At 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds, Cummins was an imposing and talented presence on the Whitman football and baseball teams of the mid-1930s. He played for legendary Whitman coach R.V. Borleske, earning all-conference honors as a hard-hitting catcher in baseball and pass-catching receiver in football.
Snaring 12 touchdown passes during his junior football season, he received honorable mention recognition on one of the small-college All-America teams. The New York Giants football team caught wind of his gridiron exploits, offering him $100 per game to go pro. Intent on finishing school and using his remaining college eligibility, he stayed at Whitman. He capped his college career by helping the baseball team, a perennial conference champion, win 41 of 56 games during his 1938 senior season.
After graduating from Whitman, Cummins was offered another contract by the New York Giants, as well as a contract by a Northwest minor league baseball team. Professional sports were not a lucrative proposition at that time, however, and Cummins chose a more steady line of work, teaching history and coaching at schools in Stevenson and LaCenter, Wash.
After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he opened Walla Walla’s Scotty Cummins Athletic Supply, which he ran until his retirement in 1975, and which continues to bear his name. He served on the board of directors of the National Sporting Goods Association for many years, and he was elected its president it 1969.
Now 90 years of age, Cummins continues to make his home in Walla Walla. He is an emeritus member of the Whitman Board of Overseers.
