THE STORY
It is 1899, and the Yellow Fever epidemic has swept across the Southeast, hitting the University of the South—better known as Sewanee—especially hard. Enrollment has fallen sharply, and the school faces bankruptcy as its student body shrinks. Unscrupulous board member Edward Williams sees an opening and moves to exploit it. He harbors his own schemes for Sewanee’s 13,000 acres of dense forest. Williams warns that unless the school brings in more tuition revenue within a year, he will side with the creditors and demand that Sewanee close for good, sell the land, and settle its crushing debts. Brash but visionary Luke Lea, the son of a board member, makes an improbable claim: Sewanee’s enrollment will soar once its ragtag football team becomes a winning powerhouse. Their unprecedented victories, he says, will be carried in newspaper headlines across the country. At just 20 years old, Luke Lea led the Iron Men of ’99 to victory. The legendary tale still told in the halls of the University of the South at Sewanee is captured in a poster the school commissioned from the very same artist behind the Pears Soap advertisements. “In 6 days Sewanee beat Texas, Texas A & M, Tulane, LSU and Ole Miss. On the 7th day they rested.” They were pioneers in their field: five of those wins, all shutouts, came within a six-day stretch during a grueling 2,500-mile journey by steam train—playing punishing games by day and studying, recovering, and sleeping by night. Ten of their twelve opponents, including all five road-trip victims, remain major college football powers to this day. In 2012, the College Football Hall of Fame held a vote for the greatest historic teams of all time, and the 1899 Iron Men finished ahead of the 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide as the greatest team ever.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What is Iron Men of '99 about?
It tells the story of a ragtag football squad at the University of the South (Sewanee) in 1899 that does the impossible—playing five games in six days against some of the greatest football programs in history and defeating every one of them.
Which teams did Sewanee beat on the six-day road trip?
As the synopsis recounts, Sewanee defeated Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU and Ole Miss in six days—every win a shutout—while covering roughly 2,500 miles by steam train.
Who was Luke Lea?
Luke Lea—brash yet visionary, and the son of a board member—was only 20 when he led the Iron Men of '99. He predicted that Sewanee's enrollment would climb once its ragtag football team turned into a winning powerhouse.
What was at stake for the University of the South?
The Yellow Fever epidemic had devastated the Southeast and left Sewanee on the brink of bankruptcy. Board member Edward Williams warned that unless the school secured more tuition revenue within a year, he would side with the creditors and demand that Sewanee close and sell off its 13,000 forested acres.
How is the 1899 team remembered today?
Ten of their twelve opponents—including all five road-trip victims—are still major college football powers. In 2012, a College Football Hall of Fame vote for the greatest historic teams of all time ranked the 1899 Iron Men above the 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Where can I learn more about the film?
Browse the Creative Team, meet the Leading Characters, look through the Gallery, or Contact Us with any questions.
From the boardroom ultimatum to the steam-train road trip, the synopsis traces how a struggling university and an overlooked team became part of college football lore. Use the navigation above to dig into the people behind the story and the creative team bringing it to the screen.