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diff --git a/18048.txt b/18048.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e135da --- /dev/null +++ b/18048.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12463 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Football Days, by William H. Edwards + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Football Days + Memories of the Game and of the Men behind the Ball + +Author: William H. Edwards + +Release Date: March 25, 2006 [EBook #18048] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOOTBALL DAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Stacy Brown, Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THREE VICTORIOUS PRINCETON CAPTAINS +HILLEBRAND, COCHRAN, EDWARDS] + + + + +FOOTBALL DAYS + +MEMORIES OF THE GAME AND +OF THE MEN BEHIND THE BALL + + +BY + +WILLIAM H. EDWARDS +PRINCETON 1900 + + +WITH INTRODUCTION BY +WALTER CAMP +YALE 1880 + + +MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY +NEW YORK +1916 + + +Copyright, 1916, By +MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY +NEW YORK + + + + +Dedicated to John P. Poe, Jr. +Princeton '95 + + +HONORED AND BELOVED BY HOSTS OF FRIENDS, HE REPRESENTED THE HIGHEST +IDEALS OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL, NOT ONLY IN LIFE, BUT IN HIS DEATH UPON THE +BATTLEFIELD IN FRANCE. + +AS I THINK OF HIM, THE STIRRING LINES OF HENRY NEWBOLDT COME TO ME AS A +FITTING EULOGY: + + + VITA LAMPADA + + There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night-- + Ten to make and the match to win-- + A bumping pitch and a blinding light, + An hour to play and the last man in. + + And it's not for the sake of a ribboned-coat + Or the selfish hope of a season's fame, + But his captain's hand on his shoulder smote, + "Play up! play up! and play the game!" + + The sand of the desert is sodden red-- + Red with the wreck of a square that broke, + The gatling jammed and the Colonel dead + And the Regiment blind with dust and smoke. + + The river of death has brimmed its banks, + And England's far, and honor a name-- + But the voice of a school boy rallies the ranks, + "Play up! play up! and play the game!" + + This is the word that year by year + While in her place the school is set + Every one of the sons must hear, + And none that hears it dares forget. + + Thus they all with a joyful mind-- + Bear their life like a torch in flame-- + And failing, fling to the host behind, + "Play up! play up! and play the game!" + + + + +GREETING + + +I value more highly than any other athletic gift I have ever received, +the Princeton football championship banner that hangs on my wall. It was +given to me by a friend who sent three boys to Princeton. It is a +duplicate of the one that hangs in the trophy room of the gymnasium +there. + +How often have I gazed longingly at the names of my loyal team-mates +inscribed upon it. Many times have I run over in my mind the part that +each one played on the memorable occasion when that banner was won. +Memories cluster about that token that are dear and sacred to me. + +I see before me not only the faces of my team, but the faces of men of +other years and other universities who have contributed so much to the +great game of football. I recall the preparatory school days and the +part that football played in our school and college careers. Again I see +the athletic fields and the dressing rooms. I hear the earnest pleading +of the coaches. + +I see the teams run out upon the field and hear the cheering throng. The +coin is tossed in the air. The shrill blast of the referee's whistle +signals the game to start. The ball is kicked off, and the contest is +on. + +The thousands of spectators watch breathlessly. For the time the whole +world is forgotten, except for the issue being fought out there before +them. + +But we are not dressed in football suits nowadays. We are on the side +lines. We have a different part to play. Years have compelled a change. +In spirit, however, we are still "in the game." + +It is to share these memories with all true lovers of football and to +pay a tribute to the heroes of the gridiron who are no longer with us +that I have undertaken this volume. Let us together retrace the days in +which we lived: days of preparation, days of victory, and days of +defeat. Let us also look into the faces of some of the football heroes +of years ago, and recall the achievements that made them famous. And let +us recall, too, the men of the years just past who have so nobly upheld +the traditions of the American game of football, and helped to place it +on its present high plane. + + William H. Edwards. + +[Illustration: MY CORNER + +"Fond memory sheds the light of other days around me."] + + + + +PROLOGUE + + +They say that no man ever made a successful football player who was +lacking in any quality of imagination. If this be true, and time and +again has it been proved, then there is no more fitting dedication to a +book dealing with the gridiron heroes of the past than to a man like +Johnny Poe. For football is the abandon of body and mind to the +obsession of the spirit that knows no obstacle, counts no danger and for +the time being is dull and callous to physical pain or exhaustion. It is +a something that makes one see visions as Johnny saw them! + +There is no sport in the world that brings out unselfishness as does +this great gridiron game of ours. Every fall, second and scrub teams +throughout the country sacrifice themselves only to let others enter the +promised land of victory. It is a strange thing but one almost never +hears any real football player criticise another's making the team, +either his own or an All America. Although the player in this sport +appreciates the loyal support of the thousands on the stands, every man +realizes that his checks on the Bank of Cheers can never be cashed +unless there is a deposit of hard work and practice. Perhaps all this in +an indistinct and indefinite way explains why football players, the +country over, understand each other and that when the game is attacked +for any reason they stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of what they +know down in the bottom of their hearts has such an influence on +character building. And there is no one better fitted to tell the story +of this and of the gridiron heroes than Big Bill Edwards, known not only +as a player but far and wide as one of the best officials that ever +handled the game. "A square deal and no roughing" was his motto, and +every one realized it and accepted every decision unquestioningly. His +association with players in so many angles has given him a particular +insight into the sport and has enabled him to tell this story as no one +else could. + +And what names to conjure with! The whistle blows and a shadowy host +springs into action before one's misty eyes--Alex Moffat, the star of +kickers, Hector Cowan, Heffelfinger, Gordon Brown, Ma Newell, Truxton +Hare, Glass, Neil Snow and Shevlin, giants of linemen. But I must stop +before I trespass upon what Bill Edwards will do better. Here's to them +all--forty years of heroes! + + Walter Camp. + +[Illustration: WALTER CAMP + +Yale's Captain, '78-'79.] + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Hillebrand, Cochran, Edwards _Frontispiece_ + +My Corner + +Walter Camp, Yale's Captain '78-'79 + +The Old Fifth Avenue Send-Off 1 + +Old Yale Heroes--Lee McClung's Team 5 + +We Beat Andover 11 + +Lafayette's Great Team 24 + +House in Disorder 30 + +Hit Your Man Low 32 + +Repairs 34 + +The Old Faithfuls 39 + +Jim Rodgers' Team 45 + +Cochran Was Game to the End 48 + +On to New Haven--All Dressed Up and Ready to Go 54 + +Hillebrand's Last Charge 60 + +Al Sharpe's Goal 64 + +Touching the Match to Victory 67 + +Alex Moffat and His Team 82 + +Old Penn Heroes 100 + +Pa Corbin's Team 108 + +Breakers Ahead--Phil King in the Old Days 125 + +Lookout, Princeton! 130 + +Barrett on One of His Famous Dashes; Exeter-Andover +Game, 1915 142 + +Bill Hollenback Coming at You 147 + +"The Next Day the Picture Was Gone"--Jim Cooney Making a +Hole for Dana Kafer 158 + +Johnny Poe, Football Player and Soldier 181 + +Northcroft Kicking the Field Goal Anticipated by the +Navy and Feared by the Army 200 + +Cadets and Middies Entering the Field 224 + +Two Aces--Bill Morley and Harold Weeks 251 + +Vic Kennard's Kick 255 + +Sam White's Run 261 + +King, of Harvard, Making a Run; Mahan Putting Black on +His Head 268 + +Princeton's 1899 Team 272 + +"Nothing Got by John DeWitt" 277 + +John DeWitt About to Pick Up the Ball 280 + +The Ever Reliable Brickley--A Football Thoroughbred--Tack +Hardwick 284 + +The Poe Family 296 + +Just Boys 298 + +Hobey Baker, Walter Camp, Jr., Snake Ames, Jr. 303 + +The Elect 310 + +How It Hurts to Lose 337 + +Cornell's Great Team--1915 344 + +One Scene Never Photographed in Football 349 + +Harvard, 1915 354 + +The Greatest Indian of Them All 357 + +Learning the Charge 363 + +Billy Bull Advising with Captain Talbot 367 + +Michigan's Famous 1901 Team 370 + +Columbia Back in the Game, 1915 381 + +Close to a Thriller. Erwin of Pennsylvania Scoring +Against Cornell 386 + +Crash of Conflict. When Charge Meets Charge 407 + +Ainsworth, Yale's Terror in an Uphill Game 416 + +Two to One He Gets Away--Brickley Being Tackled by Wilson +and Avery 422 + +Snapping the Ball with Lewis. "Two Inseparables"--Frank +Hinkey and the Ball 428 + +Marshall Newell 434 + +McClung, Referee, Shevlin and Hogan 450 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Chap. Page + +I.--PREP. SCHOOL DAYS. 1-17 + +My First Glimpse of a Varsity Team--The Yale Eleven of 1891--Lee +McClung--Vance McCormick--Heffelfinger--Sanford--Impressions +made upon a Boy--St. John's Military School--Lawrenceville--Making +the Team--Andover and Hill School Games. + +II.--FRESHMAN YEAR. 18-29 + +The Freedom of Freshman Year is Attractive--Catching the Spirit +of the Place--Searching for Football Material--The Cannon +Rush--Early Training with Jack McMasters--Tie Game with Lafayette +at Easton--Humiliation of being taken out of a Game--Cornell +Game--Joe Beacham's Fair Admirer in the Bleachers--Bill Church's +Threat Carried Out--Garry Cochran's Victories against Harvard +and Yale. + +III.--ELBOW TO ELBOW 30-41 + +Dressing for Practice--Out upon the Field--Tackling--After +Practice, Back to the Dressing-room--How a Player Finds +Himself--The Training Table--Team Mates--A Surprise for John +DeWitt's Team. + +IV.--MISTAKES IN THE GAME. 42-53 + +If We could only Correct Mistakes We All Made--Defeats +might be Turned into Victory--The Fellow that let Athletics +be the Big Thing in His College Life--The '97 Defeat--No +Recognition of Old Schoolmates--My Opponent was Charlie +Chadwick--Jim Rodgers the Yale Captain--The Cochran-De +Saulles Compact--Cochran Injured--His Last Game--Ad Kelly's +Great Work--Mistakes Caused Sadness--Cornell Defeating +Princeton at Ithaca in 1899--No Outstretched Hands at +Princeton for our Homecoming. + +V.--MY LAST GAME 54-67 + +A Desire to Make the Last Game the Best--On to New +Haven--Optimism--The Start of the Game--Bosey Reiter's +Touchdown--Yale Scores on a Block Kick--Al Sharpe's Goal +from the Field--Score 10 to 6, Yale Leading--Arthur Poe's +Goal from the Field--Princeton Victory--The Joy of +Winning--The Reception at Princeton. + +VI.--HEROES OF THE PAST--EARLY DAYS 68-92 + +Treasured Memory of Those who have Gone Before--Where are +the Old-time Heroes?--Walter Camp--F. R. Vernon--Camp as +a Captain--Chummy Eaton--John Harding--Eugene Baker--Fred +Remington--Theodore McNair--Alexander Moffat--Wyllys +Terry--Memories of John C. Bell. + +VII.--GEORGE WOODRUFF'S STORY 93-101 + +His Entrance to Yale--Making the Team--Recollections of the +Men he Played With and Against--The Lamar Run--Pennsylvania +Experiences. + +VIII.--ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS 102-124 + +Old-time Signals--Fun with Bert Hansen--Sport Donnelly--Billy +Rhodes and Gill--Victorious Days at Yale--Corbin's 1888 +Team--Pa Corbin's Speech when his Team was Banqueted--Mr. and +Mrs. Walter Camp, Head Coaches of the Yale Football Team in +1888--Cowan the Great--Story of His Football Days--He was +Disqualified by Wyllys Terry--Tribute to Heffelfinger--Going +Back with John Cranston. + +IX.--THE NINETIES AND AFTER 125-163 + +The Day Sanford Made the Yale Team--Parke Davis--Sanford +and Yost Obstructing the Traffic--Phil King--The Old +Flying Wedges--Pop Gailey--Charlie Young--An Evening with Jim +Rodgers--Vance McCormick and Denny O'Neil--Dartmouth and Some +of Her Men--Dave Fultz--Christy Mathewson at Bucknell--Jack +Munn Tells of Buffalo Bill--Booth Tells of his Western +Experiences--Harry Kersburg--Heff Herring at Merton +College--Carl Flanders--Bill Horr. + +X.--COLLEGE TRADITIONS AND SPIRIT 164-180 + +College Life in America is Rich in Traditions--The Value of +College Spirit--Each College Has its Own Traditions--Alumni +Parade--School Master and Boy--Victory must never Overshadow +Honor--Constructive Criticism of the Alumni--Mass Meeting +Enthusiasm--Horse Edwards, Princeton '89--Job E. Hedges. + +XI.--JOHNNY POE'S OWN STORY 181-193 + +Private W. Faulkner, a Comrade in the Black Watch, Tells of +Poe's Death--Johnny's Last Words--Paul MacWhelan Gives +London Impressions of Poe's Death--Anecdotes that Johnny +Poe Wrote While in Nevada. + +XII.--ARMY AND NAVY 194-225 + +Character and Training of West Point and Annapolis +Players--Experience of the Visitor Watching the Drill +of Battalion--Annapolis Recollections and Football +Traditions at Naval Academy--Old Players--A Trip de Luxe +to West Point--West Point Recollections--Harmon Graves--The +Way They Have in the Army--The Army and Navy Game. + +XIII.--HARD LUCK IN THE GAME 226-246 + +In Football, as it is in Life, We have no Use for a +Quitter--Football a Game for the Man who Has Nerve--Many +a Small Man has Made a Big Man look Ridiculous--Morris +Ely Game Though Handicapped--Val Flood's Recollections--Andy +Smith--Vonabalde Gammon of Georgia. + +XIV.--BRINGING HOME THE BACON 247-285 + +Billy Bull's Recollections of Yale Games--The Day Columbia +Beat Yale--Dressing Room Scene where Doxology Was +Sung--Account by Richard Harding Davis--Introducing Vic +Kennard of Harvard Fame--Opportunist Extraordinary--His +Experience with Mr. E. H. Coy--Charlie Barrett, of +Cornell--Eddie Hart of Princeton--Sam White--Joe Duff--Side +Line Thoughts of Doctor W. A. Brooks and Evert Jansen +Wendell--New Haven Wreck--Eddie Mahan talking--His Opinion +of Frank Glick--George Chadwick of Yale--Arthur Poe--Story +of his Run and of his Kick--John DeWitt's Story--Tichenor, +of Georgia--"Bobbing Up and Down" Story--Charlie Brickley. + +XV.--THE BLOODY ANGLE 286-295 + +Going Back to the Rough Days--Princeton vs. Harvard Fall +of '87 at Jarvis Field--Luther Price's Experiences in the +Game--Cowan's Disqualification by Wyllys Terry--The +Umpire--Walter Camp was Referee--Holden Carried Off the +Field--Bob Church's Valor. + +XVI.--THE FAMILY IN FOOTBALL 296-305 + +Football Men in Two Distinct Classes--Those who are Made +into Players by the Coaches and Those who are Born with +the Football Instinct--The Poes, Camps, Winters, Ames, +Drapers, Riggs, Youngs, Withingtons, etc. + +XVII.--OUR GOOD OLD TRAINERS 306-336 + +Our Good Old Trainers--Jack McMasters--"Dear Old Jim +Robinson"--Mike Murphy the Dean of Trainers--"The Old +Mike"--A Chat with Pooch Donovan--Keene Fitzpatrick and his +Experiences--Mike Sweeney--Jack Moakley--There is much +Humor in Johnny Mack--Huggins of Brown--Harry Tuthill--Doctor +W. M. Conant, Harvard '79, First Doctor in Charge of any team. + +XVIII.--NIGHTMARES 337-348 + +Frank Morse, of Princeton on the Spirit in Defeat--Tom +Shevlin's Story--Nightmares of W. C. Rhodes--A Yale +Nightmare--Sam Morse--Jim Hogan--The Cornell Game of +1915 is Eddie Mahan's Nightmare--Jack De Saulles' Nightmare. + +XIX.--MEN WHO COACHED 349-382 + +No coaches in the Old Days--Personality Counts in +Coaching--Football is Fickle--Haughton at Harvard at the +Psychological Moment--Old Harvard Coaches--Al Sharpe--Glenn +Warner--The Indians--Billy Bull in the Game--Sanford, the +Unique--Making of Chadwick--W. R. Tichenor, Emergency Coach +of the South--Auburn Recollections--Listening to Yost--Reggie +Brown--Jimmy Knox--Harvard Scouts--Dartmouth Holds a Unique +Position in College Football--Ed Hall, the father of Dartmouth +Football--Myron E. Witham, Captain of the Dartmouth Team--Walter +McCornack--Eddie Holt's Coaching--Harry Kersburg's Harvard +Coaching Recollections--Making Two Star Players from the +Football Discards--Vic Kennard and Rex Ver Wiebe--John H. +Rush--Tad Jones--T. N. Metcalf--Tom Thorp--Bob Folwell--At +Pennsylvania. + +XX.--UMPIRE AND REFEREE 383-406 + +"Why Did He Give That Penalty?"--Emotions of an +Official--John Bell's Recollections as an Official--In +the Old Days One Official Handled the Entire Game--Dashiell's +Reminiscences--Matthew McClung--Conversation with John L. +Sullivan--My Own Personal Experiences--Evarts Wrenn at +Work--Dan Hurley--Bill Crowell--Phil Draper's Ideas--Wyllys +Terry's Official Recollections--Explanation of the Cowan +Disqualification--Pa Corbin--Joe Pendleton--Refereeing +with Nate Tufts--Okeson. + +XXI.--CRASH OF CONFLICT 407-433 + +The First Five Minutes of Play--A Good Start usually +means a Good Ending--Bracelet in the Game--Lueder and +Blondy Wallace--"I've Got You Buffaloed"--Tom Shevlin +remarked: "Mike, This Isn't Football--It's War"--Bemus +Pierce: "Now Keep your Eyes Open and Find out who it +Was"--"If You Won't be Beat, You Can't be Beat," said +Johnny Poe--Rinehart Tells how he Tried to Get even with +Sam Boyle--Barkie Donald and Bemus Pierce--The Yale-Harvard +Game at Springfield '94--Result; No Game for Nine Years--Frank +Hinkey and Wrightington's Broken Collar-bone--Joe Beacham's +Paragon--Sandy Hunt--Bill Hollenback. + +XXII.--LEST WE FORGET 434-460 + +Marshall Newell--Gordon Brown--James J. Hogan--Thomas +J. Shevlin--Francis H. Burr--Neil Snow--Billy +Bannard--Harry Hooper--Richard Harding Davis--McClung. + +XXIII.