Samuel Webster Agee from Courtland, Alabama, began his illustrious athletic career in 1931 at the age of fifteen. At Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee, Agee played football, basketball, and baseball and starred in all three sports.
His football coach, the legendary “Red” Sanders, called Agee “the best player I ever coached.” Agee soon earned the nicknames of “Steamroller” and “Savage” because of his quickness, prowess, and intensity. Sam led CMA to the state championship in 1931 and was named to the all-state team.
A multi-sport phenomenon, he was also captain of the CMA basketball team and a member of the 1931-1933 championship baseball teams. After graduating from CMA, Sam enrolled at Vanderbilt, where he played fullback for the Commodores and was named to the All-Southern Team. General Robert Neyland, legendary UT football coach, recalled that “in 1936 Vanderbilt had a man named Sam Agee who just tore our line all to pieces.”
After leaving Vanderbilt, Sam decided to forego professional baseball and concentrate on football. He was a standout for Ashland, Kentucky, ARMCO of the semipro Midwest League. In 1938, he became a member of the Chicago Cardinal pro football team, where Coach Ernie Nevers considered the former Vanderbilt star “outstanding.” After a stint in the Air Force, Sam became an oil distributor in Sparta, Tennessee.