Ozzie Simmons
Encyclopedia
Oze E. "Ozzie" Simmons was a college football
player for the University of Iowa
. Simmons, nicknamed the "Ebony Eel", was one of the first black All-American
football players in the 1930s.
, Simmons grew up in Texas and was an all-state high school quarterback in a segregated high school league in Fort Worth. College opportunities were limited for black players at the time, but an Iowa alumnus saw Simmons play and suggested that he go to the University of Iowa
. Simmons had heard of the exploits of black Iowa players like Archie Alexander
and Duke Slater
, so Ozzie and his older brother, Don, hopped a train to Iowa City.
The Simmons brothers found Iowa football coach Ossie Solem
in his office. Solem was initially stunned to have two black players walk unannounced into his office. But Solem asked the Simmons brothers to attend Iowa's practice that afternoon. Iowa was conducting a punting drill, and Ozzie Simmons promptly returned two punts back for touchdowns. After practice, Solem told the brothers, "We'll find you a place to stay."
Ozzie rushed for 166 yards, including a 47 yard touchdown sprint, and he had 138 yards on kick and punt returns in his first Big Ten
game, a 20-7 defeat of Northwestern
. Ralph Cannon of the Chicago Daily News
wrote, "This slithery, rubbery, oozy flyer...can make his legs talk more languages than even Red Grange
's could when he was a sophomore...Most of it seems to come naturally to Simmons, as such things must come to the genius of any line." Simmons was nicknamed "the Ebony Eel" after that game and gained national acclaim. But Iowa lost every remaining game in 1934, despite the play of Simmons, who returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown in a loss to Ohio State
. Ozzie was a first team All-Big Ten selection and a second team All-American
.
1935 was Simmons' finest year. He scored five touchdowns on runs of 50 or more yards in 1935. Simmons scored Iowa's two touchdowns in a 12-6 upset of Colgate, and his touchdown pass to fellow black Iowa star Homer Harris
was Iowa's only points in a loss to Purdue
. Simmons' best game in 1935 was against Illinois
. Ozzie rushed for 192 yards, intercepted a pass, returned three punts for 33 yards, returned two kicks for 54 more yards and scored a touchdown in a 19-0 upset of Illinois. Simmons led Iowa in rushing in 1935 and was selected as a first team All-American
. Ozzie was also a first team All-Big Ten
selection, as he led the Hawkeyes to a 4-2-2 record.
Simmons' senior year in 1936 was a disappointment. Though Ozzie led Iowa in both rushing and scoring, the Hawkeyes failed to win a conference game and Simmons failed to make any post-season honor teams. Ozzie even quit the team for a couple days after Iowa suffered their worst loss in 20 years, a 52-0 loss to Minnesota. Simmons felt that Coach Solem had been too critical of him for Iowa's failures, but Simmons was convinced to return to the team. Ozzie's final game was against nationally ranked Temple and their Hall of Fame coach, Pop Warner
. Simmons scored on a 74 yard touchdown run to lead Iowa to a 25-0 upset.
Ozzie Simmons graduated with 1,544 career rushing yards, the third most in Iowa history at the time. He scored 14 touchdowns in his career, eight of them on plays of 50 yards or more. Though the Hawkeyes had just a 9-11-4 record in his three injury-plagued years at Iowa, Simmons gave Iowa fans something to cheer about when Iowa football
was feeling the ill effects of a brief Big Ten suspension and the Great Depression
.
trophy. As a talented black player in the 1930s, Simmons was a target of opposing players, which accounted for many of his numerous injuries. During a run against Northwestern University
, he was punched. In another game, a newspaper account says a player "rammed his locked hands into Simmons' face."
Ronald Reagan
, then a radio sportscaster in Des Moines and later the 40th president of the United States, said, "The problems were when you played another team that did not have a black. For some reason or another, then they would pick on this one man." Reagan
then recounted a game against Illinois
when Ozzie was injured twice. Reagan
said, "I saw (Iowa players) Dick Crayne and Ted Osmaloski walk over to the Illinois huddle during a timeout, and after the game I found out...they said, 'Do that to (Simmons) once more, and we're going to run you right out of the end of your stadium.'"
But the worst treatment for Ozzie came in the 1934 game against Minnesota. Just 12 years earlier, Iowa State
's first black player, Jack Trice
, was killed by injuries sustained in a game against the Gophers. In 1934, Simmons was knocked out of the Minnesota game three times due to injuries. Simmons did not play in the second half in a blowout Gopher win. "The Minnesota game was the most blatant attack. They were blatant with their piling on and kneeing me. It was obvious, but the refs didn't call it. Some of our fans wanted to come out on the field," Simmons said in 1989.
