This podcast episode commemorates Veterans Day on November 11, 2025, by delving into the rich tapestry of football history through the lens of a remarkable figure, Bib Graves. Graves, a notable athlete, played an instrumental role in the formative years of both Alabama and Texas football, thereby establishing an enduring legacy within the sport. Our esteemed guest, Timothy P. Brown, elucidates Graves's dual contributions as a player and a prominent political figure, having served as the governor of Alabama. We explore the fascinating trajectory of Graves's life, from his athletic endeavors to his military service in World War I, and ultimately to his governorship, illustrating how his experiences intertwined with the evolution of college football. Join us as we uncover the historical significance of Bib Graves and reflect on the profound impact of his multifaceted life in American football history.

The discussion is based on one of, guest Tim Brown's recent tidbits titled: Bibb Graves, Founding Member of Alabama and Texas Football

Join us at the Pigskin Dispatch website to see even more Positive football news!

Don't forget to check out and subscribe to the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel for additional content and the regular Football History Minute Shorts.

Miss our football by the day of the year podcasts, well don't, because they can still be found at the Pigskin Dispatch website.

The Pigskin Daily History Dispatch presents an exploration of the life and legacy of Bib Graves, a significant yet often overlooked figure in American football history. As the episode coincides with Veterans Day, the discussion delves into Graves's multifaceted identity as a football player, attorney, and politician. Graves is notably recognized for being a founding member of both the University of Alabama and the University of Texas football programs, contributing to the development of these storied institutions. The narrative unfolds with insights from Timothy P. Brown, who recounts Graves's journey from a prominent football player at Alabama—where he participated in the inaugural Iron Bowl—to his legal studies at the University of Texas, before ultimately transferring to Yale Law School. Despite his athletic prowess during a period when football was still in its nascent stages, Graves’s contributions extended far beyond the gridiron, culminating in his service as a twice-elected governor of Alabama and a military veteran of World War I, thus bridging the realms of sports, law, and public service.

Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Hay is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.

And welcome to another Tuesday as we get to dive into the football archaeology with Tim Brown of that great website.

Tim, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Thank you, Darren.

Gonna dive in as if I was diving into a grave.

Diving in the grave.

Well, that sounds a little bit morbid, but.

But very befitting as you segue into this recent tidbit of yours that you wrote.

It's titled Bib Graves, founding member of Alabama and Texas Football.

That's a big statement there.

Tim, what can you tell us about Bib Graves?

So I've never met a guy named Biblical before, but that was his mother's maiden name, family name, so that I've.

Been told I should wear a bib before.

Yeah, well, maybe you should, especially as I get older here.

I've been told that many times.

Yeah.

So this guy, you know, he played a long time ago.

And, and I, you know, a little while back, I did a. I did a story based on four images from the first year of Auburn football.

And so as it turned out, you know, so basically a story is about Auburn football and, you know, reviewing these images that a collector friend, John Genantonio, you know, had and allowed me to.

To use.

So, you know, there are people out there, you know, if you go, if you're into the history of teams, you might know some of the players who played in the first year that Yale played or the first year that Harvard or Princeton played.

Typically, that's, I would guess most people have no idea, you know, who was on the, you know, the first year of their favorite team.

You know, even the pro teams, you know, people probably don't know, but so every team had a first team.

And in the case of Bib Graves, he was on the first team for two pretty storied programs.

So he ended up.

He's kind of a campus leader sort of guy.

His family was in politics, and his, you know, like, his grandfather and his great grandfather had been governors of Alabama, and he ended up becoming twice elected governor of Alabama himself.

But so he goes to.

He goes to Alabama.

You know, but he was like.

He was a substitute, you know, he was campus leader.

He's one of the captains in the corps of cadets at Alabama that year.

You know, just kind of a prominent guy.

And so he graduates after lettering at Alabama.

So he goes.

After the summer, he goes to Austin, Texas, and he enrolls at University of Texas Law School.

Well, back then, you know, the whole eligible, who's eligible and who isn't and can graduate students play and professional students play, blah, blah, blah.

You know, none of that was really very well defined, especially at a place like Texas, which was just starting a program.

And so he enrolls in law school and finds out that they're starting a football team.

So he raises his hand and says, I'm, you know, I played at Alabama.

I know how to play this game.

So he joins the team.

And, you know, he was a sub at Texas, too.

You know, I have no idea if it was because he just wasn't that good or because he didn't have the time to.

To put in or, you know, whatever it may have been.

But he was.

He's listed several times in the game rosters or in the previews of the games as being a substitute.

I'm not sure he ever got into a game.

