In honor of Halloween and one of the Voters making the trip up the Mountain to Sewanee, Tennessee (the first place Bobby Bowden saw snow) this weekend, let’s take a look at one the scariest and spookiest college football teams of all time: the 1899 Sewanee Tigers.
Sewanee’s 1899 team would likely sit atop the AB All-Time Top 25 Poll. The squad of 21 players went 12-0, outscored their opponents a combined 322-10, and was named Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association champions. They were managed by future senator Luke Lea, who has quite the story.
Following his time with Sewanee football, Lea went to law school at Columbia, practiced law in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1911, was elected U.S. Senator representing Tennessee. Lea, a progressive, supported women’s suffrage, business regulation, and the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
Lea, however, is best known for leading an unauthorized and unsuccessful attempt to kidnap German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Following World War I, the Kaiser was exiled to the Netherlands, where he lived freely. To Lea, this was an insult to all of those who had fought and died in the war. He wanted to bring the Kaiser to Paris to be tried for his crimes of war.
On January 5th, 1919, Lea and six soldiers (one of whom was Leland “Larry” MacPhail, who went on to co-own the New York Yankees) went to Holland to do some “journalistic investigation.” They went to the Dutch castle where the Kaiser was living, knocked on the door, and in broken German demanded to see “Kaiser Bill.”
Long story short, they were let in, and the Dutch stalled until 150 Dutch soldiers arrived. Lea and the group fled. On their way out, MacPhail stole an ashtray that belonged to “Kaiser Bill” as a souvenir that he proudly kept on his desk as co-owner of the Yankees.
The Kaiser lived in the Netherlands until he died in 1941. He was not present in Paris when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, nor was he ever tried for any war crimes as the Dutch protected him. You can read more about the kidnapping attempt here.
Lea was later indicted on charges of bank fraud following the 1930 collapse of the Central Bank and Trust Company in Asheville, North Carolina (of all places). He ended up being pardoned.
Anyways, back to 1899 Sewanee. After their huge rivalry game that year against Vanderbilt was canceled, manager Luke Lea (yes, the same guy) was looking to make up for the loss of revenue.
Lea scheduled a six-day, five-game road trip, designed to minimize costs and maximize revenue. Between November 9th and November 14th, Sewanee traveled over 2500 miles and took down Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU, and Ole Miss without giving up a single point. The so-called “Iron Men” won by a combined score of 91-0. It is said that after their five wins in six days, “on the seventh day, they rested.”
The only points the Iron Men gave up the entire season came in their game against John Heisman’s Auburn team (yes, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy). There was a crowd of over 4000 for the game. There were first fights, guns drawn, and Sewanee beat Heisman’s squad 11-10.
The Iron Men ended the season with a 5-0 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. In 2012, the 1899 Sewanee Tigers were voted by the College Football Hall of Fame as the best team of all time. They would probably sit atop the All-Time AB Poll.
Anyways, here is this week’s Poll:
The Rankings
AB Pole of the Week
AB Poll of the Week
Happy Halloween!!!