Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak, you say? Although it’s unlikely, it’s possible. Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in one professional basketball game. It’s unlikely, but it is possible that a 7-foot, 10-inch Michael Jordan will emerge. Byron Nelson’s 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins? Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus could not even come close. Yet, it is possible to accomplish such feats. However, there is at least one sports record that will never be broken, and it’s the one in college football. It is impossible to break it. The perfect 12-0 season was achieved by the 1899 Sewanee Tigers, who won five football games in six consecutive days. All five victories were won in six days. Texas was defeated 12-0 by Sewanee in Austin, Texas A&M 10-0 at Houston, Tulane 23-0, Tulane 23-0, New Orleans, Tulane 34-0 in Baton Rouge, LSU 34-0, Baton Rouge, and Ole Miss 12-0, Memphis. The team’s means of transport made the feat even more impressive. This was four years prior to Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first powered plane. Sewanee traveled the entire 2,500-mile journey by steam-powered locomotive. Although there were 18 Sewanee players on the traveling roster of the game, only 13 played in the games. It’s no wonder they were nicknamed “The Iron Men.” David Crews, a Mississippian and Sewanee graduate, did not have to fabricate it. Crews and Sewanee classmate Norman Jetmundsen spent the past five years researching, interviewing and shooting a film called “UNRIVALED” that tells the complete story of the Sewanee team who outscored their 12 opponents 322-10. On February 22, at 5 p.m., the documentary will be featured at the Overby Center in Ole Miss. Charles Overby, Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter and the film’s directors will present a 25-minute segment of the 90-minute documentary. The discussion will then be held. Carter could hire dozens of people to help organize the travel, provide food, manage the medical needs, and plan the game. In 1899, these duties were split between Luke Lea, a student manager, who was in fact an athletic director and business manager, as well as Herman “Billy” Suter, the head coach. This is a fascinating film that tells a remarkable story. Interviews with legendary coaches Nick Saban and Vince Dooley, Bobby Bowden, Johnny Majors and historian John Meachem (also known as the University of the South) are included in the film. Bowden, who is now deceased, summarizes the Sewanee story with his down-home, friendly charm at one point. “It’s unbelievable,” Bowden says, excitedly. It’s amazing that anyone could do this. There was no padding or rules to stop punching, gouging and kicking. Football, back then, was brutal. Substitutions were reserved for cowards. You were considered out of the game for the entire duration. Many times, players who were injured stayed in the game, often stumbling and dazed by their injuries. Forward passes were not possible. It was physical, straight-ahead football. Only the strong survived, while some of the most powerful did not. Dooley says that there were 17-18 deaths in one season. The closest thing to a pass was when an offensive player would grab a ball-carrying colleague and lift him over the line. As I did, you might wonder why a team from the Tennessee foothills would set out on such a difficult six-day, five game marathon. It was all about the dollars. In those days, Vanderbilt was Sewanee’s main rival and the annual Nashville trip pretty much funded the football team. There was a dispute about how gate receipts should be split that year. The dispute was never resolved. Lea, the student manager was forced to raise funds through other avenues after Vanderbilt’s game was cancelled. All the money from the games would be lost if Lea had to take long road trips, such as New Orleans or Austin, for example. Lea decided to kill five birds by choosing one road trip and five games. His players managed to accomplish the task. They weren’t big men. Henry “Diddy”, a running back, was the Sewanee star and team Captain. He weighed in at 170 pounds. He scored two touchdowns against Texas, despite a large gash on his left eye which was covered with plaster of Paris. He did not leave the game. Hugh Miller Thompson Pearce was the right end of the team. He hails from Jackson and is better known by his nickname Bunny. Bunny Pearce was 5′ 3″ tall and weighed in with 125 pounds. In 1944, Coach Suter spoke out about Pearce. He said that he was a fine man. Eighty-eight pounds of his body weight was brains, and the rest was heart. What else is important?” Ole Miss at Memphis was the fifth of five victories in six day. The day before, Sewanee had defeated LSU by 34-0. All the soreness, bruises, and gashes added up. The Iron Men rode from Baton Rouge to Baton Rouge overnight, slept in coach cars, and took to the field on the following day. The Commercial Appeal reported that Coach Suter put fresh plaster on the cuts Seibels had received during the Texas game. The sight of the Sewanee men standing ready for the whistle from the referee was enough to instill a healthy respect for them.” Sewanee’s physical problems aside, the Tigers won 12-0. They defeated five of the Deep South’s football powerhouses by a combined score 91-0 during the long trip. The next day they returned to Sewanee, having conquered heroes and were treated like such. A parade, fireworks, cannon fires, cannon firing, and a feast were some of the festivities that they received. It was only one week since they had left. In six days, they had won five major victories. They had done something that no one had done before. They will continue to do so in the future. It would be foolish to even think about it.