Boozer Pitts Explained

Boozer Pitts
Birth Date:25 November 1893
Birth Place:Pittsview, Alabama, U.S.
Death Place:Auburn, Alabama, U.S.
Player Years1:1913–1914
Player Team1:Auburn
Player Positions:Center
Coach Years1:1919–1922
Coach Team1:Auburn (assistant)
Coach Years2:1923–1924
Coach Team2:Auburn
Coach Years3:1925–1927
Coach Team3:Auburn (assistant)
Coach Years4:1927
Coach Team4:Auburn
Overall Record:7–11–6

John Emmett "Boozer" Pitts Sr. (November 25, 1893 – February 10, 1971)[1] was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University from 1923 to 1924 and again for the final seven games of the 1927 season, compiling a career record of 7–11–6. He was also a professor of mathematics at Auburn in the 1930s.

Playing career

A native of Pittsview, Alabama, Pitts was a prominent center for coach Mike Donahue's Auburn Tigers football team in 1913 and 1914. He entered Auburn at the age of 15, having only read about football.[2] Pitts was selected All-Southern and was a member of an All-time Auburn Tigers football team selected in 1935,[3] as well as coach Donahue's all-time Auburn team.[4] One writer claims "Auburn had a lot of great football teams, but there may not have been one greater than the 1913–1914 team."[5] Pitts weighed some 190 pounds.

Army

Pitts later served as a colonel in the United States Army during World War II. In late 1958, he had his larynx removed during surgery for cancer.[6] One of his sons, John E. Pitts, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force.[7]

See also

Selected works

Notes and References

  1. Book: Baron Christopher de Graffenried V: his ancestors and his descendants, 1191 to 2001. Thomas, B.W.. 2003. Willo Publishing Company. December 3, 2014.
  2. News: Mike Donahue Praises Departing Stars. M. J. Donahue. Mike Donahue. December 14, 1914. 9. October 20, 2015. Newspapers.com. The Tennessean.
  3. Web site: Tulane University Football Program-The Greenie; Auburn vs. Tulane. December 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141223103444/http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16313coll13/id/211. December 23, 2014. dead.
  4. News: Mike Donahue Names All-Time Auburn Football Team. January 10, 1933. The Tuscaloosa News.
  5. Web site: Auburn's 1913 Undefeated Team. Ethan Brady. December 15, 2014. October 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181001214548/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/genrel/auto_pdf/2013-14/misc_non_event/1913_team.pdf. dead.
  6. "He Can't Talk Or Eat Food, But 'Boozer' Writes Poems", The Morning Herald, Thursday, December 31, 1959, Hagerstown, Maryland
  7. Web site: Pitts, John Emmett. west-point.org. December 3, 2014.