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Sheldon Fitts
	Fitts, c. 1920
No. 31
Position	Quarterback, Halfback
Personal information
Born:	November 1, 1899; Jemison, Alabama, U.S.
Died:	October 26, 1985 (aged 85); Alabama, U.S.
Career history
College	Georgia (1920)
High school	Georgia Military College
Career highlights and awards
	SIAA Championship (1920);

Sheldon Fitts (November 1, 1899 – October 26, 1985) was an American college football player and lawyer.

Biography

Fitts was born in 1899 in Jemison, Alabama.^[1] He prepped at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville.^[2] Fitts had a half-sister, author Mary Ward Brown.^[2]

Fitts played as a quarterback and halfback for the Georgia Bulldogs of the University of Georgia, a member of the "ten second backfield"^[a] of 1920. Fitts caught the pass to beat Furman^[4] and starred in the 56–0 win over Florida.^[5]^[6]

While at Georgia, Fitts was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity,^[7]^: 156 and played as a center fielder on the Bulldogs baseball team.^[7]^: 271 He was awarded varsity letters in both football and baseball.^[8]^: 334 Georgia lists Fitts as only earning a football letter for the 1920 season,^[9] with contemporary newspaper reports from the 1921 season noting that he was unable to play due to a knee injury.^[10] While he was reported to have returned to the team in October 1922,^[11] there are no contemporary accounts of him playing again for Georgia.

Fitts went on to become an attorney.^[12] At the time of his death in 1985, he was a resident of Marion, Alabama.^[12]^[13] He was survived by a son, Sheldon Jr.,^[12] and predeceased by his wife, Frances, who died in 1984.^[14]

Notes

^ The term "ten second backfield" generally refers to players capable (or thought to be capable) of running a 100-yard dash in 10 seconds—that is, fast runners.^[3]

References

^ "Draft Registration Card". fold3.com. Selective Service System. February 1942. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Brown, Mary Ward (2009). Fanning the Spark: A Memoir. University of Alabama Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780817316457. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
^ "Advent has ten-second backfield". The Cincinnati Post. November 11, 1913. p. 6. Retrieved September 9, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Ga. Barely Overcome Furman Crew". The Red and Black. October 22, 1920. p. 8.
^ "'Gators Lose To Georgia In One-Sided Bout". The Florida Alligator. Vol. 9. November 19, 1920.
^ "'Gators Are Beaten By Red and Black In One-Sided Game". The Red and Black. November 19, 1920. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b Pandora. University of Georgia. 1921. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via usg.edu.
^ Pandora. University of Georgia. 1922. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via usg.edu.
^ "All-Time Georgia Football Lettermen". georgiadogs.com. July 24, 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
^ "Georgia Looking for Tough Game from Virginians". Birmingham Post-Herald. Birmingham, Alabama. November 3, 1921. p. 10. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com. The quandary of the coaches in these losses is rendered doubly serious by the inability to play of Sheldon Fitts who has been unable to play a minute this season on account of an injured knee.
^ "Sheldon Fitts Returns to Georgia Grid Squad". The Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. October 11, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sheldon Fitts, Sr". Selma Times-Journal. Selma, Alabama. October 28, 1985. p. 3. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Social Security Death Index". fold3.com. Social Security Administration. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
^ "Frances B. Fitts". Selma Times-Journal. Selma, Alabama. October 17, 1984. p. 2. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.