--ALOHA 461-464 + +Hail and Farewell--The Old Game and the New +Compared--Exclusively Collegiate Sport--Isaac H. Bromley, +Yale '53, Sums up the Spirit of College Life and Sport! + +[Illustration: THE OLD FIFTH AVENUE SEND-OFF] + + + + +FOOTBALL DAYS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PREP. SCHOOL DAYS + + +To every man there comes a moment that marks the turning point of his +career. For me it was a certain Saturday morning in the autumn of 1891. +As I look back upon it, across the years, I feel something of the same +thrill that stirred my boyish blood that day and opened a door through +which I looked into a new world. + +I had just come to the city, a country boy, from my home in Lisle, +N. Y., to attend the Horace Mann School. As I walked across Madison Square, +I glanced toward the old Fifth Avenue Hotel, where my eyes fell upon the +scene depicted in the accompanying picture. Almost before I was aware of +it my curiosity led me to mingle with the crowd surging in and out of +the hotel, and I learned by questioning the bystanders that it was the +headquarters of the Yale team, which that afternoon was to play +Princeton at the Polo Grounds. The players were about to leave the hotel +for the field, and I hurried inside to catch a glimpse of them. + +The air was charged with enthusiasm, and I soon caught the +infection--although it was all new to me then--of the vital power of +college spirit which later so completely dominated my life. I recall +with vividness how I lingered and waited for something to happen. Men +were standing in groups, and all eyes were centered upon the heroes of +the team. Every one was talking football. Some of the names heard then +have never been forgotten by me. There was the giant Heffelfinger whom +every one seemed anxious to meet. I was told that he was the crack Yale +guard. I looked at him, and, then and there, I joined the hero +worshippers. + +I also remember Lee McClung, the Yale captain, who seemed to realize the +responsibilities that rested upon his shoulders. There was an air of +restraint upon him. In later years he became Treasurer of the United +States and his signature was upon the country's currency. My most vivid +recollection of him will be, however, as he stood there that day in the +corridor of the famous old hotel, on the day of a great football +conflict with Princeton. Then Sanford was pointed out to me, the Yale +center-rush. I recall his eagerness to get out to the "bus" and to be on +his way to the field. When the starting signal was given by the captain, +Sanford's huge form was in the front rank of the crowd that poured out +upon the sidewalk. + +The whole scene was intensely thrilling to me, and I did not leave +until the last player had entered the "bus" and it drove off. Crowds of +Yale men and spectators gave the players cheer after cheer as they +rolled away. The flags with which the "bus" was decorated waved in the +breeze, and I watched them with indescribable fascination until they +were out of sight. The noise made by the Yale students I learned +afterwards was college cheering, and college cheers once heard by a boy +are never forgotten. + +Many in that throng were going to the game. I could not go, but the +scene that I had just witnessed gave me an inspiration. It stirred +something within me, and down deep in my soul there was born a desire to +go to college. + +I made my way directly to the Y. M. C. A. gymnasium, then at the corner +of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-third Street. Athletics had for me a greater +attraction than ever before, and from that day I applied myself with +increased enthusiasm to the work of the gymnasium. + +The following autumn I entered St. John's Military Academy at Manlius, +N. Y., a short distance from my old home. I was only seventeen years of +age and weighed 217 pounds. + +Former Adjutant General William Verbeck--then Colonel Verbeck--was Head +Master. Before I was fairly settled in my room, the Colonel had drafted +me as a candidate for the football team. I wanted to try for the team, +and was as eager to make it as he evidently was to have me make it. But +I did not have any football togs, and the supply at the school did not +contain any large enough. + +So I had to have some built for me. The day they arrived, much to my +disappointment, I found the trousers were made of white canvas. Their +newness was appalling and I pictured myself in them with feelings of +dismay. I robbed them of their whiteness that night by mopping up a lot +of mud with them behind the gymnasium. When they had dried--by +morning--they looked like a pair of real football trousers. + +George Redington of Yale was our football coach. He was full of +contagious fire. Redington seemed interested in me and gave me much +individual coaching. Colonel Verbeck matched him in love of the game. He +not only believed in athletics, but he played at end on the second team, +and it was pretty difficult for the boys to get the best of him. They +made an unusual effort to put the Colonel out of the plays, but, try as +hard as they might, he generally came out on top. The result was a +decided increase in the spirit of the game. + +We had one of the best preparatory school teams in that locality, but +owing to our distance from the larger preparatory schools, we were +forced to play Syracuse, Hobart, Hamilton, Rochester, Colgate, and +Cazenovia Seminary--all of whom we defeated. We also played against the +Syracuse Athletic Association, whose team was composed of +professional athletes as well as former college players. Bert Hanson, +who had been a great center at Yale, was one of this team. + +[Illustration: + +H. Wallis Coxe Cochran Nessler Heffelfinger W. Winter Mills +Sanford Hartwell Morrison Graves Stillman +McCormick McClung L. T. Bliss +C. Bliss Hinkey Barbour T. Dyer + +OLD YALE HEROES--LEE McCLUNG'S TEAM] + +Recalling the men who played on our St. John's team, I am confident that +if all of them had gone to college, most of them would have made the +Varsity. In fact, some did. + +It was decided that I should go to Lawrenceville School, en route to +Princeton. It was on the trip from Trenton to Lawrenceville, in the big +stage coach loaded with boys, I got my first dose of homesickness. The +prospect of new surroundings made me yearn for St. John's. + +The "blue hour" of boyhood, however, is a brief one. I was soon engaged +in conversation with a little fellow who was sitting beside me and who +began discussing the ever-popular subject of football. He was very +inquisitive and wanted to know if I had ever played the game, and if I +was going to try for the team. + +He told me about the great game Lawrenceville played with the Princeton +Varsity the year before, when Lawrenceville scored six points before +Princeton realized what they were really up against. He fascinated me by +his graphic description. There was a glowing account of the playing of +Garry Cochran, the great captain of the Lawrenceville team, who had just +graduated and gone to Princeton, together with Sport Armstrong, the +giant tackle. + +These men were sure to live in Lawrenceville's history if for nothing +else than the part they had played in that notable game, although +Princeton rallied and won 8 to 6. It was not long before I learned that +my newly-made friend was Billy McGibbon, a member of the Lawrenceville +baseball team. + +"Just wait until you see Charlie de Saulles and Billy Dibble play behind +the line," he went on; and from that moment I began to be a part of the +new life, the threshold of which I was crossing. Strangely enough the +memory of getting settled in my new quarters faded with the eventful +moment when the call for candidates came, and I went out with the rest +of the boys to try for the team. + +Competition was keen and many candidates offered themselves. I was +placed on the scrub team. One of my first attempts for supremacy was in +the early part of the season when I was placed as right guard of the +scrub against Perry Wentz, an old star player of the school and +absolutely sure of his position. I recall how on several occasions the +first team could not gain as much distance through the second as the men +desired, and Wentz, who later on distinguished himself on the Varsity at +Princeton and still later as a crack player on Pennsylvania, seemed to +have trouble in opening up my position. + +Max Rutter, the Lawrenceville captain, with the directness that usually +characterizes such officers, called this fact to Wentz's attention. +Wentz, who probably felt naturally his pride of football fame, became +quite angry at Rutter's remark that he was being outplayed. He took off +his nose-guard, threw it on the ground and left the field. + +Rutter moved me over to the first team in Wentz's place. That night +there was a general upset on the team which was settled amicably, +however, and the next day Wentz continued playing in his old place. The +position of guard was given to me on the other side of the line, George +Cadwalader being moved out to the position of tackle. This was the same +Cadwalader who subsequently went to Yale and made a great name for +himself on the gridiron, in spite of the fact that he remained at New +Haven but one year. + +It was here at Lawrenceville that this great player made his reputation +as a goal kicker, a fame that was enhanced during his football days at +Yale. Max Rutter, the captain of the Lawrenceville team, went to +Williams and played on the Varsity, eventually becoming captain there +also. Ned Moffat, nephew of Princeton's great Alex Moffat, played end +rush. + +About this time I began to realize that Billy McGibbon had given me a +correct line on Charlie de Saulles and Billy Dibble. These two players +worked wonderfully well together, and were an effective scoring machine +with the assistance of Doc MacNider and Dave Davis. + +During these days at Lawrenceville Owen Johnson gathered the material +for those interesting stories in which he used his old schoolmates for +the characters. The thin disguise of Doc Macnooder does not, however, +conceal Doc MacNider from his old schoolboy friends. The same is true of +the slightly changed names of Garry Cochran, Turk Righter, Charlie de +Saulles and Billy Dibble. + +Charlie de Saulles, after graduation, went to Yale and continued his +wonderful, spectacular career on the gridiron. We will spend an +afternoon with him on the Yale field later. + +Billy Dibble went to Williams and played a marvelous game until he was +injured, early in his freshman year. It was during those days that I met +Garry Cochran, Sport Armstrong and other Princeton coaches for the first +time. They used to come over to assist in coaching our team. Our regular +coaches at Lawrenceville were Walter B. Street, who had been a famous +football star years before at Williams, and William J. George, renowned +in Princeton's football history as a center-rush. I cannot praise the +work of these men too highly. They were thoroughbreds in every sense of +the word. + +It was one of the old traditions of Lawrenceville football to have a +game every year with Pennington Seminary. What man is there who +attended either school who does not recall the spirit of those old-time +contests? + +The Hill School was another of our football rivals. The trip to +Pottstown, Pa., was an event eagerly looked forward to--so also was the +Hill School's return game at Lawrenceville. The rivalry between the two +schools was keen. + +Everything possible was done at the Hill School to make our visit a +pleasant one. The score of 28 to 0, by which Lawrenceville won the game +that year, made it especially pleasant. + +As I recall that trip, two men stand out in my memory. One was John +Meigs, the Head Master. The other was Mike Sweeney, the Trainer and +Athletic Director. They were the two central figures of Hill School +traditions. + +Interest in football was emphasized at that time by the approaching game +with Andover at Lawrenceville. This was the first time that these two +teams had ever played. Andover was probably more renowned in football +annals than any school Lawrenceville had played up to this time. The +Lawrenceville coaches realized that the game would be a strenuous one. +After a conference, the two coaches decided that it would be wise to see +Andover play at Andover the week before we were to play them. +Accordingly, Mr. George went to Andover, and when he returned, he +gathered the team around him in one of the recitation halls and +described carefully the offense and defense of our coming opponents. He +also demonstrated with checkers what each man did in every play and +placed emphasis on the work of Eddie Holt, who was acting captain of the +Andover team. To represent Holt's giant build he placed one checker on +top of another, saying, as I remember, with great seriousness: + +"This topped checker represents Holt. He must be taken care of, and it +will require two Lawrenceville men to stop him on every play. I am +certain of this for Holt was a marvel last Saturday." + +During the week we drilled secretly and most earnestly in anticipation +of defeating Andover. The game attracted an unusually large number of +spectators. Lawrenceville made it a gala day for its alumni, and all the +old Andover and Lawrenceville boys who could get there witnessed the +game. + +When the Andover team ran out upon the field we were all anxious to see +how big Holt loomed up. He certainly was a giant and towered high above +the other members of his team. Soon the whistle blew, and the trouble +was on. In memory now I can see Billy Dibble circling Andover's end for +twenty-five yards, scoring a touchdown amid tremendous excitement. + +This all transpired during the first minute and a half of play. Emerson +once said, "We live by moments," and the first minute and a half of that +game must stand out as one of the eventful periods in the life of +every man who recalls that day of play. No grown-up schoolboy can fail +to appreciate the scene or miss the wave of boyish enthusiasm that +rolled over the field at this unlooked for beginning of a memorable game +between schoolboys. + +[Illustration: + +Davis MacNider Dibble +de Saulles +Moffat Cadwalader Edwards Walton Wentz Geer Rotter + +WE BEAT ANDOVER] + +This wonderful start of the Lawrenceville team was a goading spur to its +opponents. Johnnie Barnes, an ex-Lawrenceville boy, now quarterback on +the Andover team, seemed fairly inspired as he urged his team on. Eddie +Holt was called upon time and again. He was making strong advances, +aided by French, Hine and Porter. Together they worked out a touchdown. +But Lawrenceville rallied and for the rest of the game their teamwork +was masterly. Bat Geer, who was later a Princeton Varsity player, +Charlie de Saulles and Billy Dibble, each scored touchdowns, making +three altogether for their school. + +Thus Lawrenceville, with the score 20 to 6, stepped forth into a new era +and entered the larger football world where she was to remain and +increase her heroic accomplishments in after years. + +It is needless to say that the night following this victory was a +crowning one in our preparatory football experiences. Bonfires were +lighted, speeches were the order of the hour, and members of the team +were the guests of honor at a banquet in the Upper House. There was no +rowdy "revelry by night" to spoil the memory of the occasion. It was +just one simple, fine and fitting celebration of a wholesome school +victory on the field of football. + + +LAST YEAR AT LAWRENCEVILLE + +It was up to Billy Dibble, the new captain, to bring about another +championship. We were to play Andover a return game there. Captain +Dibble was left with but three of last year's team as a foundation to +build on. Dibble's team made a wonderful record. He was a splendid +example for the team to follow, and his playing, his enthusiasm, and +earnest efforts contributed much toward the winning of the Andover, +Princeton freshmen and Hill School games. There appeared at +Lawrenceville a new coach who assisted Street and George. He was none +other than the famous Princeton halfback, Douglas Ward, whose record as +an honored man in the classroom as well as on the football field was +well known to all of us, and had stood out among college athletes as a +wonderful example. He was very modest. I recall that some one once asked +him how he made the only touchdown against Yale in the '93 game. His +reply was: "Oh, somebody just pushed me over." + +Fresh in my memory is the wonderful trip that we boys made to Andover. +We were proud of the fact that the Colonial Express was especially +ordered to stop at Trenton for us, and as we took our seats in the +Pullman car, we realized that our long looked for expedition had really +begun. + +We had a great deal of fun on the trip to Boston. Good old George +Cadwalader was the center of most of the jokes. His 215 pounds added to +the discomfort of a pair of pointed patent leather shoes, which were far +too small for him. As soon as he was settled in the train he removed +them and dozed off to sleep. Turk Righter and some of the other fun +makers tied the shoe strings together, and hung them out of the window +where they blew noisily against the window pane. + +When we arrived in Jersey City it was a treat for us to see our train +put aboard the ferry boat of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R., and, as we +sailed down the bay, up the East River and under the Brooklyn Bridge to +the New Haven docks, it all seemed very big and wonderful. + +When the train stopped at New Haven, we were met by the +Yale-Lawrenceville men, who wished us the best of luck; some of them +making the trip with us to Boston. When we arrived in Andover the next +day I had the satisfaction of seeing my brother and cousin, who were at +that time attending Andover Academy. + +The hospitality that was accorded the Andover team, while at +Lawrenceville the year before, was repaid in royal fashion. We had ample +time to view the grounds and buildings and grow keen in anticipation +and interest in the afternoon's contest. + +When the whistle blew, we were there for business. My personal opponent +was a fellow named Hillebrand, who besides being a football player was +Andover's star pitcher. Later on we became the best of friends and side +partners on the Princeton team, and often spoke of our first meeting +when we played against each other. Hillebrand was one of the greatest +athletes Andover ever turned out. Lawrenceville defeated Andover in one +of the hardest and most exciting of all Prep. School contests, one that +was uncertain from beginning to end. + +Billy Dibble played the star game of the day and after eight minutes he +scored a touchdown. Cadwalader booted the ball over the goal and the +score was 6 to 0. The Lawrenceville backfield, made up of Powell, Dave +Davis, Cap Kafer and Dibble, worked wonderfully well. Kafer did some +excellent punting against his remarkable opponent Barker, who seemed to +be as expert as he. + +The efficient work of Hillebrand and of Chadwell, the colored end-rush, +stands out pre-eminently. The latter player developed into one of the +best end-rushes that ever played at Williams. Goodwin, Barker and +Greenway contributed much to Andover's good play. Jim Greenway is one of +the famous Greenway boys whose athletic history at Yale is a matter of +record. A few minutes later the Andover crowd were aroused by Goodwin +making the longest run of the game--fifty-five yards, scoring Andover's +first touchdown, and making the score 6 to 6. + +There was great speculation as to which team would win the game, but +Billy Dibble, aided by the wonderful interference on the part of Babe +Eddie, who afterward played end on the Yale team, and Emerson, who, had +he gone to college, would have been a wonder, made a touchdown. George +Cadwalader with his sure right foot made the score 12 to 6. Enthusiasm +was at its height. Andover rooters were calling upon their team to tie +the score. A touchdown and goal would mean a tie. The Andover team +seemed to answer their call, for soon Goodwin scored a touchdown, making +the score 12 to 10, and Butterfield, Andover's right halfback, was put +to the test amidst great excitement. The ball went just to the side of +the goal post, and Lawrenceville had won 12 to 10. Great is the thrill +of a victory won on an opponent's field! + +That night after dinner, as I was sitting in my brother's room, with +some of his Andover friends, there was a yell from outside, and a loud +knock on the door. In walked a big fellow wearing a blue sweater. +Through his open coat one could observe the big white letter "A." It +proved to be none other than Doc Hillebrand. Without one word of comment +he walked over to where I was sitting and said: "Edwards, what was the +score of the game to-day?" I could not get the idea at all. I said: +"Why, you ought to know." He replied: "12 to 10," and turning on his +heel, left the room. This caused a good deal of amusement, but it was +soon explained that Hillebrand was being initiated into a secret society +and that this was one of the initiation stunts. + +It was a wonderfully happy trip back to Lawrenceville. The spirit ran +high. It was then that Turk Righter wrote the well known Lawrenceville +verse which we sang again and again: + + Cap kicked, Barker kicked + Cap he got the best of it + They both kicked together + But Cap kicked very hard + Bill ran, Dave ran + Then Andover lost her grip + She also lost her championship + Sis, boom ah! + +As we were about two miles outside of Lawrenceville, we saw a mass of +light in the roadway, and when we heard the boys yelling at the top of +their voices, we realized that the school was having a torch-light +procession and coming to welcome us. Great is that recollection! They +took the horses off and dragged the stage back to Lawrenceville and in +and about the campus. It was not long before the whole school was +singing the song of success that Turk Righter had written. + +A big celebration followed. We did not break training because we had +still another game to play. When Lawrenceville had beaten the Hill +School 20 to 0, many of us realized that we had played our last game for +Lawrenceville. George Cadwalader was shortly afterward elected Captain +for the coming year. It was at this time that Lawrenceville was +overjoyed to learn that Garry Cochran, a sophomore at Princeton, had +been elected captain of the Princeton varsity. This recalled former +Lawrenceville boys, Pop Warren and Doggie Trenchard, who had played at +Lawrenceville, gone to Princeton and had become varsity captains there. +Snake Ames also prepared at Lawrenceville. + +I might incidentally state that we stayed at Lawrenceville until June to +get our diplomas, realizing that there were many able fellows to +continue the successful traditions of Lawrenceville football, George +Mattis, Howard Richards, Jack de Saulles, Cliff Bucknam, John De Witt, +Bummie Ritter, Dana Kafer, John Dana, Charlie Dudley, Heff Herring, +Charlie Raymond, Biglow, the Waller brothers and others. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRESHMAN YEAR + + +I believe that every man who has had the privilege of going to college +will agree with me that as a freshman lands in a college town, he is a +very happy and interested individual. The newness of things and his +freedom are very attractive. He comes to college fresh from his school +day experiences ready to conform himself to the traditions and customs +of the new school, his college choice. + +The world will never again look quite so big to a boy as it did then. +Entering as boys do, in the fall of the year, the uppermost thing in +mind, outside of the classroom, is football. Sometimes it is the +uppermost thought in the classroom. What kind of a Varsity football team +are we going to have? This is the question heard on all sides. + +Every bit of available football material is eagerly sought by the +coaches. I recall so well my freshman year at Princeton, how Garry +Cochran, captain of the football team, went about the college with +Johnny Poe, looking over the undergraduates and watching the incoming +trains for football possibilities. If a fellow looked as though he +might have good material to work upon, he was asked to report at the +Varsity field the next day. + +All athletic interests are focused on the gridiron. The young +undergraduate who has no likelihood of making the team, fills himself +with facts about the individuals who are trying to win a place. He +starts out to be a loyal rooter, realizing that next to being a player, +the natural thing is to attend practice and cheer the team in their +work; he becomes interested in the individual progress each candidate is +making. In this way, the members of the team know that they have the +support of the college, and this makes them play harder. This builds up +college spirit. + +Every college has its own freshman and sophomore traditions; one at +Princeton is, that shortly after college opens there must be a rush +about the cannon, between the freshman and sophomore classes. All those +who have witnessed this sight, know that it is a vital part of Princeton +undergraduate life. On that night in my freshman year, great care was +taken by Cochran that none of the incoming football material engaged in +the rush. No chances were taken of injuring a good football prospect +among either freshmen or sophomores. Eddie Holt, Bert Wheeler, Arthur +Poe, Doc Hillebrand, Bummie Booth and I were in the front ranks of the +class of 1900, stationed back of Witherspoon Hall ready to make the +rush upon the sophomores, who were huddled together guarding the cannon. +Cochran and his coterie of coachers ran out as we were approaching the +cannon and forced us out of the contest. He ordered us to stand on the +outside of the surging crowd. There we were allowed to do a little +"close work," but we were not permitted to get into the heat of the +fray. Cochran knew all of us because we were among those who had been +called to college before the opening to enter preliminary training. +Every football player who has had the experience of being summoned ahead +of time will understand my feeling. I was very happy when I received +from Cochran, during the summer before I entered Princeton, a letter +inviting me to report for football practice two weeks before college +opened. When I arrived at Princeton on the appointed day, I found the +candidates for the team at the training quarters. + +At that time freshmen were not barred from varsity teams. + +There was a reunion of friends from Lawrenceville and other schools. +There was Doc Hillebrand, against whom I had played in the Andover game +the year before. Eddie Holt loomed up and I recalled him as the big +fellow who played on the Andover team against Lawrenceville two years +before. He had gone from Andover to Harvard and had played on the +Harvard team the year before, and had decided to leave Harvard and +enter Princeton. + +There were Lew Palmer, Bummie Booth, Arthur Poe, Bert Wheeler, Eddie +Burke and many others whom I grew to know well later on. + +Trainer Jack McMasters was on the job and put us through some very +severe preliminary training. It was warm in New Jersey early in +September, and often in the middle of practice Jack would occasionally +play the hose on us. It did not take us long to learn that varsity +football training was much more strenuous than that of the preparatory +school. The vigorous programme, prepared, especially for me, convinced +me that McMasters and the coaches had decided that my 224 pounds were +too much weight. Jack and I used to meet at the field house four +mornings each week. He would array me in thick woolen things, and top +them off with a couple of sweaters, so that I felt as big as a house. He +would then take me out for an excursion of eight miles across country, +running and walking. Sometimes other candidates kept us company, but +only Jack and I survived. + +On these trips, I would lose anywhere from five to six pounds. I got +accustomed to this jaunt and its discomforts after a while, but there +was one thing that always aggravated me. While Jack made me suffer, he +indulged himself. He would stop at a favorite spring of his, kneel down +and take a refreshing drink, right before my very eyes, and then, +although my throat was parched, he would bar me even from wetting my +tongue. He was decidedly unsociable, but from a training standpoint, he +was entirely "on to his job." + +As both captain and trainer soon found that I was being overworked, I +had some "let up" of this strenuous system. The extra work in addition +to the regular afternoon practice, made my days pretty severe going and +when night came I was not troubled with insomnia. + +It was during this time that Biffy Lea, one of Princeton's greatest +tackles, was slowly but surely making a wonderful tackle out of Doc +Hillebrand. Bert Wheeler was making rapid strides to attain the position +of halfback. They were the only two freshmen who made the team that +year. I was one of those that failed. + +We were soon in shape for the first try-out of the season; preliminary +training was over, and the team was ready for its first game. We won the +Rutgers game 44 to 0 and after we defeated the Navy, we went to play +Lafayette at Easton. I had as my opponent in the Lafayette game, +Rinehart. I shall never forget this game. I was playing left guard +alongside of Jarvie Geer, who was a substitute for Bill Church, who had +been injured in practice the week before and could not play. Just before +the first half was over, Lafayette feinted on a kick, and instead of +Bray, that star Lafayette fullback, boosting the ball, Barclay shot +through the line between Geer and myself for thirty yards. There was my +down-fall. Rinehart had taken care of me beautifully, and finally, Net +Poe saved the day by making a beautiful tackle of Barclay, who was fast +approaching the Princeton goal line. There was no score made, but the +fact that Barclay had made the distance through me, made me feel mighty +mean. I recall Cochran during the intermission, when he said: "Holt; you +take Edwards' place at left-guard." + +The battle between those giants during the second half was a sight worth +seeing and an incident recalled by all those who witnessed the game. + +Neither side scored and it was a hard-fought struggle. + +One day, one play, often ruins a man's chances. I had played as a +regular in the first three games of the season. I was being tried out +and had been found wanting. I had proved a disappointment, and I knew +Cochran knew it and I knew the whole college would know it, but I made +up my mind to give the very best I had in me, and hoped to square myself +later and make the team. I knew what it was to be humiliated, taken out +of a game, and to realize that I had not stood the test. I began to +reason it out--maybe I was carried away with the fact of having played +on the varsity team--maybe I did not give my best. Anyway I learned +much that day. It was my first big lesson of failure in football. That +failure and its meaning lived with me. + +I have always had great respect for Rinehart, and his great team mates. +Walbridge and Barclay were a great team in themselves, backed up by Bray +at fullback. It was this same team that, later in the fall, beat +Pennsylvania, without the services of Captain Walbridge, who had been +injured. + +It was not long after this that Princeton played Cornell at Princeton. I +recall the day I first saw Joe Beacham, that popular son of Cornell, who +afterwards coached West Point. He is now in the regular army, stationed +at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was captain of the Cornell team in '96. +He had on his team the famous players, Dan Reed, on whom Cornell counts +much in these years to assist Al Sharpe in the coaching; Tom Fennel, +Taussig and Freeborn. With these stars assisting, Cornell could do +nothing with Princeton's great team and the score 37 to 0 tells the +tale. + +I was not playing in this game, but recall the following incident. Joe +Beacham was making a flying run through the Princeton team. A very +pretty girl covered with furs, wearing the red and white of Cornell, was +enthusiastically yelling at the top of her voice "Go it, Joe! go it, +Joe!" much to the delight and admiration of the Princeton +undergraduates near her. Since then Joe has told me that it was his +sister. Maybe it was, but as Joe was rushing onward, with Dan Reed and +Tom Fennel interfering wonderfully for him, and urged on by his fond +admirer in the grandstand, his progress was rudely halted by the huge +form of Edwin Crowdis which appeared like a cloud on the horizon and +projected itself before the oncoming scoring machine of Cornell. When +they met, great was the crash, for Crowdis spilled the player, ball and +all. This was the time, the place, and the girl; and it meant that Edwin +Crowdis had made the Princeton Varsity team. + +[Illustration: + +Brink Thorne Hubby Bray Bishop Park Davis +Rowland Jones Walbridge Barclay Ziser Rinehart Herr Gates +Spear Best Weidenmeyer Hill Trexler + +LAFAYETTE'S GREAT TEAM] + +I realized it at the moment, and although I knew that it would probably +put me in the substitute ranks for the rest of the season, I was wild +with joy to see Edwin develop at this particular moment, and perform his +great play. His day had come, his was the reward, and Joe Beacham had +been laid low. As for the girl, she subsided abruptly, and is said to +have remarked, as Crowdis smashed the Cornell machine: "Well, I never +did like a fat man anyway!" + +One day in a practice game, against the scrub, this year, Garry Cochran, +who was standing on the side lines resting from the result of an injury, +became so frantic over the poor showing of the varsity, pulled off his +sweater and jumped into the game in spite of the trainers' earnest +entreaty not to. He tried to instill a new spirit into the game. It was +one of those terrible Monday practice games, of which every football +player knows. The varsity could not make any substantial gains against +the second team, which was unusually strong that year, as most of the +varsity substitutes were playing. How frantic Bill Church was! He was +playing tackle alongside of Edwin Crowdis, against whom I was playing. +My chances of making the Varsity were getting slimmer. Very few practice +days were left before the men would be selected for the final game. I +was making the last earnest stand. The varsity line men were not opening +up the scrub line as easily as they desired, and we were all stopping up +the offensive play of the Varsity. I was going through very low and +tackling Crowdis around the legs, trying to carry him back into the +play. Church was very angry at my doing this, and told Crowdis to hit +me, if I did it again, but Edwin was a good-natured, clean player; in +fact, I doubt if he ever rough played any man. Finally, after several +plays, Church said, "If you don't hit him, I will," and he sure made +good his threat, for on the next play, when I was at the bottom of the +heap in the scrimmage, Church handed me one of those stiff "Bill Church +blows," emphasizing the tribute with his leather thumb protector. There +was a lively mixup and the scrub and Varsity had an open fight. All was +soon forgotten, but I still "wear an ear," the lobe of which is a +constant reminder of Bill Church's spirited play. Nothing ever stood in +Church's way; he was a hard player, and a powerful tackle. + +Slowly but surely, Cochran's great team was perfecting itself into a +machine. The victory against Harvard at Cambridge was the team's worthy +reward for faithful service and attention given to the details of the +game. + +As a reward for service rendered, the second team with the Varsity +substitutes were taken on the trip, and as we saw the great Princeton +team winning, every man was happy and proud of the joy and knowledge of +giving something material towards their winning. Sore legs, injuries and +mistakes were at such a time forgotten. All that was felt was the keen +sense of satisfaction that comes to men who have helped in the +construction. + +Billie Bannard, aided by superb interference of Fred Smith, was able to +make himself the hero of that game by a forty-five yard run. Bill Church +the great tackle broke through the Harvard line and blocked Brown's +kick, and the ever-watchful end-rush, Howard Brokaw, fell on the ball +for a touchdown. Cochran had been injured and removed from the game, but +he was frantic with joy as he walked up and down the Princeton side +lines, urging further touchdowns. + +A happy crowd of Princetonians wended their way back to Princeton to put +the finishing touches on the team before the Yale game. Those of you +who recall that '96 game in New York will remember that 6 to 0 in favor +of Yale was the score, at the end of the first five minutes. Jim Rodgers +had blocked Johnnie Baird's punt and Bass, the alert end-rush, had +pounced on the ball and was over for a touchdown in a moment. Great +groans went up from the Princeton grandstand. Could it be that this +great acknowledged champion team of Princeton was conceited, +over-trained and about to be defeated? Certainly not, for there arose +such a demonstration of team spirit and play as one seldom sees. On the +next kick-off Johnnie Baird caught the ball, and when he was about to be +tackled--in fact, was lying on the ground--he passed the ball to Fred +Smith, that great all-round Princeton athlete, who made the most +spectacular run of the day. Who will ever forget the wonderful line +plunging of Ad Kelly, the brilliant end running of Bill Bannard and the +great part all the other men of the team contributed towards Princeton's +success, and the score grew and grew by touchdown after touchdown, until +some one recalled that in this game, the team would say, "Well, we won't +give any signals; we'll just try a play through Captain Murphy." Maybe +this was the play that put Murphy out of the game. He played against +Bill Church, and that was enough exercise for any one man to encounter +in one afternoon. As Fred Murphy left the field everyone realized that +it was only his poor physical condition that caused him to give up the +game. Yale men recall, with great pride, how the year before Murphy had +put it all over Bill Church. During that game, however, Church's +physical condition was not what it should have been, and these two giant +tackles never had a chance to play against each other when they were +both in prime condition. Both these men were All American calibre. + +Johnny Baird, Ad Kelly, Bannard, all made touchdowns and the two +successful freshmen who had made the team, Hillebrand and Wheeler, both +registered touchdowns against Yale. As the Yale team left the field, +they felt the sting of defeat, but there were men who were to have +revenge at New Haven the next year against Princeton, among whom were +Chadwick, Rodgers and Chamberlain. They were eager enough to get back at +us and the next year they surely did. But this was our year for victory +and celebration, and laurels were bestowed upon the victors. Garry +Cochran and his loyal team-mates were the lions of the day and hour. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ELBOW TO ELBOW + + +"I wonder where my shoes are?" "Who's got my trousers on?" "I wonder if +the tailor mended my jersey?" "What has become of my head-gear?" "I +wonder if the cobbler has put new cleats on my shoes?" "Somebody must +have my stockings on--these are too small." "What has become of my ankle +brace--can't seem to find it anywhere? I just laid it down here a minute +ago. I think that freshman pinched my sweater." + +All of which is directed to no one in particular, and the Trainer, who +sits far off in a corner, blowing up a football for the afternoon +practice, smiles as the players are fishing for their clothes. Just then +the Captain, who has dressed earlier than the rest, and has had two or +three of the players out on the field for kicking practice, breaks in +upon the scene with the remark: + +"Don't you fellows all know you're late? You ought to be dressed long +before this." Then follows the big scramble and soon everybody is out on +the field. + +The Trainer is busy keeping his eye open for any man who is being +handled too strenuously in the practice. Quick starts are practiced, +individual training is indulged in. Kicking and receiving punts play +an important part in the preliminary work. + +[Illustration: HOUSE IN DISORDER] + +At Williams one afternoon, Fred Daly, former Yale Captain and coach at +Williams, in trying forward passes instructed his ends to catch them at +every angle and height. One man continually fumbled his attempt, just as +he thought he had it sure. He was a new man to Daly, and the latter +called out to him: + +"What is your name?" Back came the reply, which almost broke up the +football practice for the day: "_Ketchum_ is my name." + +Falling on the ball is one of the fundamentals in football. It is the +ground work that every player must learn. Frank Hinkey, that great Yale +Captain and player, was an artist in performing this fundamental. +Playing so wonderfully well the end-rush position, his alertness in +falling on the ball often meant much distance for Yale. He had wonderful +judgment in deciding whether to fall on the ball or pick it up. + +One of the most important things in football is knowing how to tackle +properly. Some men take to it naturally and others only learn after +hard, strenuous practice. + +In the old days men were taught to tackle by what is known as "live +tackling." I recall especially that earnest coach, Johnny Poe, whose +main object in football coaching was to see that the men tackled hard +and sure. + +Poe, without any padding on at all, would let the men dive into him +running at full speed, and the men would throw him in a way that seemed +as though it would maim him for life. Some of the men weighed a hundred +pounds more than he did, but he would get up and, with a smile, say: + +"Come on men, hit me harder; knock me out next time." + +After the first two weeks of the season, Johnny Poe was a complete mass +of black and blue marks; and yet how wonderful and how self sacrificing +he was in his eagerness to make the Princeton players good tacklers. + +But there are few men like Johnny Poe, who are willing to sacrifice +their own bodies for the instruction of others; and the next best +method, and one which does not injure the players so much, is tackling +the "dummy." + +As we look at this picture of Howard Henry of Princeton tackling the +"dummy," we all remember when we were back in the game trying our very +best to put our shoulder into our opponent's knees and "hit him hard, +throw him, and hold him." Henry always got his man. + +But the thrill of the game is not in tackling the dummy. The joy comes +in a game, when a man is coming through the line, or making a long run, +and you throw yourself at his knees, and get your tackle; then up and +ready for another. + +I recall an experience I had at Princeton one year. When I went to +the Club House to get my uniform, which I wanted to wear in coaching, I +asked Keene Fitzpatrick, the Trainer, where my suit was. He said: + +[Illustration: HIT YOUR MAN LOW] + +"It's hanging outside." + +I went outside of the dressing room but could see no suit anywhere. He +came out wearing a broad smile. + +"No," he said, "it isn't out here, it's out there hanging in the air. We +made a dummy out of it." + +And there before me I saw my old uniform stuffed with sawdust. I looked +at myself--in suspense. + +After the men have been given the other preliminary work they are taken +to the charging board. The one shown here is used at Yale. It teaches +the men quick starting and the use of their hands. It trains them to +keep their eyes on the ball and impresses them with the fact that if +they start before the ball is put in play, a penalty will follow. A fast +charging line has its great value, and every coach is keen to have the +forwards move fast to clear the way. + +Then after the individual coaching is over, the team runs through +signals, and the practice is on. Before very long the head coach +announces that practice is over, and the trainer yells: + +"Everybody in on the jump," and you soon find yourself back in the +dressing room. + +It does not take you long to get your