The following year, Minnesota was scheduled to play at Iowa. While talking to a reporter, Iowa's governor stated, "If the officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used last year, I'm sure the crowd won't." Minnesota's coach Bernie Bierman
requested extra security for his team, and tensions were high. To defuse the situation, Minnesota's governor wagered Iowa's governor a prize hog that the Gophers would win the game.
Minnesota did win a clean, fair game in 1935 that was played without incident. Iowa's governor obtained the pig from Rosedale Farms and named him Floyd after Minnesota's governor. Minnesota's governor had a bronze replica made of "Floyd of Rosedale
", and Iowa and Minnesota have played for the trophy every year since 1935.
at the time, and Ozzie Simmons played only two years professionally. Simmons played for the Patterson Panthers of the all-black American Association in 1937 and 1939. He was a second team all-league player in 1937 and a first team all-league player in 1939.
Simmons later became a physical education teacher in the Chicago public school system. He and his wife, Eutopia Morsell, married in 1960 and lived in Chicago, where she was part-owner of a funeral home. Ozzie retired from teaching in 1979 after 38 years, and then worked with his wife. He died in 2001 from complications from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Simmons was inducted into the Bob Douglas Black Sports Hall of Fame in New York in 1984. In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football
team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Ozzie Simmons was selected to the team as a running back.
Simmons never appeared angry that he was a victim of racism. "I never had any serious problems in my lifetime," Simmons said in 1989. "I respect people and they respect me. I find that to be wonderful."
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
player for the University of Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
. Simmons, nicknamed the "Ebony Eel", was one of the first black All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
football players in the 1930s.
Background
Born in Gainesville, TexasGainesville, Texas
Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Cooke County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,538 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, Simmons grew up in Texas and was an all-state high school quarterback in a segregated high school league in Fort Worth. College opportunities were limited for black players at the time, but an Iowa alumnus saw Simmons play and suggested that he go to the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. Simmons had heard of the exploits of black Iowa players like Archie Alexander
Archie Alexander
Archie Alphonso Alexander was an African-American mathematician and engineer and an early African-American graduate of the University of Iowa. He was also a governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands....
and Duke Slater
Duke Slater
Frederick Wayman "Duke" Slater was an American football player and one of the great black players of his era. Slater played for the University of Iowa in college and played professionally for ten years...
, so Ozzie and his older brother, Don, hopped a train to Iowa City.
The Simmons brothers found Iowa football coach Ossie Solem
Ossie Solem
Oscar Martin "Ossie" Solem was an American football player and coach of football and basketball in the United States...
in his office. Solem was initially stunned to have two black players walk unannounced into his office. But Solem asked the Simmons brothers to attend Iowa's practice that afternoon. Iowa was conducting a punting drill, and Ozzie Simmons promptly returned two punts back for touchdowns. After practice, Solem told the brothers, "We'll find you a place to stay."
College career
Ozzie had been poorly educated in their segregated school in Texas, so he spent his freshman year catching up on academics. By his sophomore year in 1934, Ozzie Simmons was ready to shine. In his first game, a 34-0 win over South Dakota, Simmons had a 22 yard scoring run as well as punt returns for 61 and 32 yards.Ozzie rushed for 166 yards, including a 47 yard touchdown sprint, and he had 138 yards on kick and punt returns in his first Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
game, a 20-7 defeat of Northwestern
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. Ralph Cannon of the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
wrote, "This slithery, rubbery, oozy flyer...can make his legs talk more languages than even Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
's could when he was a sophomore...Most of it seems to come naturally to Simmons, as such things must come to the genius of any line." Simmons was nicknamed "the Ebony Eel" after that game and gained national acclaim. But Iowa lost every remaining game in 1934, despite the play of Simmons, who returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown in a loss to Ohio State
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. Ozzie was a first team All-Big Ten selection and a second team All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
.
1935 was Simmons' finest year. He scored five touchdowns on runs of 50 or more yards in 1935. Simmons scored Iowa's two touchdowns in a 12-6 upset of Colgate, and his touchdown pass to fellow black Iowa star Homer Harris
Homer Harris
Homer E. Harris Jr. was a groundbreaking African American athlete who became the first black captain of a Big Ten Conference team....
was Iowa's only points in a loss to Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
. Simmons' best game in 1935 was against Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. Ozzie rushed for 192 yards, intercepted a pass, returned three punts for 33 yards, returned two kicks for 54 more yards and scored a touchdown in a 19-0 upset of Illinois. Simmons led Iowa in rushing in 1935 and was selected as a first team All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
. Ozzie was also a first team All-Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
selection, as he led the Hawkeyes to a 4-2-2 record.
