Fred Russell (August 27, 1906 – January 26, 2003) was an American sportswriter from Tennessee who served as sports editor for the Nashville Banner newspaper for 68 years (1930–1998). He was a member of the Heisman Trophy Committee, president of the Football Writers Association of America and a member of several sports-related Halls of Fame. He served for nearly 30 years as chairman of the College Football Hall of Fame Honors Court, a group responsible for selecting College Football Hall of Fame members. Known for his sense of humor and story-telling ability, Russell authored several books about sports and sports humor. Over his career he wrote over 12,000 sports columns under the title, "Sideline Sidelights".

Russell was a long-time friend and protégé of fellow sportswriter and Vanderbilt University alumnus Grantland Rice. Vanderbilt established the "Fred Russell–Grantland Rice Sportswriting Scholarship" in their honor. For over fifty years, the scholarship has attracted some of the nation's top journalistic talent.

As a young reporter, he interviewed Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. Outliving most of his contemporaries, he counted as friends many sports greats of the twentieth century, including Jack Dempsey, Bobby Jones, Red Grange, Sparky Anderson, Bobby Knight, Bear Bryant, Archie Manning and George Steinbrenner. He died in 2003 at age 96.

Early life

Born in 1906, Russell grew up in Wartrace, Tennessee, about 50 miles southeast of Nashville, on the main line of the railroad to Chattanooga. His parents were John E. Russell and Mable Lee McFerrin Russell, who in 1920 moved the family to Nashville. John E. Russell Jr. was his older brother, who died in 1961. and author of the "Vanderbilt University Waltz". Russell attended Nashville's Duncan College Preparatory School for Boys, which was located at a site now occupied by Vanderbilt University's Memorial Gymnasium. Even from his youngest days, Russell had loved the sports pages. He wanted a job as a newspaper office boy, but it only paid three dollars per week and he could make much more by working at a soda fountain downtown at the United Cigar Store. He played second base and pitched. He attended Vanderbilt Law School, passed the state bar exam, and was listed in the class of 1929. The events Russell regularly covered were: college football; amateur and pro baseball; the Masters Golf Tournament; the Kentucky Derby; championship boxing; college football bowl games, including The Sugar Bowl and The Rose Bowl; and The Olympic Games (1960–1976). Russell gained national exposure in the mid-twentieth century for writing a widely-read annual college football article, the "Pigskin Preview", for The Saturday Evening Post. His relationship with the Post began when the magazine wanted to do a story on the University of Tennessee's new football coach, Bob Neyland, who had in 1939 created arguably one of the greatest football teams ever assembled: undefeated, untied, and un-scored-upon in the regular season. and he was Russell's boyhood idol.

In May 1954, when Rice was in declining health, Russell recalled a memorable lunch with him at Rice's regular corner table at Toots Shor's restaurant in New York. Russell chose to rescind the hall of fame invitation. Cannon was eventually inducted in 2008.

The Banner vs. the Tennessean

thumb|upright=1.5|right|An example of Russell's column in the Nashville Banner, October 29, 1936

In a two-newspaper town, competition between the journalists can be stiff. In Nashville, The Tennessean was the morning paper including Sundays; the Nashville Banner was the afternoon paper. In 1937, the two papers formed a Joint Operating Agreement to reduce costs by putting both in the same building and using the same printing presses. Russell's objectives were clear: get the story, protect your sources, and make sure nothing leaked from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning after the Tennessean hit the stands. The celebration included a host of sports personalities, writers and stars such as Bear Bryant, Red Smith, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey, Red Grange; the latter three gave speeches. After the games, their wives drove to the next town while the two men sat in the back seat with typewriters creating their columns. Sports Illustrated reported that in the 1930s, Russell interviewed Babe Ruth as Ruth played cards with Lou Gehrig. Wilma Rudolph, coached by TSU's Ed Temple, became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. Temple spent the 1950s building his program even though the historically black college had run-down facilities

Awards and honors

Russell received numerous honors from sports organizations throughout his life. He was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame and was a charter member of the Tennessee Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He received the Distinguished American Award Two previous recipients were Vince Lombardi and Bob Hope.

Russell is a past president of the Football Writers Association of America. Other winners of this award were Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes.

In 1983, The National Turf Writers Association (horse-racing) awarded Russell the Walter Haight Award for Excellence in Turf Writing. He received the Associated Press Editor's Red Smith Award for “extended meritorious labor in the art of sportswriting.” He received the first annual "Grantland Rice Memorial Award" (1957) by an organization of journalists, the Sportsmanship Brotherhood, Inc. for "writing in the Grantland Rice Tradition".

Russell was a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Russell was awarded the Distinguished Journalism Award by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Legacy

Russell's legacy includes the following items named in his honor:

  • Fred Russell Distinguished American Award. In 1968, the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Association and Hall of Fame created the annual "Fred Russell Distinguished American Award" which as of 2021 has had over 50 recipients. Recipients include James F. Neal and Thomas F. Frist Jr. and Martha Rivers Ingram. In 2016, the Tennessean received permission from the Nashville Sports Council to combine the Russell award with the presentation of other awards into the newspaper's "Middle Tennessee Sports Awards" event with corporate sponsorship. Previous recipients include Bill Wade and golfer Lou Graham.
  • The Fred Russell press box at Vanderbilt Stadium. When Vanderbilt University enlarged its football stadium (formerly called Dudley Field), a $250,000 gift was given to the university by friends of Russell to name the press box at Vanderbilt Stadium in his honor.
  • The Fred Russell-Grantland Rice Sportswriting Scholarship He died in 2003 at age 96.