And I should say that Jonathan Wells, who writes a site called Journey Through Texas and Longhorn History, he had read my story about the Auburn, Alabama stuff, and he said, hey, by the way, did you know this guy Bib Graves, you know, played at both schools?

Because he had.

He'd written that.

He'd written a story about Texas's first team and who the members were.

So, you know, he was aware of it.

But.

And so anyways, he.

He let me know about it.

And so I said, hey, you know, you mind if I write an article about, you know, this guy?

So anyways, so that's what I did.

And.

But, you know, he ended up.

The funny thing is he Stayed at Texas for one year.

Then he transfers to Yale.

I did.

And he finished law school there and, you know, did very well there.

I looked to see if there was any evidence of him, you know, playing, even scrimmaging or anything at Yale.

No evidence of that.

That would have been Walter Camp era, you know.

Yeah, well, he would have been.

Camp would have certainly been.

Camp was done playing by then, but he just by like a year.

Because he played like six years.

Right.

And.

But he would have been around the program certainly.

You know, though he went out to, he went out to Stanford somewhere.

So anyways, so then he goes back to, you know, Bama and you know, becomes a, you know, I think kind of a well known lawyer in Montgomery and is involved in the Alabama militia and um, as a result he ends up, you know, in a, you know, field artillery unit in World War I.

So he's over in France, comes back and in the, at one point in the mid.

They were in the late 20s, he's elected governor of Alabama.

And then.

Yeah, I don't know if they had, if you couldn't serve consecutive terms at the time, but there was a period where between his first and second term, so he served two terms as governor and like, you know, he was the governor at the time that they built, you know, Denny Stadium, which is now.

Or Denny Field, which is now Bryant Denny, you know, and I think, you know, partly because he was governor and partly probably because of his football fan, you know, he would attend a fair number of games.

You know, he, you know, he went to like, you know, he went north when they played at Wisconsin.

He was at Florida when they opened up their stadium, the same stadium that they play in now, Florida.

Anyways, and he went to one or two Rose Bowls when Bama was in the Rose bowl, you know, back then.

So I don't know, it's just kind of an interesting, kind of an interesting character.

But the, the chances of somebody.

It'd be one thing if he was on the first team at Akron.

Sorry, Akron, but you know, Akron and you know, Wabash or something.

Or Wabash.

Okay, fine.

And maybe there's somebody out there who was.

But he was, you know, first team for Bama and Texas, which is kind of cool.

Yeah, that's really cool.

Especially, you know, he'd probably be really proud now if they're both in the SEC and playing against each other and you know, and competing for, for league titles and national championships.

That's kind of.

Yeah.

But I'm pretty sure we know, we know where his loyalties would lie.

Yale.

No.

Oh, okay.

It's the one that starts with an A. Oh.

I guess when you're governor of the state, you got to keep your loyalty there.

So.

Yeah.

Very, very interesting guy.

Boy, what a, what a well rounded life that a man led.

You know, between military hero, football star, or football player at different places and governor and wow.

Pretty, pretty interesting fella.

Yeah.

I never saw anything about him coaching, which I thought maybe he would, but, you know, he was too busy.

Yeah, that's true.

Had a lot going on.

He had things to do.

Yeah.

But this is another example of, you know, grabbing somebody from the past that.

Because I read your tidbit, I had never heard of this gentleman before, but definitely he played a part in football history.

That's to.

To us that like to reflect back on that and our listeners love to do that.

And you get to preserve that.

Not only the game's history, but this man's history.

And you do this quite a bit in your tidbits that you come out with a few times a week.

Maybe you could share with listeners how they can partake in some of these.

Yeah, just go to footballarchaeology.com it's substack site.

If you subscribe, you know, you'll get an email every time I publish an article.

Otherwise, bookmark it, follow me on the Substack app or follow me on Blue sky because, you know, everything gets up.

Every time I publish, I update, you know, on those as well.

So.

All right.

Well, Tim, we sure appreciate you joining us here this evening and each and every Tuesday, and we'd love to talk to you again next week about some more great football history.

Looking forward to it.

That's all the football history we have today, folks.

Join us back tomorrow for more of your football history.

We invite you to check out our website, pigskindispatch.com not only to see the daily football history, but to experience positive football with our many articles on the.

Good people of the game, as well.

As our own football comic strip, cleet marks comics.

Pigskindispatch.com is also on social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and don't forget the PigSkindiSpatch YouTube channel to get all of your partners positive football news and history.

Special thanks to the talents of Mike.

And Gene Monroe, as well as Jason Neff for letting us use their music during our podcast.

This podcast is part of the Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite sport.

You can learn more@sportshistorynetwork.com.