clothes off and ready for the +bath. How well some of you will recall that after a hard practice you +were content to sit and rest awhile on the bench in the dressing-room. +It may be that, in removing your clothes, you favored an injured knee, +looked at a sprained ankle, or helped some fellow off with his jersey. + +What is finer, after a hard day's practice, than to stand beneath a warm +shower and gradually let the water grow cold? Everything is lovely until +some rascal in the bunch throws a cold sponge on you and slaps you +across the back, or turns the cold water on, when you only want hot. + +Then comes the dry-off and the rub-down, which seems to soothe all your +bruises. This picture of Pete Balliet standing on the end of a bench, +while Jack McMasters massages an injured knee may recall to many a +football player the day when the trainer was his best friend. From his +wonderful physique it is easy to believe that Balliet must have been the +great center-rush whom the heroes of years ago tell about. + +Harry Brown, that great Princeton end-rush, is on the other end of the +bench, being taken care of by Bill Buss, a jovial old colored attendant, +who was for so many years a rubber at Princeton. + +I know men who never enthuse over football, but just play from a sense +of college loyalty, and a fear of censure should they not play; who are +sorry that they were ever big or showed any football ability. College +sentiment will not allow a football man to remain idle. + +[Illustration: REPAIRS] + +I knew a man in college, who, on his way to the football field, said: + +"Oh, how I hate to drag my body down to the Varsity field to-day to have +it battered and bruised!" + +One does not always enthuse over the hard drudgery of practice. Those +that witness only the final games of the year, little realize the +gruesome task of preparedness. Every football player will acknowledge +that some day he has had these thoughts himself. + +But suddenly the day comes when this discouraged player sees a light. +Perhaps he has developed a hidden power, or it may be that he has broken +through and made a clean tackle behind the line; perhaps he has made a +good run and received a compliment from the coach. It may be that his +side partner has given him a word of encouragement, which may have +instilled into him a new spirit, and, as a result, he has turned out to +be a real football player. He then forgets all the bruises and all the +hard knocks. + +How true it is that in one play, or in a practice game, or in a contest +against an opposing college, a player has found himself. Do you players +of football remember the day you made the team, the day your chance came +and you took advantage of it? At such a time a player shows great +possibilities. He is told by the captain to report at the training house +for the Varsity signals. Who that has experienced the thrill of that +moment can ever forget it? + +He earns his seat at the Varsity table. He is now on the Varsity squad. +He goes on, determined to play a better game, and realizes he must hold +his place at the training table by hard, conscientious work. + +One is not unmindful of the traditions that are centered about the board +where so many heroes of the past have sat. You have a keen realization +of the fact that you are filling the seat of men who have gone before +you, and that you must make good, as they made good. Their spirit lives. + +The training table is a great school for team spirit. To have a +successful team, any coach will tell you, there must be a brotherly +feeling among the members of the team. The men must chum together on and +off the field. Team work on the field is made much easier if there is +team work off the field. + +I never hear the expression "team mates" used but I recall a certain +Princeton team, the captain of which was endowed with a wonderful power +of leadership. There was nothing the men would not do for him. Every man +on the team regarded him as a big brother. Yet there was one man on the +squad who seemed inclined to be alone. He had little to say, and when +his work was over on the field he always went silently away to his room. +He did not mingle with the other players in the club house after dinner, +and there did not seem to be much warmth in him. + +Garry Cochran, the captain, took some of us into his confidence, and we +made it our business to draw this fellow out of his shell. It was not +long before we found that he was an entirely different sort of a person +from what he had seemed to be. + +In a short time, the fellow who was unconsciously retarding good +fellowship among the members of the team was no longer a silent negative +individual, but was soon urging us on in a get-together spirit. + +It will be impossible to relate all the good times had at a college +training table. I think that every football man will agree with me that +we now have a great deal of sympathy for the trainer, whereas in the old +days we roasted him when it seemed that dinner would never be ready. + +How the hungry mob awaited the signal! + +"The flag is down," as old Jim Robinson would say, and Arthur Poe would +yell: + +"Fellows, the hash is ready." + +Then the hungry crowd would scramble in for the big event of the day. +There awaited them all the delicacies of a trainer's menu; the food that +made touchdowns. If the service was slow, the good-natured trainer was +all at fault, and he too joined in the spirit of their criticism. If +the steak was especially tender, they would say it was tough. There was +much juggling of the portions distributed. Fred Daly recalls the first +week that he and Johnnie Kilpatrick were at the Yale training table. Kil +called for some chocolate, and Johnnie Mack, the trainer, yelled back: + +"What do you think this is, anyway, a hospital?" + +That started something for awhile in the way of jollying. Daly recalls +another incident, that happened often at Yale one year. It is about Bill +Goebel, who certainly could put the food away. After disposing of about +twelve plates of ice cream, which he had begged, borrowed or stolen, he +called one of the innocent waiters over to him and asked in a gentle +voice: "Say, George, what is the dessert for to-night?" + +Then there comes the good-natured "joshing" of the fellow who has made a +fine play during the practice, or in the game of the day. One or two of +the fun makers rush around, put their hands on him and hold him tight +for fear he will not be able to contain himself on account of his +success of the day. This sort of jollification makes the fellow who has +made a bad play forget what he might have done, and he too becomes +buoyant amidst the good fellowship about him. + +We all realize what a modest individual the trainer is. If in a +reminiscent mood to change the subject from football to himself, he +tells his "ever-on-to-him" admirers some of his achievements in the old +days there is immediately evidence of preparedness among the players, as +the following salute is given--with fists beating on the table in +unison-- + +[Illustration: THE OLD FAITHFULS] + +"One, two, three! _Oh, what a gosh darn lie!_" + +But deep in every man's heart, is the keen realization of the trainer's +value, and his eager effort for their success. His athletic achievements +and his record are well known, and appreciated by all. He is the pulse +of the team. + +The scrub team at Princeton during my last year was captained by Pop +Jones, who was a martyr to the game. He was thoroughly reliable, and the +spirit he instilled into his team mates helped to make our year a +successful one. This picture will recall the long roll of silent heroes +in the game, whose joy seemed to be in giving; men who worked their +hearts out to see the Varsity improve; men who never got the great +rewards that come to the Varsity players, but received only the thrill +of doing something constructive. Their reward is in the victories of +others, for every man knows that it is a great scrub that makes a great +varsity. If, as you gaze at this picture of the scrub team, it stirs +your memory of the fellows who used to play against you, and, if, in +your heart you pay them a silent tribute, you will be giving them only +their just due. To the uncrowned heroes, who found no fame, the men +whose hearts were strong, but whose ambitions for a place on the Varsity +were never realized, we take off our hats. + +The fiercest knocks that John DeWitt's team ever had at Princeton were +in practice against the scrub. It was in this year, on the last day of +practice, that the undergraduates marched in a body down the field, +singing and cheering, led by a band of music. Preliminary practice being +over, the scrub team retired to the Varsity field house, to await the +signal for the exhibition practice to be given on the Varsity field +before the undergraduates. A surprise had been promised. + +While the Varsity team was awaiting the arrival of the scrub team, it +was officially announced that the Yale team would soon arrive upon the +field, and shortly after this, the scrub team appeared with white "Y's" +sewed on the front of their jerseys. The scrub players took the Yale +players' names, just as they were to play against Princeton on the +coming Saturday. There was much fun and enthusiasm, when the assumed +Hogan would be asked to gain through Cooney, or Bloomer would make a +run, and the make-believe Foster Rockwell would urge the pseudo Yale +team on to victory. + +John DeWitt had more than one encounter that afternoon with Captain +Rafferty of Yale. After the practice ended all the players gathered +around the dummy, which had been very helpful in tackling practice. +This had been saturated with kerosene awaiting the final event of the +day. John DeWitt touched it off with a match, and the white "Y" which +illuminated the chest of the dummy was soon enveloped in flames. A +college tradition had been lived up to again, and when the team returned +victorious from New Haven that year, John DeWitt and his loyal team +mates never forgot those men and the events that helped to make victory +possible. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MISTAKES IN THE GAME + + +Many a football player who reads this book will admit that there arises +in all of us a keen desire to go back into the game. It is not so much a +desire just to play in the game for the mere sake of playing as to +remedy the mistakes we all know we made in the past. + +In our football recollections, the defeats we have experienced stand out +the most vividly. Sometimes they live on as nightmares through the +years. As we review the old days we realize that we did not always give +our best. If we could but go back and correct our faults many a defeat +might be turned into a victory. + +We reflect that if we had trained a little harder, if we had been more +sincere in our work, paid better attention to the advice given us by the +men who knew, if we had mastered our positions better, it would have +been a different story on many occasions when defeat was our portion. + +But that is now all behind us. The games are over. The scores will +always stand. Others have taken our places. We have had our day and +opportunity. In the words of Longfellow, + + "The world belongs to those who come the last." + +Our records will remain as we left them on the gridiron. Many a man is +recalled in football circles as the one who lost his temper in the big +games and caused his team to suffer by his being ruled out of the game. +Men say, "Why, that is the fellow who muffed a punt at a critical +moment," or recall him as the one who "fumbled the ball," when, if he +had held it, the team would have been saved from defeat. + +You recall the man who gave the signals with poor judgment. Maybe you +are thinking of the man who missed a great tackle or allowed a man to +get through the line and block a kick. Perhaps a mistaken signal in the +game caused the loss of a first down, maybe defeat--who knows? + +Through our recollection of the things we should have done but failed to +do for one reason or another, our defeats rise before us more vividly +now than our victories. + +There is only one day to make good and that is the day of the game. The +next day is too late. + +Then there is the ever-present recollection of the fellow who let +athletics be the big thing in his college life. He did not make good in +the classroom. He was unfair to himself. He failed to realize that +athletics was only a part of his college life, that it should have been +an aid to better endeavor in his studies. + +He may have earned his college letter or received a championship gold +football. And now that he is out in the world he longs for the college +degree that he has forfeited. + +His regrets are the deeper when he realizes that if he had given his +best and been square with his college and himself, his presence might +have meant further victories for his team. This is not confined to any +one college. It is true of all of them and probably always will be true, +although it is encouraging to note that there is a higher standard of +scholarship attained on the average by college athletes to-day than a +decade or so ago. + +I wish I could impress this lesson indelibly upon the mind of every +young football enthusiast--that athletics should go hand in hand with +college duties. After all it is the same spirit of team work instilled +into him on the football field that should inspire him in the classroom, +where his teacher becomes virtually his coach. + +When I was at Princeton, we beat Yale three years out of the four, but +the defeat of 1897 at New Haven stands out most vividly of all in my +memory. And it is not so much what Yale did as what Princeton did not do +that haunts me. + +One day in practice in 1897, Sport Armstrong, conceded to be one of the +greatest guards playing, was severely injured in a scrimmage. It was +found that his neck and head had become twisted and for days he lay at +death's door on his bed in the Varsity Club House. After a long +serious illness he got well, but never strong enough to play again. I +took his place. + +[Illustration: + +Benjamin Brown McBride Cadwalader Corwin +Hazen Hall Rodgers Chamberlin Chadwick Dudley +De Saulles + +JIM RODGERS' TEAM] + +Nearly all of the star players of the '96 Princeton championship team +were in the lineup. It was Cochran's last year and my first year on the +Varsity. Our team was heralded as a three-to-one winner. We had beaten +Dartmouth 30 to 0 and won a great 57 to 0 victory over Lafayette. Yale +had a good, strong team that had not yet found itself. But there were +several of us Princeton players who knew from old association in prep. +school the calibre of some of the men we were facing. + +Cochran and I have often recalled together that silent reunion with our +old team-mates of Lawrenceville. There in front of us on the Yale team +were Charlie de Saulles, George Cadwalader and Charlie Dudley. We had +not seen them since we all left prep. school, they to go to New Haven +and we to Princeton. + +When the teams lined up for combat there were no greetings of one old +schoolmate to another. It was not the time nor place for exchange of +amenities. As some one has since remarked, "The town was full of +strangers." + +The fact that Dudley was wearing one Lawrenceville stocking only urged +us on to play harder. + +My opponent on the Yale team was Charlie Chadwick, Yale's strong man. +Foster Sanford tells elsewhere in this book how he prepared him for the +Harvard game the week before and for this game with Princeton. Our +coaches had made, as they thought, a study of Chadwick's temperament and +had instructed me accordingly. I delivered their message in the form of +a straight arm blow. The compliment was returned immediately by +Chadwick, and the scrap was on. Dashiell, the umpire, was upon us in a +moment. I had visions of being ruled out of the game and disgraced. + +"You men are playing like schoolboys and ought to be ruled out of the +game," Dashiell exclaimed, but he decided to give us another chance. + +Chadwick played like a demon and I realized before the game had +progressed very far that I had been coached wrong, for instead of +weakening his courage my attack seemed to nerve him. He played a very +wide, defensive guard and it was almost impossible to gain through him. + +The play of the Princeton team at the outset was disappointing. Jim +Rodgers, the Yale captain, was driving his men hard and they responded +heartily. Some of them stood out conspicuously by their playing. De +Saulles' open field work was remarkable. I remember well the great run +of fifty-five yards which he made. He was a wonderfully clever dodger +and used the stiff arm well. He evaded the Princeton tacklers +successfully, until Billy Bannard made a tackle on Princeton's 25-yard +line. + +Garry Cochran was one of the Princeton players who failed in his effort +to tackle de Saulles, although it was a remarkable attempt with a low, +diving tackle. De Saulles hurdled over him and Cochran struck the +ground, breaking his right shoulder. + +That Cochran was so seriously injured did not become known until after +de Saulles had finished his long run. Then it was seen that Cochran was +badly hurt. The trainer ran out and took him to the side lines to fix up +his injury. + +Time was being taken out and as we waited for Cochran to return to the +game we discussed the situation and hoped that his injury would not +prove serious. Every one of us realized the tremendous handicap we would +be under without him. + +The tension showed in the faces of Alex Moffat and Johnny Poe as they +sat there on the side line, trying to reach a solution of the problem +that confronted them as coaches. They realized better than the players +that the tide was against them. + +To conceal the true location of his injury from the Yale players, +Cochran had his left shoulder bandaged and entered the scrimmage again, +game though handicapped, remaining on the field until the trainer +finally dragged him to the side line. + +This was the last football contest in which Garry Cochran took part. He +was game to the end. + +At New Haven that fall Frank Butterworth and some of the other coaches +had heard a rumor that when Cochran and de Saulles parted at +Lawrenceville they had a strange understanding. Both had agreed, so the +rumor went, that should they ever meet in a Yale-Princeton game, one +would have to leave the game. + +Butterworth told de Saulles what he had heard and cautioned him, +reminding him that he wanted him to play a game that would escape +criticism. De Saulles put every ounce of himself into his game, Cochran +did the same. To this day Frank Butterworth and the coaches believe that +when de Saulles was making his great run up the field he kept his pledge +to Cochran. + +De Saulles and Cochran laugh at the suggestion that it was other than an +accident, but they have never been able to convince their friends. The +dramatic element in it was too strong for a mere chance affair. + +Princeton's handicap when Cochran had to go out was increased by the +withdrawal because of injuries of Johnny Baird, the quarterback, that +wonderful drop-kicker of previous games. He was out of condition and had +to be carried from the field with a serious injury. + +Dudley, the ex-Lawrencevillian, here began to get in his telling +work. The Yale stands were wild with enthusiasm as they saw their team +about to score against the much-heralded Princeton team. We were a three +to one bet. On the next play Dudley went through the Princeton line. At +the bottom of the heap, hugging the ball and happy in his success, was +Charlie Dudley, Yale hero, Lawrenceville stocking and all. + +[Illustration: COCHRAN WAS GAME TO THE END] + +After George Cadwalader had kicked the goal, the score stood 6 to 0. + +One of the greatest problems that confronts a coach is to select the +proper men to start in a game. Injuries often handicap a team. Ad Kelly, +king of all line-plunging halfbacks, had been injured the week before at +Princeton and for that reason was not in the original lineup that day at +New Haven. He was on the side lines waiting for a chance to go in. His +chance came. + +Kelly was Princeton's only hope. Herbert Reed, known among writers on +football as "Right Wing," thus describes this stage of the game: + +"With almost certain defeat staring them in the face, the Tigers made +one last desperate rally and in doing so called repeatedly on Kelly, +with the result that with this star carrying the ball in nearly every +rush the Princeton eleven carried the ball fifty-five yards up the field +only to lose it at last on a fumble to Jim Rodgers. + +"Time and again in the course of this heroic advance, Kelly went into +or slid outside of tackle practically unaided, bowling along more like a +huge