On this day in sports history

BY COLIN “BIG C”

MACGUIRE

The Greenville Standard

This is fourth in a series covering University of Alabama football player to be selected as first team All-American players. Today, I will cover Fred Sington, an All-American 1930. He was born Feb. 24, 1910 in Birmingham. Sington played at Phillips High School in Birmingham and then played at Alabama from 1928-30. He was a teamate of Frank Howard, the legendary Clemson coach. Sington was 6”2’ 215 pounds and a two way tackle. He was named All- Southern Tackle 1929-30 and unanimous All-American Tackle in 1930. Alabama won the 1930 Southern Conference Championship and then won the 1930 National Championship. Alabama finished at 10-0 and beat Washington State 24-0 in the Rose Bowl. Alabama gave up 13 points the entire season. While at Alabama, a song written by Rudy Vallee about Fred Signton entitled “Football Freddie” was a nationwide hit. Sington was Phi Beta Kappa, the highest academic award a student can attain. Sington also was Student Government President. Sington played Major League Baseball after his playing days at Alabama with the Washington Senators (1934-37) and the Brooklyn Dodgers(1938-39). Sington served in the Navy during World War II and attained the rank of Lt. Commander( similar to being a Major). After the war, Sington went into the sporting goods business. He managed stores located in Birmingham, Huntsville, Gadsden and Tuscaloosa. Sington was a Southeastern Conference Football Official. In 1955, Sington was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and was on the search committee that hired Coach Bryant. In 1992, he was named to the Alabama All-Century Football Team. Mr. Fred who accomplished a lot in his life, passed away on August 20, 1998 in Birmingham. Next week another I will cover another Alabama football  All-American.