Tommy Spence
 | |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Fullback |
| Class | 1917 |
| Career history | |
| College | Georgia Tech (1914–1916) |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | April 17, 1896 |
| Place of birth | Thomasville, Georgia |
| Date of death | November 27, 1918 (aged 22) |
| Place of death | France |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 168 lb (76 kg) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Thomas Louis "Tommy" Spence (April 17, 1896 – November 27, 1918) was a college football player. Spence also played on the baseball, basketball, and track teams.[1]
Georgia Tech
Football
Spence was a prominent fullback for John Heisman's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was posthumously elected to the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1976.[2]
1916
Spence was a starter for the 1916 Georgia Tech team which, as one writer wrote, "seemed to personify Heisman."[3] 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.[4] He was selected All-Southern that season.[5] Walter Camp gave him honorable mention.
First World War
Spence was a casualty of the First World War.[6] He is the namesake of Spence Air Base.[7]
References
- ↑ "Thomas Spence Killed In Airplane Accident". The Gazette Times. December 18, 1918.
- ↑ "Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame".
- ↑ Heisman, John M. Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy. p. 144.
- ↑ "A Monumental Victory". October 6, 2006.
- ↑ Intercollegiate Athletic Calendar. 1. p. 167.
- ↑ Wiley Lee Umphlett. Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football. p. 141.
- ↑ "Spence Air Base".