‘Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899’
by Blythe Ford, Messenger Staff Writer
In 1899, the University of the South football team performed a remarkable feat; now, that feat will be known across the world, thanks to the airing of the documentary “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” on Delta Airlines starting this month. The documentary, created by Norman Jetmundsen, C’76, David Crews, C’76, and Matthew Graves, has also been turned into a coffee table book of the same name by Norman Jetmundsen and Karin Dupree Fecteau, which recently has been named Non-Fiction Book of the Year by the Global Literary Awards and Best Sports Book and Best Cover Design by the American Writing Awards.
The documentary covers the six day trip the 1899 team took across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee by locomotive to play five games, each won without the other teams scoring a single point. After a conversation at a reunion sparked the idea for a documentary, Jetmundsen and Crews spent six years interviewing experts in football and sports history, employees of the University, and the descendants of the players, manager, trainers and coach. They also delved into archives and commissioned paintings and music to portray the story of a team comprised only of students who were expected to maintain good academic standing while simply competing for the love of the sport, who nevertheless played an undefeated season with extensive travel. There were no athletic scholarships, and indeed no athletic department at the University. According to Jetmundsen, football in those days was very fast-paced and brutal, without much protective gear.
“In addition,” he wrote, “players had to play both offense and defense, and if they came out of the game, they could not return. Thus, players continued to play when hurt, unless they were disabled or, unfortunately, killed on the football field.”
The documentary aired in 2023 on the World Channel and can be found on PBS and other public television channels. The documentary is now featured on Delta Airlines’ in-flight entertainment, thanks to a LinkedIn request Jetmundsen made due to his belief that his most-travelled airline would appreciate the value of the documentary. He was correct, and “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” is now entertaining people worldwide.
Five fast, dangerous games in six days while traveling 2,500 miles by train required the sort of toughness, courage and determination that can inspire anyone, not just football fans. Jetmundsen terms it “the stuff of legends,” which the documentary and subsequent book aims to preserve for history. Jetmundsen and Crews found so much archival material and additional details about the players’ later lives that Jetmundsen wasn’t satisfied with only what the documentary could record. With the help of Fecteau, a graphic designer, Jetmundsen has self-published a book that goes into more depth, and also features images of photographs and documents from the University archives, as well as a QR code that will allow the reader to listen to music Bobby Horton created for the project. The book is available for sale primarily through the “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” website <https://sewanee1899.org/>; as of last year.
Recently, Jetmundsen and Fecteau submitted “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” for consideration for several awards, and were, in Jetmundsen’s words, “overwhelmed” by the honor of receiving Non-Fiction Book of the Year from the Global Literary Awards and Best Sports Book and Best Cover Design from the American Writing Awards for 2024. “We had faith our book was special, but we never considered that we could be named [for those awards],” Jetmundsen said. “[They] are an outside validation of our book, and Karin and I are both thrilled by this recognition.” Due to self-publishing, Jetmundsen has had to do all the marketing and publicity himself, and this recognition is especially impactful for him.
Jetmundsen has come to recent University events such as Homecoming to promote his book and talk about the history that inspired it. HE expressed his appreciation for these opportunities and hopes to return for other events, especially to speak about the lives of the players after their remarkable season. He mentioned in an interview that a few of them returned to Sewanee or had already been deeply connected to the Mountain and the University; many locals will recognize names on the list of players.
Those interested in purchasing the book or documentary, or arranging a talk or showing, should go to the “Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899” website.