Bill Neely (American football)

William Daniel Neely Jr. (June 22, 1887 – May 16, 1965) was a college football player.

Bill Neely
Vanderbilt Commodores
PositionEnd/Halfback
ClassGraduate
Career history
CollegeVanderbilt (1908–1910)
Personal information
Born:(1887-06-22)June 22, 1887
Smyrna, Tennessee
Died:May 16, 1965(1965-05-16) (aged 77)
Smyrna, Tennessee
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight156 lb (71 kg)
Career highlights and awards

Early years

William, Jr. was born on June 22, 1887 in Smyrna, Tennessee to William Daniel Neely, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Gooch.[1] His father William died of sunstroke in 1900. His brother Jess Neely was a College Football Hall of Fame coach and captain of the undefeated 1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football team.

Vanderbilt University

He was a prominent end and halfback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams. Bill also lettered for the Vanderbilt basketball team.[2]

1910

He was captain of the undefeated and SIAA champion 1910 team, led as well by the likes of W. E. Metzger and Ray Morrison. That team managed a scoreless tie with defending national champion Yale. Neely recalled the event: "The score tells the story a good deal better than I can. All I want to say is that I never saw a football team fight any harder at every point that Vanderbilt fought today – line, ends, and backfield. We went in to give Yale the best we had and I think we about did it."[3] Neely was selected All-Southern.[4][5]

Later years

He was a school-teacher and once member of the board of directors of the Rutherford County Creamery and manager of the Production Credit Association of Springfield.[6]

See also

References
  1. Virginia Gooch Watson (1979). "Goochland". Rutherford County Historical Society (12): 51.
  2. "All-Time Lettermen's List".
  3. Bill Traughber (2011). Vanderbilt Football:Tales of Commodore Gridiron History. p. 44. ISBN 9781625842312.
  4. Spalding's Football Guide. 1911. pp. 35, 65.
  5. "All S. I. A. A. Team". Times-Picayune. December 8, 1910.
  6. Obituaries and Death Notices (of people born before 1900), Compiled by Susan G. Daniel, Published in 2010 by the Rutherford County Historical Society
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