4, 1921) was an American football and baseball player for the Sewanee Tigers of Sewanee: The University of the South. He was the son of William Stewart Simkins, who may have fired the first shot of the American Civil War.

Early life Ormond was born on May 16, 1879, in Corsicana, Texas, to William Stewart Simkins and Elizabeth Ware.

Sewanee Ormond entered Sewanee in 1896 as a law student.

Football Simkins was an All-Southern fullback and punter of the Sewanee Tigers football team from 1896 to 1901. A stained glass window at Sewanee depicts Simkins handing a football to Henry D. Phillips.

1899 He was a member of the 1899 "Iron Men" of Sewanee that went undefeated and won 5 road games in 6 days all by shutout. Fuzzy Woodruff wrote of the only game in which Sewanee was scored upon, the 11 to 10 win over Auburn, "Under Heisman's tutelage, Auburn played with a marvelous speed and dash that couldn't be gainsaid and which fairly swept Sewanee off its feet. Only the remarkable punting of Simkins kept the game from being a debacle." Simkins is the fullback on the All-Time Sewanee football team, one publication of which notes "Sewanee's greatest backfield ace, Ormond Simkins, unfortunately died some years ago from the effects of a football injury from which he never recovered after leaving college. A wonderful punter and a hard running ball carrier, he deserves much of the credit for Sewanee's wonder team of 1899." A field house with his name is part of the Juhan Gym at Sewanee, where the school plays basketball.