Those of us who have been fans of football in all Tennessee colleges through the years remember former Memphis State University president Dr. Cecil C. Humphreys best as “Sonny” Humphreys, a topflight end on the Tennessee Vols football teams of 1933, 1934, and 1935. Humphreys played for two of those three years under the legendary Volunteer coach General Robert Neyland. Humphreys’ abilities were strong enough for “Sports Illustrated” magazine to name him in 1960 to its Silver Anniversary All-American Football Team. That was, coincidentally, the same year that Humphreys realized the dream of most academicians: he became a college president. The road he took to that esteemed office included a stop at the University of Tennessee-Martin as a history instructor in 1936, as well as teaching at MSU, 1937-1941. After a stint working for the FBI in San Francisco and a call to active duty as a reserve officer in the United States Navy, Humphreys returned to Memphis State in 1947 as assistant to the president, before assuming that position himself in 1960. In 1962 he was tabbed by Greater Memphis State, Inc., as “Educator of the Year,” and in March of 1966 the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame honored him with one of its Americanism awards. Whether you are talking about Dr. Cecil C. Humphreys, educator, or about “Sonny” Humphreys, star football player, makes no difference; either way, you are talking about excellence and success.