Simmons' senior year in 1936 was a disappointment. Though Ozzie led Iowa in both rushing and scoring, the Hawkeyes failed to win a conference game and Simmons failed to make any post-season honor teams. Ozzie even quit the team for a couple days after Iowa suffered their worst loss in 20 years, a 52-0 loss to Minnesota. Simmons felt that Coach Solem had been too critical of him for Iowa's failures, but Simmons was convinced to return to the team. Ozzie's final game was against nationally ranked Temple and their Hall of Fame coach, Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
. Simmons scored on a 74 yard touchdown run to lead Iowa to a 25-0 upset.
Ozzie Simmons graduated with 1,544 career rushing yards, the third most in Iowa history at the time. He scored 14 touchdowns in his career, eight of them on plays of 50 yards or more. Though the Hawkeyes had just a 9-11-4 record in his three injury-plagued years at Iowa, Simmons gave Iowa fans something to cheer about when Iowa football
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
was feeling the ill effects of a brief Big Ten suspension and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Floyd of Rosedale
Ozzie Simmons is probably best known as the central figure in the story that spawned the Floyd of RosedaleFloyd of Rosedale
Floyd of Rosedale is the name of a bronze pig trophy that is awarded to the winner of the annual college football game between the Universities of Iowa and Minnesota...
trophy. As a talented black player in the 1930s, Simmons was a target of opposing players, which accounted for many of his numerous injuries. During a run against Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, he was punched. In another game, a newspaper account says a player "rammed his locked hands into Simmons' face."
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, then a radio sportscaster in Des Moines and later the 40th president of the United States, said, "The problems were when you played another team that did not have a black. For some reason or another, then they would pick on this one man." Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
then recounted a game against Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
when Ozzie was injured twice. Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
said, "I saw (Iowa players) Dick Crayne and Ted Osmaloski walk over to the Illinois huddle during a timeout, and after the game I found out...they said, 'Do that to (Simmons) once more, and we're going to run you right out of the end of your stadium.'"
But the worst treatment for Ozzie came in the 1934 game against Minnesota. Just 12 years earlier, Iowa State
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
's first black player, Jack Trice
Jack Trice
Johnny "Jack" Trice was a football player who became the first African-American athlete from Iowa State College...
, was killed by injuries sustained in a game against the Gophers. In 1934, Simmons was knocked out of the Minnesota game three times due to injuries. Simmons did not play in the second half in a blowout Gopher win. "The Minnesota game was the most blatant attack. They were blatant with their piling on and kneeing me. It was obvious, but the refs didn't call it. Some of our fans wanted to come out on the field," Simmons said in 1989.
The following year, Minnesota was scheduled to play at Iowa. While talking to a reporter, Iowa's governor stated, "If the officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used last year, I'm sure the crowd won't." Minnesota's coach Bernie Bierman
Bernie Bierman
Bernard W. "Bernie" Bierman was an American football player and coach. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces...
requested extra security for his team, and tensions were high. To defuse the situation, Minnesota's governor wagered Iowa's governor a prize hog that the Gophers would win the game.
Minnesota did win a clean, fair game in 1935 that was played without incident. Iowa's governor obtained the pig from Rosedale Farms and named him Floyd after Minnesota's governor. Minnesota's governor had a bronze replica made of "Floyd of Rosedale
Floyd of Rosedale
Floyd of Rosedale is the name of a bronze pig trophy that is awarded to the winner of the annual college football game between the Universities of Iowa and Minnesota...
", and Iowa and Minnesota have played for the trophy every year since 1935.
Retirement and Honors
Ozzie Simmons lettered at Iowa from 1934-1936, and his brother Don Simmons lettered as an end in 1935 and 1936. Black players were not allowed in the NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
at the time, and Ozzie Simmons played only two years professionally. Simmons played for the Patterson Panthers of the all-black American Association in 1937 and 1939. He was a second team all-league player in 1937 and a first team all-league player in 1939.
Simmons later became a physical education teacher in the Chicago public school system. He and his wife, Eutopia Morsell, married in 1960 and lived in Chicago, where she was part-owner of a funeral home. Ozzie retired from teaching in 1979 after 38 years, and then worked with his wife. He died in 2001 from complications from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Simmons was inducted into the Bob Douglas Black Sports Hall of Fame in New York in 1984. In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Ozzie Simmons was selected to the team as a running back.
Simmons never appeared angry that he was a victim of racism. "I never had any serious problems in my lifetime," Simmons said in 1989. "I respect people and they respect me. I find that to be wonderful."