ball than a human being. It was one of the greatest exhibitions of +a born runner, of a football genius and much more to be lauded than his +work the previous year, when he was aided by one of the greatest +football machines ever sent into a big game." + +But Kelly's brilliant work was unavailing and when the game ended the +score was still 6 to 0. Yale had won an unexpected victory. + +The Yale supporters descended like an avalanche upon the field and +carried off their team. Groups of men paraded about carrying aloft the +victors. There were Captain Jim Rodgers, Charlie Chadwick, George +Cadwalader, Gordon Brown, Burr Chamberlain, John Hall, Charlie de +Saulles, Dudley, Benjamin, McBride, and Hazen. + +Many were the injuries in this game. It was a hard fought contest. There +were interesting encounters which were known only to the players +themselves. As for myself, it may best be said that I spent three weeks +in the University of Pennsylvania Hospital with water on the knee. I +certainly had plenty of time to think about the sadness of defeat--the +ever present thought--"Wait until next year"--was in my mind. Garry +Cochran used to say in his talks to the team: "We must win this +year--make it two years straight against Yale. If you lose, Princeton +will be a dreary old place for you. It will be a long, hard winter. The +frost on the window pane will be an inch thick." And, in the sadness of +our recollections, his words came back to us and to him. + +These words came back to me again in 1899. + +I had looked forward all the year to our playing Cornell at Ithaca. It +was just the game we wanted on our schedule to give us the test before +we met Yale. We surely got a test, and Cornell men to this day will tell +you of their great victory in 1899 over Princeton, 5 to 0. + +There were many friends of mine in Ithaca, which was only thirty miles +from my old home, and I was naturally happy over the fact that Princeton +was going to play there. But the loyal supporters who had expected a +Princeton victory were as disappointed as I was. Bill Robinson, manager +of the Princeton team, reserved seats for about thirty of my closest +boyhood friends who came over from Lisle to see the game. The Princeton +cheering section was rivalled in enthusiasm by the "Lisle section." And +the disappointment of each one of my friends at the outcome of that +memorable game was as keen as that of any man from Princeton. + +Our team was clearly outplayed. Unfortunately we had changed our signals +that week and we did not play together. But all the honors were +Cornell's, her sure footed George Young in the second half made a goal +from the field, fixing the score at 5 to 0. + +I remember the wonderful spirit of victory that came over the Cornell +team, the brilliant playing of Starbuck, the Cornell captain, and of +Bill Warner, Walbridge, Young and the other men who contributed to the +Cornell victory. Percy Field swarmed with Cornell students when the game +ended, each one of them crazy to reach the members of their team and +help to carry them victoriously off the field. + +Never will I forget the humiliation of the Princeton team. Trolley cars +never seemed to move as slowly as those cars that carried us that day +through the streets of Ithaca. Enthusiastic, yelling undergraduates +grinned at us from the sidewalks as we crawled along to the hotel. +Sadness reigned supreme in our company. We were glad to get to our +rooms. + +Instead of leaving Ithaca at 9:30 as we had planned, we hired a special +engine to take our private cars to Owego there to await the express for +New York on the main line. + +My only pleasant recollection of that trip was a brief call I made at +the home of a girl friend of mine, who had attended the game. My arm was +in a sling and sympathy was welcome. + +As our train rolled over the zig-zag road out of Ithaca, we had a source +of consolation in the fact that we had evaded the send-off which the +Cornell men had planned in the expectation that we were to leave on the +later train. + +There were no outstretched hands at Princeton for our homecoming. But +every man on that Princeton team was grimly determined to learn the +lesson of the Cornell defeat, to correct faults and leave nothing undone +that would insure victory for Princeton in the coming game with Yale. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MY LAST GAME + + +Every player knows the anxious anticipation and the nerve strain +connected with the last game of the football season. In my last year +there were many men on the team who were to say good-bye to their +playing days. Every player who reads these lines will agree with me that +it was his keenest ambition to make his last game his best game. + +It was in the fall of 1899. There were many of us who had played on a +victorious team the year before. Princeton had never beaten Yale two +years in succession. This was our opportunity. Our slogan during the +entire season had been, "On to New Haven." The dominating idea in the +mind of everyone was to add another victory over Yale to the one of the +year before. + +The Cornell game with its defeat was forgotten. We had learned our +lesson. We had made a tremendous advance in two weeks. I recall so well +the days before the Yale game, when we were leaving for New York en +route to New Haven. We met at the Varsity field house. I will never +forget how strange the boys looked in their derby hats and overcoats. It +was a striking contrast to the regular everyday football costumes and +campus clothes. + +[Illustration: ON TO NEW HAVEN + +All Dressed Up and Ready to Go.] + +There were hundreds of undergraduates at the station to cheer us off. As +the train pulled out the familiar strains of "Old Nassau" floated after +us and we realized that the next time we would see that loyal crowd +would be in the cheering section on the Princeton side at New Haven. + +We went directly to the Murray Hill Hotel, where Princeton had held its +headquarters for years. After luncheon Walter Christie, the trainer, +took us up to Central Park. We walked about for a time and finally +reached the Obelisk. + +Biffy Lee, the head coach, suggested that we run through our signals. +All of us doffed our overcoats and hats and, there on the expansive +lawn, flanked by Cleopatra's Needle and the Metropolitan Art Museum, we +ran through our signals. + +We then resumed our walk and returned to the hotel for dinner. The +evening was spent in the hotel parlors, where the team was entertained +and had opportunity for relaxation from the mental strain that was +necessarily a part of the situation. A general reception took place in +the corridors, players of old days came around to see the team, to +revive old memories, and cheer the men of the team on to victory. + +Football writers from the daily papers mingled with the throng, and +their accounts the following day reflected the optimistic spirit they +encountered. The betting odds were quoted at three to one on Princeton. +"Betting odds" is the way some people gauge the outcome of a football +contest, but I have learned from experience, that big odds are not +justified on either side in a championship game. + +We were up bright and early in the morning and out for a walk before +breakfast. Our team then took the ten o'clock train for New Haven. Only +those who have been through the experience can appreciate the difficulty +encountered in getting on board a train for New Haven on the day of a +football game. + +We were ushered through a side entrance, however, and were finally +landed in the special cars provided for us. + +On the journey there was a jolly good time. Good fellowship reigned +supreme. That relieved the nervous tension. Arthur Poe and Bosey Reiter +were the leading spirits in the jollification. A happier crowd never +entered New Haven than the Princeton team that day. The cars pulled in +on a siding near the station and everybody realized that we were at last +in the town where the coveted prize was. We were after the Yale ball. +"On to New Haven" had been our watchword. We were there. + +Following a light lunch in our dining car we soon got our football +clothes, and, in a short time, the palatial Pullman car was transformed. +It assumed the appearance of the dressing room at Princeton. Football +togs hung everywhere. Nose-guards, head-gears, stockings, shin-guards, +jerseys, and other gridiron equipment were everywhere. Here and there +the trainer or his assistants were limbering up joints that needed +attention. + +Two big buses waited at the car platform. The team piled into them. We +were off to the field. The trip was made through a welcome of friendly +salutes from Princeton men encountered on the way. Personal friends of +individual players called to them from the sidewalks. Others shouted +words of confidence. Old Nassau was out in overwhelming force. + +No team ever received more loyal support. It keyed the players up to the +highest pitch of determination. Their spirits, naturally at a high mark, +rose still higher under the warmth of the welcome. Repression was a +thing of the past. Every player was jubilant and did not attempt to +conceal the fact. + +The enthusiasm mounted as we neared the scene of the coming battle. As +we entered the field the air was rent by a mighty shout of welcome from +the Princeton hosts. Our hearts palpitated in response to it. There was +not a man of the team that did not feel himself repaid a thousand-fold +for the season's hard knocks. + +But this soon gave way to sober thought of the work ahead of us. We were +there for business. Falling on the ball, sprinting and limbering up, +and running through a few signals, we spent the few minutes before the +Yale team came through the corner of the field. The scenes of enthusiasm +that had marked our arrival were repeated, the Yale stand being the +center this time of the maelstrom of cheers. I shall not attempt to +describe our own feelings as we got the first glimpse of our opponents +in the coming fray. Who can describe the sensations of the contestants +in the first moment of a championship game? + +But it was not long before the coin had been tossed, and the game was +on. Not a man who has played in the line will ever forget how he tried +to block his man or get down the field and tackle the man with the ball. +I recall most vividly those three strapping Yale center men, Brown, Hale +and Olcott, flanked by Stillman and Francis. There was Al Sharpe and +McBride. Fincke was at quarter. + +If there had been any one play during the season that we had had drilled +into us, a play which we had hoped might win the game, it was the long +end run. It was Lea's pet play. + +I can recall the herculean work we had performed to perfect this play. +It was time well spent. The reward came within seven minutes after the +game began. The end running ability of that great player, Bosey Reiter +showed. Every man was doing his part, and the play was made possible. +Reiter scored a touchdown along the side of the field. I never saw a +happier man than Bosey. But he was no happier than his ten team-mates. +They were leaping in the air with joy. The Princeton stand arose in a +solid body and sent an avalanche of cheers across the field. + +What proved to be one of the most important features of the game was the +well-delivered punt by Bert Wheeler, who kicked the ball out to +Hutchinson. Hutch heeled it in front of the goal and Bert Wheeler +boosted the ball straight over the cross bar and Princeton scored an +additional point. At that moment we did not realize that this would be +the decisive factor in the Princeton victory. + +As the Princeton team went back to the middle of the field to take their +places for the next kick-off, the Princeton side of the field was a +perfect bedlam of enthusiasm. Old grads were hugging each other on the +side lines, and every eye was strained for the next move in the game. + +At the same time the Yale stand was cheering its side and urging the +Blue players to rally. McBride, the Yale captain, was rousing his men +with the Yale spirit, and they realized what was demanded of them. The +effect became evident. It showed how Yale could rise to an occasion. We +felt that the old bull-dog spirit of Yale was after us--as strong as +ever. + +How wonderfully well McBride, the Yale captain, kicked that day! What a +power he was on defence! I saw him do some wonderful work. It was after +one of his long punts, which, with the wind in his favor, went about +seventy yards, that Princeton caught the ball on the ten-yard line. + +Wheeler dropped back to kick. The Yale line men were on their toes ready +to break through and block the kick. The Yale stand was cheering them +on. Stillman was the first man through. It seemed as if he were +off-side. Wheeler delayed his kick, expecting that an off-side penalty +would be given. When he did kick, it was too late, the ball was blocked +and McBride fell on it behind the goal line, scoring a touchdown for +Yale, and making the score 6 to 5 in favor of Princeton. + +Believe me, the Yale spirit was running high. The men were playing like +demons. Here was a team that was considered a defeated team before the +game. Here were eleven men who had risen to the occasion and who were +slowly, but surely, getting the best of the argument. + +Gloom hung heavy over the Princeton stand. Defeat seemed inevitable. Of +eleven players who started in the game on the Princeton side, eight had +been incapacitated by injuries of one kind or another. Doc Hillebrand, +the ever-reliable, All-American tackle, had been compelled to leave the +game with a broken collar-bone just before McBride made his touchdown. + +I remember well the play in which he was injured and I have +resurrected a photograph that was snapped of the game at the moment that +he was lying on the ground, knocked out. + +[Illustration: HILLEBRAND'S LAST CHARGE] + +Bummie Booth, who had stood the strain of the contest wonderfully well, +and had played a grand game against Hale, gave way to Horace Bannard, +brother of Bill Bannard, the famous Princeton halfback of '98. + +It was no wonder that Princeton was downcast when McBride scored the +touchdown and the goal was about to be kicked. + +Just then I saw a man in football togs come out from the side lines +wearing a blue visor cap. He was to kick for the goal. It was an unusual +spectacle on a football field. I rushed up to the referee, Ed +Wrightington of Harvard, and called his attention to the man with the +cap. I asked if that man was in the game. + +"Why," he replied with a broad smile, "you ought to know him. He is the +man you have been playing against all along, Gordon Brown. He only ran +into the side lines to get a cap to shade his eyes." + +I am frank to say that it was one on me, but the chagrin wore off when +Brown missed the goal, which would have tied the final score, and robbed +Princeton of the ultimate victory. + +The tide of battle turned toward Yale. Al Sharpe kicked a goal from the +field, from the forty-five yard line. It was a wonderful achievement. +It is true that circumstances later substituted Arthur Poe for him as +the hero of the game, but those who witnessed Sharpe's performance will +never forget it. The laurels that he won by it were snatched from him by +Poe only in the last half-minute of play. The score was changed by +Sharpe's goal from 6 to 5 in our favor to 10 to 6. Yale leading. + +The half was over. The score was 10 to 6 against Princeton. Every +Princeton player felt that there was still a real opportunity to win +out. We were all optimistic. This optimism was increased by the appeals +made to the men in the dressing room by the coaches. It was not long +before the team was back on the field more determined than ever to carry +the Yale ball back to Princeton. + +The last half of this game is everlastingly impressed upon my memory. +Every man that played for Princeton, although eight of them were +substitutes, played like a veteran. I shall ever treasure the memory of +the loyal support that those men gave me as captain, and their response +to my appeal to stand together and play not only for Princeton but for +the injured men on the side-lines whose places they had taken. + +The Yale team had also heard some words of football wisdom in their +dressing room. Previous encounters with Princeton had taught them that +the Tiger could also rally. They came on the field prepared to fight +harder than ever. McBride and Brown were exhorting their men to do +their utmost. + +Princeton was out-rushing Yale but not out-kicking them. Yale knew that +as well as we did. + +It was a Yale fumble that gave us the chance we were waiting for. Bill +Roper, who had taken Lew Palmer's place at left end, had his eyes open. +He fell on the ball. Through his vigilance, Princeton got the chance to +score. Now was our chance. + +Time was passing quickly. We all knew that something extraordinary would +have to be done to win the day. It remained for Arthur Poe to +crystallize this idea into action. It seemed an inspiration. + +"We've got to kick," he said to me, "and I would like to try a goal from +the field. We haven't got much time." + +Nobody appreciated the situation more than I did. I knew we would have +to take a chance and there was no one I would have selected for the job +quicker than Arthur Poe. How we needed a touchdown or a goal from the +field! + +Poe, Pell and myself were the three members of the original team left. +How the substitutes rallied with us and gave the perfect defence that +made Poe's feat possible is a matter of history. As I looked around from +my position to see that the defensive formation was right, I recall how +small Arthur Poe looked there in the fullback position. Here was a man +doing something we had never rehearsed as a team. But safe and sure the +pass went from Horace Bannard and as Biffy Lea remarked after the game, +"when Arthur kicked the ball, it seemed to stay up in the air about +twenty minutes." + +Some people have said that I turned a somersault and landed on my ear, +and collapsed. Anyhow, it all came our way at the end, the ball sailed +over the cross bar. The score then was 11 to 10, and the Princeton stand +let out a roar of triumph that could be heard way down in New Jersey. + +There were but thirty-six seconds left for play. Yale made a splendid +supreme effort to score further. But it was futile. + +Crowds had left the field before Poe made his great goal kick. They had +accepted a Yale victory as inevitable. Some say that bets were paid on +the strength of this conviction. The Yale _News_, which went to press +five minutes before the game ended, got out an edition stating that Yale +had won. They had to change that story. + +During the seconds preceding Poe's kick for a goal I had a queer +obsession. It was a serious matter to me then. I can recall it now with +amusement. "Big" was a prefix not of my own selection. I had never +appreciated its justification, however, until that moment. + +Horace Bannard was playing center. I had my left hand clasped under the +elastic in his trouser leg, ready to form a barrier against the Yale +forwards. Brown, Hale and McBride tried to break through to block the +kick. I thought of a million things but most of all I was afraid of a +blocked kick. To be frank, I was afraid I would block it--that Poe +couldn't clear me, that he would kick the ball into me. + +[Illustration: AL SHARPE'S GOAL] + +I crouched as low as I could, and the more I worried the larger I seemed +to be and I feared greatly for what might occur behind me. It seemed as +if I were swelling up. But finally, as I realized that the ball had gone +over me and was on its way to the goal, I breathed a sigh of relief and +said, + +"Thank God, it cleared!" + +How eager we were to get that ball, the hard-earned prize, which now +rests in the Princeton gymnasium, a companion ball to the one of the +1898 victory. Yes, it had all been accomplished, and we were happy. New +Haven looked different to us. It was many years since Princeton had sent +Yale down to defeat on Yale Field. + +Victory made us forget the sadness of former defeats. It was a joyous +crowd that rode back to the private cars. Varsity players and +substitutes shared alike in the joy, which was unrestrained. We soon had +our clothes changed, and were on our way to New York for the banquet and +celebration of our victory. + +Arthur Poe was the lion of the hour. No finer fellow ever received more +just tribute. + +It would take a separate volume to describe the incidents of that trip +from New Haven to New York. Before it had ended we realized if we never +had realized it before how sweet was victory, and how worth while the +striving that brought it to us. + +Suffice it to say that that Yale football was the most popular +"passenger" on the train. Over and over we played the game and a million +caresses were lavished upon the trophy. + +This may seem an excess of sentiment to some, but those who have played +football understand me. Looking back through the retrospect of seventeen +years, I realize that I did not fully understand then the meaning of +those happy moments. I now appreciate that it was simply the deep +satisfaction that comes from having made good--the sense of real +accomplishment. + +Enthusiastic Princeton men were waiting for us at the Grand Central +Station. They escorted us to the Murray Hill Hotel, and the wonderful +banquet that awaited us. The spirit of the occasion will be understood +by football players and enthusiasts who have enjoyed similar +experiences. + +The members of the team just sat and listened to speeches by the alumni +and coaches. It all seemed too good to be true. When the gathering broke +up, the players became members of different groups, who continued their +celebration in the various ways provided by the hospitality of the great +city. + +[Illustration: TOUCHING THE MATCH TO VICTORY] + +Hillebrand and I ended the night together. When we awoke in the +morning, the Yale football was there between our pillows, the bandaged +shoulder and collar-bone of Hillebrand nestling close to it. + +Then came the home-going of the team to Princeton, and the huge bonfire +that the whole university turned out to build. Some nearby wood yard was +looking the next day for thirty-six cords of wood that had served as the +foundation for the victorious blaze. It was learned afterward that the +owner of the cord-wood had backed the team--so he had no regrets. + +The team was driven up in buses from the station. It was a proud +privilege to light the bonfire. Every man on the team had to make a +speech and then we had a banquet at the Princeton Inn. Later in the year +the team was banqueted by the alumni organizations around the country. +Every man had a peck of souvenirs--gold matchsafes, footballs, and other +things. Nothing was too good for the victors. Well, well, "To the +victors belong the spoils." That is the verdict of history. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HEROES OF THE PAST + +THE EARLY DAYS + + +We treasure the memory of the good men who have gone before. This is +true of the world's history, a nation's history, that of a state, and of +a great university. Most true is it of the memory of men of heroic mold. +As schoolboys, our imaginations were fired by the records of the +brilliant achievements of a Perry, a Decatur or a Paul Jones; and, as we +grow older, we look back to those heroes of our boyhood days, and our +hearts beat fast again as we recall their daring deeds and pay them +tribute anew for the stout hearts, the splendid fighting stamina, and +the unswerving integrity that made them great men in history. + +In every college and university there is a hall of fame, where the +heroes of the past are idolized by the younger generations. Trophies, +portraits, old flags and banners hang there. Threadbare though they may +be, they are rich in memories. These are, however, only the material +things--"the trappings and the suits" of fame--but in the hearts of +university men the memory of the heroes of the past is firmly and +reverently enshrined. Their achievements are a distinguished part of +the university's history--a part of our lives as university men--and we +are ever ready now to burn incense in their honor, as we were in the old +days to burn bonfires, in celebration of their deeds. + +It is well now that we recall some of the men who have stood in the +front line of football; in the making and preservation of the great +game. Many of them have not lived to see the results of their service to +the sport which they deemed to be manly and worth while. It is, however, +because they stood there during days, often full of stress and severe +criticism of the game, staunch and resistless, that football occupies +its present high plane in the athletic world. + +It may be that some of their names are not now associated with football. +Some of them are captains of industry. They are in the forefront of +public affairs. Some of them are engaged in the world's work in far-away +lands. But the spirit that these men apply to their life work is the +same spirit that stirred them on the gridiron. Their football training +has made them better able to fight the battle of life. + +Men who gave signals, are now directing large industries. Players who +carried the ball, are now carrying trade to the ends of the world. Men +who bucked the line, are forging their way sturdily to the front. Men +who were tackles, are still meeting their opponents with the same +intrepid zeal. The men who played at end in those days, are to-day +seeing that nothing gets around them in the business world. The public +is the referee and umpire. It knows their achievements in the greater +game of life. + +It is not my purpose to select an all-star football team from the long +list of heroes past and present. It is not possible to select any one +man whom we can all crown as king. We all have our football idols, our +own heroes, men after whom we have patterned, who were our inspiration. + +We can never line up in actual scrimmage the heroes of the past with +those of more recent years. What a treat if this could be arranged! + +There are many men I have idolized in football, not only for their +record as players, but for the loyalty and spirit for the game which +they have inspired. + + +Walter Camp + +When I asked Walter Camp to write the introduction to this book, I told +him that as he had written about football players for twenty years it +was up to some one to relate some of _his_ achievements as a football +player. We all know Walter Camp as a successful business man and as a +football genius whose strategy has meant much to Yale. His untiring +efforts, his contributions to the promotion of the best interests of the +game, stand as a brilliant record in the history of football. To give +him his just due would require a special volume. The football world +knows Walter Camp as a thoroughbred, a man who has played the game +fairly, and sees to it that the game is being played fairly to-day. + +We have read his books, enjoyed his football stories, and kept in touch +with the game through his newspaper articles. He is the loyal, +ever-present critic on the side lines and the helpful adviser in every +emergency. He has helped to safeguard the good name of football and kept +pace with the game until to-day he is known as the "Father of football." + +Let us go back into football history where, in the recollections of +others, we shall see Freshman Camp make the team, score touchdowns, kick +goals and captain Yale teams to victory. + +F. R. Vernon, who was a freshman at Yale when Camp was a sophomore, +draws a vivid word picture of Camp in his active football days. Vernon +played on the Yale team with Camp. + +"Walter Camp in his football playing days," says Vernon, "was built +physically on field running lines; quick on his legs and with his arms. +His action was easy all over and seemed to be in thorough control from a +well-balanced head, from which looked a pair of exceptionally keen, +piercing, expressive brown eyes. + +"Camp was always alert, and seemed to sense developments before they +occurred. One of my chief recollections of Camp's play was his great +confidence with the ball. In his room, on the campus, in the gym', +wherever he was, if possible, he would have a football with him. He +seemed to know every inch of its surface, and it seemed almost as if the +ball knew him. It would stick to his palm, like iron to a magnet. + +"In one of his plays, Camp would run down the side of the field, the +ball held far out with one arm, while the other arm was performing +yeoman service in warding off the oncoming tacklers. Frequently he would +pass the ball from one hand to the other, while still running, depending +upon which arm he saw he would need for defense. Smilingly and +confidently, Camp would run the gauntlet of opposing players for many +consecutive gains. I do not recall one instance in which he lost the +ball through these tactics. + +"It was a pretty game to play and a pretty game to look at. Would that +the rules could be so worded as to make the football of Camp's time the +football of to-day! + +"Walter Camp's natural ability as a football player was recognized as +soon as he entered Yale in 1876. He made the 'varsity at once and played +halfback. It was in the first Harvard football game at Hamilton Park +that the Harvard captain, who was a huge man with a full, bushy beard, +saw Walter Camp, then a stripling freshman in uniform, and remarked to +the Yale Captain: + +"'You don't mean to let that child play; he is too light; he will get +hurt.' + +"Walter made a mental note of that remark, and during the game the +Harvard captain had occasion to remember it also, when in one of the +plays Camp tackled him, and the two went to the ground with a heavy +thud. As the Harvard captain gradually came to, he remarked to one of +his team mates: + +"'Well, that little fellow nearly put me out!' + +"Camp's brilliant playing earned him the captaincy of the team in 1878 +and 1879. He had full command of his men and was extremely popular with +them, but this did not prevent his being a stickler for discipline. + +"In my day on the Yale team with Camp," Vernon states, "Princeton was +our dire opponent. For a week or so before a Princeton game, we all +agreed to stay on the campus and to be in bed every night by eleven +o'clock. Johnny Moorhead, who was one of our best runners, decided one +night to go to the theatre, however, and was caught by Captain Camp, +whereupon we were all summoned out of bed to Camp's room, shortly before +midnight. After the roundup we learned the reason for our unexpected +meeting. There was some discussion in which Camp took very little part. +No one expected that Johnny would receive more than a severe reprimand +and this feeling was due largely to the fact that we needed him in the +game. Imagine our surprise, therefore, when Camp, who had left us for a +moment, returned to the room and handed in his resignation as captain of +the team. We revolted at this. Johnny, who sized up the situation, +rather than have the team lose Camp, decided to quit the team himself. +What occurred the next day between Camp and Johnny Moorhead we never +knew, but Johnny played in the game and squared himself." + +Walter Camp's name is coupled with that of Chummy Eaton in football +history. "Eaton was on the left end rush line," says Vernon, "and played +a great game with Camp down the side line. When one was nearly caught +for a down, the other would receive the ball from him on an over-head +throw and proceed with the run. Camp and Eaton would repeat this play, +sending the ball back and forth down the side of the field for great +gains. + +"In one of the big games in the fall of 1879, Eaton had a large muscle +in one of his legs torn and had to quit playing for that season." Vernon +was put in Chummy's place. "But I couldn't fill Chummy's shoes," Vernon +acknowledges, "for he and Camp had practiced their beautiful side line +play all the fall. + +"The next year Chummy's parents wouldn't let him play, but Chummy was +game--he simply couldn't resist--it was a case of Love Before Duty with +him. He played on the Yale team the next fall, however, but not as +Eaton, and every one who followed football was wondering who that star +player 'Adams' was and where he came from. But those on the inside knew +it was Chummy. + +"Frederic Remington," says Vernon, "was a member of our team. We were +close friends and spent many Sunday afternoons on long walks. I can see +him now with his India ink pencil sketching as we went along, and I must +laugh now at the nerve I had to joke him about his efforts. + +"Remy was a good football player and one of the best boxers in college. +Dear Old Remy is gone, but he left his mark." + +Other men, equally prominent old Yale men tell me, who were on the team +that year were Hull, Jack Harding, Ben Lamb, Bob Watson, Pete Peters and +many others. + +Walter Camp, as Yale gridiron stories go, was not only captain of his +team, but in reality also its coach. Perhaps he can be called the +pioneer coach of Yale football. It is most interesting to listen to old +time Yale players relate incidents of the days when they played under +Walter Camp as their captain: how they came to his room by invitation at +night, sat on the floor with their backs to the wall, with nothing in +the center of the room but a regulation football. There they got +together, talked things over, made suggestions and comparisons. And it +is said of Camp that he would do more listening by far than talking. +This was characteristic, for although he knew so much of the game he was +willing to get every point of view and profit by every suggestion. + +In 1880 Camp relinquished the captaincy to R. W. Watson. Yale again +defeated Harvard, Camp kicking a goal from placement. Following this +R. W. Watson ran through the entire Harvard team for a touchdown. + +Harvard men were greatly pained when Walter Camp played again in 1881. +He should have graduated in 1880. This game was also won by Yale, thus +making the fourth victorious Yale team that Camp played on. This record +has never been equalled. Camp played six years at Yale. + +John Harding was another of the famous old Yale stars who played on +Walter Camp's team. + +"It is now more than thirty-five years since my days on the football +gridiron," writes Harding. "What little elementary training I got in +football, I attribute to the old game of 'theory,' which for two years +on spring and summer evenings, after supper, we used to play at St. +Paul's School in Concord, N. H., on the athletic grounds near the Middle +School. One fellow would be 'it' as we dashed from one side of the +grounds to the other and when one was trapped he joined the 'its,' until +everybody was caught. I learned there how to dodge, as well as the +rudiments of the necessary football accomplishment of how to fall down +without getting hurt. As a result of this experience, with my chum, +W. A. Peters, when we got down to Yale in the fall of '76, we offered +ourselves as willing victims for the University football team, and with +the result that we both 'made' the freshman team, and had our first +experience in a match game of football against the Harvard freshman at +Boston. I don't remember who won that contest, but I do remember the +University eleven, under Eugene Baker's careful training, beating +Harvard that fall at New Haven and my football enthusiasm being fired up +to a desire to make the team, if it were possible. + +"Of course, Walter Camp has for many years, and deservedly so, been +regarded as the father of football at Yale, but in my day, and at least +until Baker left college, he was only an ordinary mortal and a good +halfback. Baker was the unquestioned star and I cannot disabuse my mind +that he was the original football man of Yale, and at least entitled to +the title of 'grandfather' of the game there and it was from him that my +tuition mainly came. + +"My impression is that Baker was always for the open running and passing +game and that mass playing and flying wedges and the various refinements +of the game that depended largely on 'beef' were of a later day. + +"For four years I played in the rush line with Walter Camp as a +halfback, and for two years, at least, with Hull and Ben Lamb on either +side of me, all of us somehow understanding each other's game and all +being ready and willing to help each other out. Whatever ability and +dexterity I may have developed seemed to show itself at its best when +playing with them and to prove that good team work and 'knowing your +man' wins. + +"I got to know Walter Camp's methods and ways of playing, so that, +somehow or other, I could judge pretty well where the ball was going to +drop when he kicked and could navigate myself about so that I was, more +often than any one else on our side, near the ball when it dropped to +the ground, and, if perchance, it happened to be muffed by an opposing +player, which put me 'on side,' the chances of a touchdown, if I got the +ball, were excellent, and Hull and Lamb were somehow on hand to back me +up and were ready to follow me in any direction. + +"During my last two years of football the 'rushers' were unanimously of +the opinion that the kicking, dodging and passing open game was the game +we should strive for and that it was the duty of the halfback and backs +to end their runs with a good long punt, wherever possible, and give us +a chance to get under the ball when it came down, while the rest of the +team behind the line were in favor of a running mass play game, +particularly in wet and slippery weather. + +"I remember once in my senior year our divergence of views on this +question, about three weeks before the final game, nearly split our +team, and that as a result I nearly received the doubtful honor of +becoming the captain of a defeated Yale team. Camp, fearful of wet +weather and possible snow at the Thanksgiving game, and with Channing, +Eaton and Fred Remington as the heavy Yale ends and everybody 'big' in +the rush line excepting myself, was trying to develop us with as little +kicking as possible, and was sensitive because of the protests from the +rush line that there was no kicking. We were all summoned one evening to +his room in Durfee; the situation explained, together with his +unwillingness to assume the responsibility of captain unless his ideas +were followed; his fear of defeat, if they were not followed, his +willingness to continue on the team as a halfback and to do his best and +his resignation as captain with the suggestion of my taking the +responsibility of the position. Things looked blue for Yale when Walter +walked out of the door, but after some ten minutes' discussion we +decided that the open game was the better, despite Camp's opinion to the +contrary, but that we could not play the open game without Camp as +captain. Some one was sent out to bring Walter back; matters were +smoothed out; we played the open game and never lost a touchdown during +the season. But during the four years I was on the Yale varsity we +never lost but one touchdown, from which a goal was kicked and there +were no goals kicked from the field. This goal was lost to Princeton, +and I think was in the fall of '78, the year that Princeton won the +championship. The two men that were more than anybody else responsible +for the record were Eugene Baker and Walter Camp, but behind it all was +the old Yale spirit, which seems to show itself better on the football +field than in any other branch of athletics." + + +Theodore M. McNair + +On December 19th, 1915, there appeared in the newspapers a notice of the +death of an old Princeton athlete, in Japan--Theodore M. McNair--who, +while unknown to the younger football enthusiasts, was considered a +famous player in his day. To those who saw him play the news brought +back many thrills of his adventures upon the football field. The +following is what an old fellow player has to say about his team mate: + +"Princeton has lost one of her most remarkable old time athletes in the +death of Theodore M. McNair of the class of 1879. + +"McNair was a classmate of Woodrow Wilson. After his graduation he +became a Presbyterian missionary, a professor in a Tokio college and the +head of the Committee that introduced the Christian hymnal into Japan. + +"To old Princeton graduates, however, McNair is known best as a great +football player who was halfback on the varsity three years and was +regarded as a phenomenal dodger, runner and kicker. In the three years +of his varsity experience McNair went down to defeat only once, the +first game in which he appeared as a regular player. The contest was +with Harvard and was played between seasons--April 28th, 1877--at +Cambridge. Harvard won the game by 2 touchdowns to 1 for the Tigers. +McNair made the touchdown for his team. This match is interesting in +that it marked the first appearance of the canvas jacket on the football +field. Smock, one of the Princeton halfbacks, designed such a jacket for +himself and thereafter for many seasons football players of the leading +Eastern colleges adopted the garment because it made tackling more +difficult under the conditions of those days. McNair was of large frame +and fleet of foot. He was especially clever in handling and passing the +ball, which in those days was more of an art than at present. It was not +unusual for the ball to be passed from player to player after a +scrimmage until a touchdown or a field goal was made. + +"Walter Camp was one of McNair's Yale adversaries. They had many punting +duels in the big games at St. George's Cricket Grounds, Hoboken, but +Camp never had the satisfaction of sending McNair off the field with a +beaten team." + + +Alexander Moffat + +Every football enthusiast who saw Alex Moffat play had the highest +respect for his ability in the game. Alex Moffat was typically +Princetonian. His interest in the game was great, and he was always +ready to give as much time as was needed to the coaching of the +Princeton teams. His hard, efficient work developed remarkable kickers. +He loved the game and was a cheerful, encouraging and sympathetic coach. +From a man of his day I have learned something about his playing, and +together we can read of this great all-round athlete. + +Alex Moffat was so small when he was a boy that he was called +"Teeny-bits." He was still small in bone and bulk when he entered +Princeton. Alex had always been active in sport as a boy. Small as he +was, he played a good game of baseball and tennis and he distinguished +himself by his kicking in football before he was twelve years of age. +The game was then called Association Football, and kicking formed a +large part of it. At an early age, he became proficient in kicking with +right or left foot. When he was fifteen he created a sensation over at +the Old Seminary by kicking the black rubber Association football clear +over Brown Hall. That was kick enough for a boy of fifteen with an old +black, rubber football. If anybody doubts it, let him try to do the +trick. + +[Illustration: + +Wanamaker Belknap Finney Travers Harlan +Kennedy Lamar Bird Kimball De Camp +Baker Alex Moffat Harris + +ALEX MOFFAT AND HIS TEAM] + +The Varsity team of Princeton in the fall of '79 was captained by Bland +Ballard of the class of '80. He had a bunch of giants back of him. There +were fifteen on the team in those days, and among them were such men as +Devereaux, Brotherlin, Bryan, Irv. Withington, and the mighty McNair. +The scrub team player at that time was pretty nearly any chap that was +willing to take his life in his hands by going down to the field and +letting those ruthless giants step on his face and generally muss up his +physical architecture. + +When Alex announced one day that he was going to take a chance on the +scrub team, his friends were inclined to say tenderly and regretfully, +"Good night, sweet prince." But Alex knew he was there with the kick, +whether it came on the left or right, and he made up his mind to have a +go with the canvas-backed Titans of the Varsity team. One fond friend +watching Alex go out on the field drew a sort of consolation from the +observation that "perhaps Alex was so small the Varsity men wouldn't +notice him." But Alex soon showed them that he was there. He got in a +punt that made Bland Ballard gasp. The big captain looked first at the +ball, way up in the air, then looked at Alex and he seemed to say as the +Scotsman said when he compared the small hen and the huge egg, "I hae me +doots. It canna be." + +After that the Varsity men took notice of Alex. When the ball was +passed back to him next the regulars got through the scrub line so fast +that Alex had to try for a run. Bland Ballard caught him up in his arms, +and finding him so light and small, spared himself the trouble of +throwing him down. Ballard simply sank down on the ground with Alex in +his arms and began rolling over and over with him towards the scrub +goal. Alex cried "Down! Down!" in a shrill, treble voice that brought an +exclamation from the side line. "It's a shame to do it. Bland Ballard is +robbing the cradle." + +Such was Alex Moffat in the fall of '79, still something of the +"Teeny-bits" that he was in early boyhood. In two years Alex's name was +on the lips of every gridiron man in the country, and in his senior +year, as captain, he performed an exploit in goal kicking that has never +been equalled. + +In the game with Harvard in the fall of '83, he kicked five goals, four +being drop kicks and one from a touchdown. His drop kicks were all of +them long and two of them were made with the left foot. Alex grew in +stature and in stamina and when he was captain he was regarded as one of +the most brilliant fullbacks that the game had ever known. He never was +a heavy man, but he was swift and slippery in running, a deadly tackler, +and a kicker that had not his equal in his time. + +Alex remained prominent in football activity until his death in 1914. +He served in many capacities, as member of committees, as coach, as +referee and as umpire. He was a man of happy and sunny nature who made +many friends. He loved life and made life joyous for those who were with +him. He was idolized at Princeton and his memory is treasured there now. + + +Wyllys Terry + +One of the greatest halfbacks that ever played for Yale is Wyllys Terry, +and it is most interesting to hear this player of many years ago tell of +some of his experiences. Terry says: + +"It has been asked of me who were the great players of my time. I can +only say, judging from their work, that they were all great, but if I +were compelled to particularize, I should mention the names of Tompkins, +Peters, Hull, Beck, Twombly, Richards; in fact, I would have to mention +each team year by year. To them I attribute the success of Yale's +football in my time, and for many years after that to the unfailing zeal +and devotion of Walter Camp. + +"There were no trainers, coaches, or rubbers at that time. The period of +practice was almost continuous for forty-five minutes. It was the idea +in those days that by practice of this kind, staying power and ability +would be brought out. The principal points that were impressed upon the +players were for the rushers to tackle low and follow their man. + +"This was to them practically a golden text. The fact that a man was +injured, unless it was a broken bone, or the customary badly sprained +ankle, did not relieve a man from playing every day. + +"It was the spirit, though possibly a crude one, that only those men +were wanted on the team who could go through the battering of the game +from start to finish. + +"The discipline of the team was rigorous; men were forced to do as they +were told. If a man did not think he was in any condition to play he +reported to the captain. These reports were very infrequent though, for +I know in my own case, the first time I reported, I was so lame I could +hardly put one foot before the other, but was told to take a football +and run around the track, which was a half mile long and encircled the +football field. On my return I was told to get back in my position and +play. As a result, there were very few players who reported injuries to +the captain. + +"This, when you figure the manner in which teams are coached to-day, may +appear brutal and a waste of good material, but as a matter of fact, it +was not. It made the teams what they were in those days--strong, hard +and fast. + +"As to actual results under this policy, I can only say that, during my +period in college, we never lost a game. + +"Training to-day is quite different. I think more men are injured +nowadays than in my time under our severe training. I think further that +this softer training is carried to an extreme, and that the football +player of to-day has too much attention paid to his injury, and what he +has to say, and the trainer, doctors and attendants are mostly +responsible for having the players incapacitated by their attention. + +"The spirit of Yale in my day, a spirit which was inculcated in our +minds in playing games, was never to let a member of the opposing team +think he could beat you. If you experienced a shock or were injured and +it was still possible to get back to your position either in the line or +backfield--get there at once. If you felt that your injury was so severe +that you could not get back, report to your captain immediately and +abide by his decision, which was either to leave the field or go to your +position. + +"It may be said by some of the players to-day that the punts in those +days were more easily caught than those of to-day. There is nothing to a +remark like that. The spiral kick was developed in the fall of '82, and +I know that both Richards and myself knew the fellow who developed it. +From my experience in the Princeton game I can testify that Alex Moffat +was a past master at it. + +"One rather amusing thing I remember hearing years ago while standing +with an old football player watching a Princeton game. The ball was +thrown forward by the quarterback, which was a foul. The halfback, who +was playing well out, dashed in and caught the ball on the run, evaded +the opposing end, pushed the half back aside and ran half the length of +the field, scoring a touchdown. The applause was tremendous. But the +Umpire, who had seen the foul, called the ball back. A fair spectator +who was standing in front of me, asked my friend why the ball was called +back. My friend remarked: 'The Princeton player has just received an +encore, that's all.' + +"While the game was hard and rough in the early days, yet I consider +that the discipline and the training which the men went through were of +great assistance to them, physically, morally and intellectually, in +after years. Some of the pleasantest friendships that I hold to-day were +made in connection with my football days, among the graduates of my own +and other colleges. + +"When fond parents ask the advisability of letting their sons play +football, I always tell them of an incident at the Penn-Harvard game at +Philadelphia, one year, which I witnessed from the top of a coach. A +young girl was asked the question: + +"'If you were a mother and had a son, would you allow him to play +football?' + +"The young lady thought for a moment and then answered in this spirited, +if somewhat devious, fashion: + +"'If I were a son and had a mother, _you bet I'd play!_'" + + +Memories of John C. Bell + +In my association with football, among the many friendships I formed, I +prize none more highly than that of John C. Bell, whose activity in +Pennsylvania football has been kept alive long since his playing day. +Let us go back and talk the game over with him. + +"I played football in my prep. school days," he says, "and on the +'Varsity teams of the University of Pennsylvania in the years +'82-'83-'84. After graduation, following a sort of nominating mass +meeting of the students, I was elected to the football committee of the +University, about 1886, and served as chairman of that committee until +1901; retiring that season when George Woodruff, after a term of ten +years, terminated his relationship as coach of our team. + +"I also served, as you know, as a representative of the University on +the Football Rules Committee from about 1886 until the time I was +appointed Attorney General in 1911. + +"More pleasant associations and relationships I have never had than +those with my fellow-members of that Committee in the late '80's and the +'90's, including Camp of Yale; Billy Brooks, Bert Waters, Bob Wrenn and +Percy Haughton of Harvard; Paul Dashiell of Annapolis; Tracy Harris, +Alex Moffat and John Fine of Princeton; and Professor Dennis of +Cornell. Later the Committee, as you know, was enlarged by the admission +of representatives from the West; and among them were Alonzo Stagg, of +Chicago University, and Harry Williams of Minnesota. Finer fellows I +have never known; they were one and all Nature's noblemen. + +"Some of them, alas! like Alex Moffat, have gone to the Great Beyond. +Representing rival universities, between whose student bodies and some +of whose alumni, partisan feeling ran high in the '90's, nothing, +however, save good fellowship and good cheer ever existed between Alex +and me. + +"I am genuinely glad that I played the game with my team-mates; +witnessed for many years nearly all the big games of the eastern +colleges; mingled season after season with the players and the +enthusiastic alumni of the competing universities in attendance at the +annual matches; sat and deliberated each recurring year, as I have said, +with those fine fellows who made and amended the rules, and in this way +helped to develop the game, the manliest of all our sports; and that I +have thus breathed, recreated and been invigorated in a football +atmosphere every autumn for more than a third of a century. Growing +older every year, one still remains young--as young in heart and spirit +as when he donned the moleskins, and caught and kicked and carried the +ball himself. And all these football experiences make one a happier, +stronger and more loyal man. + +"I remember in my prep. school days playing upon a team made up largely +of high school boys. One game stands out in my recollection. It was +against the Freshmen team of the University of Pennsylvania, captained +by Johnny Thayer who went down with the _Titanic_. + +"Arriving after the game had started, I came out to the side-lines and +called to the captain asking whether I was to play. He glowered at me +and made no answer. A few minutes later our 'second captain' called to +me to come into the game, saying that Smith was only to play until I +arrived. Quick as a flash I stepped into the field of play, and almost +instantly Thayer kicked the ball over the rush line and it came bounding +down right into my arm. Off I went like a flash through the line, past +the backs and fullbacks, only to be over-taken within a few yards of the +goal. The teams lined up, and thereupon Thayer, with his eagle eye +looking us over, called out to our captain 'how many fellows are you +playing anyway?' Instantly our captain ordered Smith off the field +saying 'you were only to play until Bell came,' and poor Smith left +without any audible murmur. This is what might be called one of the +accidents of the game. + +"Perhaps the most memorable game in which I played was against Harvard +in 1884 when Pennsylvania won upon Forbes Field by the score of 4 to 0. +It was our first victory over the Crimson, not to be repeated again +until the memorable game of 1894, which triumph was again repeated, +after still another decade, in our great victory of 1904. This last +victory came after five years of continuing defeats, and I remember that +we were all jubilant when we heard the news from Cambridge. I recall +that Dr. J. William White, C. S. Packard and I were playing golf at the +Country Club and when some one brought out the score to us we dropped +our clubs, clasped hands and executed an Indian dance, shouting "Rah! +rah! rah! Pennsylvania!" Why, old staid philosopher, should the leading +surgeon of the city, the president of its oldest and largest trust +company, and the district attorney of Philadelphia, thus jump for joy +and become boys once more? + +"Recurring to the game of 1884 I can hear the cheers of the University +still ringing in my ears when we returned from Harvard. A few weeks +later our team went up to Princeton to see the Harvard-Princeton match +and I recall, as though it were yesterday, Alex Moffat kicking five +goals against Appleton's team, three of them with the right and two with +the left foot. No other player I ever knew or heard of was so +ambipedextrous (if I may use the word) as Alex Moffat. I remember +walking in from the field with Harvard's captain, and he said to me +'Moffat is a phenomenon.' Truly he was." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HEROES OF THE PAST--GEORGE WOODRUFF'S STORY + + +Enthusiastic George Woodruff tells of his football experiences in the +following words: + +"I went to Yale a green farmer boy who had never heard of the college +game of football until I arrived at New Haven to take my examinations in +the fall of '85. Incidentally I made the team permanently the second day +I was on the field, having scored against the varsity from the middle of +the field in three successive runs; whereas the varsity was not able to +score against the scrub. I was used perhaps more times than any other +man in running with the ball up to a very severe injury to my knee in +the fall of '87, just a week and a day before the Princeton game, from +which time, until I left college (although I played in all of the +championship games) I was not able to run with the ball, actually being +on the field only two days after my injury in '87 until the end of the +'88 season, outside of the days on which I played the games. I tried not +to play in the fall of '88 because of the condition of my knee and +because I was Captain of the Crew, but Pa Corbin insisted that I must +play in the championship games or he would not row: and of course I +acceded to his wishes thereby secretly gratifying my own. + +"And now about the men with whom I played: Kid Wallace played end the +entire four years. Wallace was a great amusement and comfort to his +fellow-players on account of his general desire to put on the appearance +of a 'tough' of the worst description; whereas he was at heart a very +fine and gallant gentleman. + +"Pudge Heffelfinger played the other guard from me in my last year and +when he first appeared on the Yale field he was a ridiculous example of +a raw-boned Westerner, being 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing only +about 178 pounds. During the season, however, the exercise and good food +at the training table caused Heffelfinger to gain 25 pounds of solid +bone, sinew and muscle. The green days of his first year in 1888 were +remembered against him in an affectionate way by the use of Yale for +several years of 'Pa' Corbin's oft reiterated expression brought forth +by Pudge's greenness, which would cause 'Pa' to exclaim: 'Darn you, +Heffelfinger!' with great emphasis on the 'Darn.' + +"Billy Graves played on the team during most of these years, he being +the most graceful football runner I have ever seen, unless it were +Stevenson of Pennsylvania. + +"Lee McClung was a harder worker in his running than most of the men +named above, but tremendously effective. He is accredited with being the +first man who intentionally started as though to make an end run and +then turned diagonally back through the line, in order to open up the +field through which he then ran with incredible speed and determination. +This was one of the first premeditated plays of a trick nature which +ultimately led to my invention of the delayed pass which works upon the +same principle only with incalculably greater ease and effect. + +"The game with Princeton in the Fall of 1885 clings to my memory beyond +any other game I ever played in, because it was the first real +championship game of my career, and I had not as yet fully developed +into an actual player. The loss of this game to Princeton in the last +six minutes of playing because of the Lamar run--Yale had Princeton 5 to +0--has been a nightmare to most of the Yale players ever since. I +attribute the fact that Yale only had five points to two hard-luck +facts. + +"Through my own intensity at the beginning of the game I over-ran Harry +Beecher on my first signal, causing the signal giver to think that I was +rattled so that, although I afterward ran with the ball some 25 or 30 +times with consistent gains of from 2 to 5 yards under the almost +impossible conditions known as the 'punt rush,' the signal for my +regular play was not given again in spite of the fact that my ground +gaining had been one of the steadiest features of the Yale play +throughout the year, and because Watkinson was allowed to try five times +in succession for goals from the field, close up, only one of which he +made; whereas Billy Bull could probably have made at least three out of +the five; but of course Bull's ability was not so well-known then. The +direct cause of the Lamar run was due to the fact that all the fast +runners and good tacklers of the Yale line were down the field under a +kick, so close to Toler, the other halfback from Lamar, that when Toler +muffed the ball so egregiously that it bounded over our heads some 15 +yards, Lamar who had not come across the field to back Toler up, had +been able to get the ball on the bound and on the dead run, thus having +in front of him all the Princeton team except Toler; whereas the Yale +team was depleted by the fact that Wallace, Corwin, Gill (who had come +on as a substitute) myself and even Harry Beecher from quarterback, had +run down the field to within a few yards of Toler before he muffed the +ball. We all turned and watched Lamar run, being so petrified that not +one of us took a step, and, although the scene is photographed on my +memory, I cannot see one of all the Yale players making a tackle at +Lamar. Hodge, the Princeton quarterback, kicked the goal, thus making +the score 6 to 5 and winning the game. The outburst from the Princeton +contingent at the end of the game was one of the most heartfelt and +spontaneous I have ever heard or seen. I understand