Henry D. Phillips
Henry Disbrow Phillips was an American Episcopal bishop and college football player and coach. Sportswriter Fuzzy Woodruff called him "the greatest football player who ever sank cleated shoes into a chalk line south of the Mason-Dixon line."
Early life
Henry Disbrow Phillips was born on January 16, 1882. He was educated at Boys High School in Atlanta, Georgia.Sewanee
Henry D. Phillips attended Sewanee: The University of the South. He played for the Sewanee Tigers football team and baseball team. He is honored with a stained glass window in the University Chapel.Football playing career
Phillips was thrice selected All-Southern. Sportswriter Fuzzy Woodruff called him "the greatest football player who ever sank cleated shoes into a chalk line south of the Mason-Dixon line." Coach John Heisman mentioned him third when he selected the twenty-five best Southern football players in 1915.On the dedication of Harris Stadium in 1957, one writer noted "The University of the South has numbered among its athletes some of the greatest. Anyone who played against giant Henry Phillips in 1901-1903 felt that he was nothing less than the best as guard and fullback." He was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and is a member of the Sewanee Athletics Hall of Fame.
A description of his play by John de Saulles included "His weakness has always, and only, been that of Southern players generally - defense."