Herman Hickman, College Football Hall of Fame Class 1959

Herman Hickman Played at University of Tennessee for only three years, from 1929 through 1931. His time was concurrent with a likely member of Knoxville’s Volunteers Football Player Mt. Rushmore, Eugene McEver, and Beattie Feathers, both of which are College Football Hall of Fame players themselves. But Beattie was unique at the time, a word I do not use lightly. In 1932, the University of Tennessee boasted they had four players on their line who weighed over 200lbs. Large players were a rarity in that day and getting even one player over 200 pounds was considered a big deal. Herman had eclipsed that benchmark before turning 18. By the time his career at UT ended, he was around 230lbs. But despite his large size, Eugene McEver described his speed and agility with awe saying “[g]ood gracious, you take a boy weighing 235 playing against one weighing 185 and he’s quicker than the small fellow and everything else.” Tennessee only lost one game in his three years playing. He went on to earn All-Pro honors all three seasons he played in the NFL before returning to the college ranks as the head coach of Yale.