He was a
running back for the
Vanderbilt Commodores football team of
Vanderbilt University. Considered one of the sport's early greats, he was picked for an all-time Vanderbilt team in 1912. Connell was
captain of the
1895 and
1896 teams.
1892 The oldest team in the memory of
Grantland Rice was the
1892 team. Rice claimed Connell then would be a good player in any era.
1894 Connel featured in Vanderbilt's first ever defeat of
Ole Miss in
1894, giving the school its only loss of the season by the score of 40 to 0.
1895 Connell was selected as a substitute for the
All-Southern team. Vanderbilt allowed no points on the season and split a claim to the championship of the south when it held
Virginia to a scoreless tie.
Caspar Whitney said he was the South's finest football player. Connell won
Bachelor of Ugliness. ==References==