that practically all +of Lamar's uniform was torn into pieces and handed out to the various +Princeton girls and their escorts who had come to New Haven to see the +game. + +"The Yale-Princeton game in the fall of 1886 was a remarkable as well as +a disagreeable one. We played at Princeton when the field at that time +combined the elements of stickiness and slipperiness to an unbelievable +extent. It rained heavily throughout the game and the proverbial 'hog on +ice' could not have slipped and slathered around worse than all the +players on both sides. There was a long controversy about who should act +as referee (in those days we had only one official) and after a delay of +about an hour from the time the game should have begun, Harris, a +Princeton man, was allowed to do the officiating. Bob Corwin, who was +end-rush, only second to Wallace in his ability, was captain of the +team. + +"Yale made one touchdown which seemed to be perfectly fair but which was +disallowed; and later, in the second half, Watkinson for Yale kicked the +ball so that it rolled across the goal line, whereupon a crowd, which +was standing around the ropes (in those days there was practically no +grandstand) crowded onto the field where Savage, the Princeton fullback +had fallen on the ball. The general report is that Kid Wallace held +Savage while Corwin pulled the slippery ball away from him, and that +when Harris, the referee, was able to dig his way through the crowd he +found Corwin on the ball, and in view of the great fuss that had been +made about his previous decision, was not able to credit Savage's +statement that he (Savage) had said 'down' long before the Yale ends had +been able to pull the ball away from him. The result was that the +touchdown was allowed. Thereupon the crowd all came onto the field and +we were not able to clear it for some 10 or 15 minutes, so that there +was not time enough to finish the full 45 minutes of the second-half of +the game before dark. This led to some bitter discussion between Yale +and Princeton as to whether the game had been played. This discussion +was settled by the intercollegiate committee in declaring that Yale had +won the game, 4 to 0, but that no championship should be awarded. It is +interesting to note, however, that all the gold footballs worn by the +Yale players of this game are marked 'Champions, 1886.' + +"A word about the Princeton men who were playing during my four years at +college. + +"Irvine was a fine steady player and his success at Mercersburg is in +keeping with the promise shown in his football days. + +"Hector Cowan played against me three years at guard and he fully +deserved the great reputation he had at that time in every particular +of the game, including running with the ball. + +"George was one of the very best center rushes I have ever seen and +probably would have made a great player elsewhere along the line if he +had been relieved from the obscuring effect of playing center at the +time a center had no particular opportunity to show his ability. + +"Snake Ames for some reason was never able to do anything against the +Yale team during the time I was playing, but his work in some later +games that I saw and in which I officiated, convinced me that he was +worthy of his nickname, because there are only a few men who are able to +wind their way through an entire field of opponents with as much +celerity and effect as Ames would display time after time. + +"In the fall of '86 Yale beat Harvard 29 to 4, with great ease, and if +it had not been for injuries to Yale players, could probably have made +it 50 or 60 to 0. Most of the Yale players came out of the game with +very disgraceful marks of the roughness of the Harvard men. I had a +badly broken nose from an intentional blow. George Carter had a cut +requiring eight stitches above his eye. The tackle next to me had a face +which was pounded black and blue all over. To the credit of the Harvard +men I will say that they came to the box at the theater that night +occupied by the Yale team and apologized for what they had done, stating +that they had been coached to play in that way and that they would +never again allow anybody to coach who would try to have the Harvard +players use intentionally unfair roughness. + +"When I entered Pennsylvania I found a more or less happy-go-lucky +brilliant man, Arthur Knipe, who was not considered fully worthy of +being on even the Pennsylvania teams of those days, namely: teams that +were being beaten 60 or 70 to 0 by Yale, Harvard and Princeton. I +succeeded in arousing the interest of Knipe, and although in my mind he +never, during his active membership of the Pennsylvania team, came up to +75 per cent. of his true playing value, he was, even so, undoubtedly the +peer of any man that ever played football. Knipe was brilliant but +careless, and was at once the joy and despair of any coach who took an +interest in his men. He captained the 1894 Pennsylvania team with which +I sprung the 'guards back' and 'short end defense.' + +"Jack Minds I remember seeing, in 1893, standing around on the field as +a member of the second or third scrub teams. I suppose he would not have +been invited to preliminary training except for his own courage and +pertinacity which caused him to demand to be taken. With no thought that +he could possibly make the team I gradually found myself using him in +1894, until he was a fixture at tackle, although he dodged the scales +throughout the entire fall in order that I might not know that he +only weighed 162 pounds. + +[Illustration: + +Wharton Bull Woodruff +Rosengarten Osgood Brooke Knipe Gelbert +Minds Williams Wagonhurst + +OLD PENN HEROES] + +"I will not enlarge upon the ability of men like George Brooke, Wylie +Woodruff, Buck Wharton, Joe McCracken, John Outland and others, but +anybody speaking of Pennsylvania players during the late '90's cannot +pass by Truxton Hare, who stands forth as a Chevalier Bayard among the +ranks of college football players. Hare entered Pennsylvania in '97 from +St. Paul without any thought that he was likely to be even a mediocre +player. He weighed only about 178 pounds at the time and was immature. +Although his wonderfully symmetrical build, in which he looked like a +magnified Billy Graves, kept him from looking as large as Heffelfinger +at his greatest development at Yale, Hare was certainly ten pounds +heavier in fine condition than Heffelfinger was before the latter left +Yale." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS + + +In the latter eighties the signal from the quarterback to the center for +putting the ball in play was a pressure of the fingers and thumb on the +hips of the center. In the '89 championship game between Yale and +Princeton, Yale had been steadily advancing the ball and it looked as if +they had started out for a march up the field for a touchdown. In those +days signals were not rattled off with the speed that they are given +now, and the quarterback often took some time to consider his next play, +during which time he might stand in any position back of the line. + +Playing right guard on the Princeton team was J. R. Thomas, more +familiarly known as Long Tommy. He was six feet six or seven inches tall +and built more longitudinally than otherwise. It occurred to Janeway, +who was playing left guard, that Long Tommy's great length and reach +might be used to great advantage when occasion offered. + +He, therefore, took occasion to say to Thomas during a lull in the game, +"If you get a chance, reach over when Wurtenburg--the Yale +quarter--isn't looking, and pinch the Yale center so that he will put +the ball in play when the backs are not expecting it." The Yale center, +by the way, was Bert Hanson. Yale continued to advance the ball on two +or three successive plays and finally had a third down with two yards to +gain. At this critical moment the looked-for opportunity arrived. +Wurtenburg called a consultation of the other backs to decide on the +next play. While the consultation was going on Long Tommy reached over +and gently nipped Hanson where he was expecting the signal. Hanson +immediately put the ball in play and as a result Janeway broke through +and fell on the ball for a ten yards gain and first down for Princeton. + +To say that the Yale team were frantic with surprise and rage would be +putting it mildly. Poor Hanson came in for some pretty rough flagging. +He swore by all that was good and holy that he had received the signal +to put the ball in play, which was true. But Wurtenburg insisted that he +had not given the signal. There was no time for wrangling at that moment +as the referee ordered the game to proceed. + +Yale did not learn how that ball came to be put in play until some time +after the game, which was the last of the season, when Long Tommy +happening to meet up with Hanson and several other Yale players in a New +York restaurant, told with great glee how he gave the signal that +stopped Yale's triumphant advance. + + * * * * * + +Numerals and combinations of numbers were not used as signals until +1889. Prior to that, phrases, catch-words and gestures were the only +modes of indicating the plays to be used. For instance, the signal for +Hector Cowan of Princeton to run with the ball was an entreaty by the +captain, who in those days usually gave the signals, addressed to the +team, to gain an uneven number of yards. Therefore the expression, +"Let's gain three, five or seven yards," would indicate to the team that +Cowan was to take the ball, and an effort was made to open up the line +for him at the point at which he usually bucked it. + +Irvine, the other tackle, ran with the ball when an even number of yards +was called for. + +For a kick the signal was any phrase which asked a question, as for +instance, "How many yards to gain?" + +One of the signals used by Corbin, captain of Yale, to indicate a +certain play, was the removal of his cap. They wore caps in those days. +A variation of this play was indicated if in addition to removing his +cap he expectorated emphatically. + +Hodge, the Princeton quarterback, noticing the cap signals, determined +that he would handicap the captain's strategy by stealing his cap. He +called the team back and very earnestly impressed upon them the +advantage that would accrue if any of them could surreptitiously get +possession of Captain Corbin's head-covering. Corbin, however, kept such +good watch on his property that no one was able to purloin it. + +Sport Donnelly, who played left end on Princeton's '89 team, was perhaps +one of the roughest players that ever went into a game, and at the same +time one of the best ends that ever went down the field under a kick. + +Donnelly was one of the few men that could play his game up to the top +notch and at the same time keep his opponent harassed to the point of +frenzy by a continual line of conversation in a sarcastic vein which +invariably got the opposing player rattled. + +He would say or do something to the man opposite him which would goad +that individual to fury and then when retaliation was about to come in +the shape of a blow, he would yell "Mr. Umpire," and in many instances +the player would be ruled off the field. + +Donnelly's line of conversation in a Yale game, addressed to Billy +Rhodes who played opposite him, would be somewhat as follows: + +"Ah, Mr. Rhodes, I see Mr. Gill is about to run with the ball." + +Just then Gill would come tearing around from his position at tackle and +Donnelly would remark: + +"Well, excuse me, Mr. Rhodes, for a moment, I've got to tackle Mr. +Gill." + +He would then sidestep in such a manner as to elude Rhodes's +manoeuvres to prevent him breaking through, and stop Gill for a loss. + +Hector Cowan, who was captain of the Princeton '88 team was another +rough player. In those days the men in the heat of playing would indulge +in exclamations hardly fit for a drawing room. In fact most of the time +the words used would have been more in place among a lot of pirates. + +Cowan was no exception to the rule so far as giving vent to his feelings +was concerned, but he invariably used one phrase to do so. He was a +fellow of sterling character and was studying for the ministry. Not even +the excitement of the moment could make him forget himself to the extent +of the other players, and where their language would have to be +represented in print by a lot of dashes, Cowan's could be printed in the +blackest face type without offending anyone. + +It was amusing to see this big fellow, worked up to the point of +explosion, wave his arms and exclaim: + +"Oh, sugar!" + +It would bring a roar of mock protest from the other players, and +threats to report him for his rough talk. While the men made joke of +Hector's talk they had a thorough respect for his sterling principles. + + +VICTORIOUS DAYS AT YALE + +During the early days of football Yale's record was an enviable one. The +schedules included, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, University of +Pennsylvania, Rutgers, Columbia, Stevens Institute of Technology, +Dartmouth, Amherst, and University of Michigan. + +It is interesting to note that since the formation of the Football +Association, in 1879 to 1889, Yale had been awarded the championship +flag five times, Princeton one, Harvard none. Yale had won 95 out of 98 +games, having lost three to Princeton, one to Harvard and one to +Columbia. Since 1878 Yale had lost but one game and that by one point. +This was the Tilly Lamar game, which Princeton won. In points Yale had +scored, since points began to be counted, 3001 to her opponents' 56; in +goals 530 to 19 and in touchdowns 219 to 9, which is truly a unique +record. + +It was during this period that Pa Corbin, a country boy, entered Yale +and in his senior year became captain of the famous '88 team. This +brilliant eleven had a wonderfully successful season and Yale men now +began to take stock and really appreciate the remarkable record that was +hers upon the field of football. + +In commemoration of these victories, Yale men gathered from far and +near, crowding Delmonico's banquet hall to the limit to pay tribute to +Yale athletic successes. + +"And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, +and the people shouted with a great shout ... they took the city." + +In a room beautifully decorated with Yale banners and trophies four +hundred Elis sat down to enjoy the Bulldog Feast, and there honored and +cheered to the echo the great football traditions of Yale and the men +who made her famous by so vast a margin. + +Chauncey M. Depew in his address that evening stated that for the only +time in one hundred and eighty-eight years the alumni of Yale met solely +to celebrate her athletic triumphs. + +Pa Corbin, captain of the victorious '88 football team, responded, as +follows: + +"Again we have met the enemy and he is ours. In fact we have been +successful so many times there is something of a sameness about it. It +is a good deal like what the old man said about leading a good life. It +is monotonous, but satisfactory. There are perhaps a few special reasons +why we won the championship this year, but the general principles are +the same, which have always made us win. First, by following out certain +traditions, which are handed down to us year by year from former team +captains and coaches; the necessity of advancing each year beyond the +point attained the year before; the mastering of the play of our +opponents and planning our game to meet it. Second, by the hard, +conscientious work, such as only a Yale team knows how to do. Third, +by going on to the field with that high courage and determination which +has always been characteristic of the Yale eleven, something like the +spirit of the ancient Greeks who went into battle with the decision to +return with their shields or on them. Sometimes they have been animated +with the spirit which knows no defeat, like the little drummer boy, who +was ordered by Napoleon in a crisis in the battle to beat a retreat. The +boy did not move. 'Boy, beat a retreat.' He did not stir, but at a third +command, he straightened up and said: 'Sire, I know not how, but I can +beat a charge that will wake the dead.' He did so and the troops moved +forward and were victorious. It is this same spirit which in many cases +has seemed to animate our men. + +[Illustration: + +Rhodes Woodruff Heffelfinger Gill Wallace +Stagg McClung Captain Corbin Bull +Wurtenberg Graves + +PA CORBIN'S TEAM] + +"But our victory is due in a great measure this year to a man who knows +more about football than any man in this country, who gave much of his +valuable time in continually advising and in actual coaching on the +field. I refer to Walter Camp, and as long as his spirit hovers over the +Yale campus and our traditions for football playing are religiously +followed out there is no reason why Yale should not remain, as she +always has been, at the head of American football." + +Those were Corbin's recollections the year of that great victory. Time +has not dimmed them, nor has his memory faded. Rather the opposite. +From what follows you will note that a woman now enters the camp of the +Eli coaching staff, mention of whom was not made in Corbin's speech of +'88. + +Pa Corbin prides himself in the fact that twenty-five years afterward he +brought his old team mates together and gave them a dinner. The menu +card tells of the traditional coaching system of Corbin's great team of +'88 and beneath the picture of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Camp appears in +headlines: + +"HEAD COACHES OF THE YALE FOOTBALL TEAM OF 1888" + +"The head-coaches of the Yale team," says Corbin, "were really Mr. and +Mrs. Walter Camp. They had been married in the summer of 1888 and were +staying with relatives in New Haven. Mr. Camp had just begun his +connection with a New Haven concern which occupied most of his time. +Mrs. Camp was present at Yale Field every day at the football practice +and made careful note of the plays, the players and anything that should +be observed in connection with the style of play and the individual +weakness or strength. She gave her observations in detail to her husband +at supper every night and when I arrived Mr. Camp would be thoroughly +familiar with that day's practice and would be ready for suggestions as +to plays and players to be put in operation the next day. + +"This method was pursued during the entire season and was practically +the only systematic coaching that the team received. Of course there +were several old players like Tompkins '84, Terry '85 and Knapp '82, who +came to the field frequently. + +"At that time it was customary for me to snap the ball back to the +quarter with my foot. By standing the ball on end and exercising a +certain pressure on the same it was possible to have it bound into the +quarterback's hands. It was necessary, therefore, for me to attend to +this detail as well as to block my opponent and make holes through the +line for the backs. + +"While the rules of the game at that time provided for an Umpire as well +as a Referee, the fact that there was no neutral zone and players were +in close contact with each other on the line of scrimmage gave +opportunity for more roughness than is customary at the present time. +Neither were the officials so strict about their rulings. + +"Prior to this time it had been customary to give word signals for the +different plays, these being certain words which were used in various +sentences relating to football and the progress of the game. As center, +I was so tall that a system of sign signals was devised which I used +entirely in the Princeton game, and the opponents, from the talk, which +continued as usual, supposed that word signals were being used and were +entirely ignorant of the sign signals during the progress of the game. +The pulling of the visor of my cap was a kick signal. Everything that I +did with my left hand in touching different parts of my uniform on the +left side from collar to shoe lace meant a signal for a play at +different points on the left side of the line. Similar signals with my +right hand meant similar plays on the right side of the line. The system +worked perfectly and there was no case of missed signal. The next year +the use of numbers for signals began, and has continued until the +present date. + +"The work of the Yale team during the season was very much retarded by +injuries to their best players. The papers were so filled with these +accounts that the general opinion of the public was that the team would +be in poor physical condition to meet Princeton. As luck would have it, +however, the invalids reached a convalescing stage in time to enter the +Wesleyan game on the Saturday before the one to be played with Princeton +in fairly good condition. + +"Head Coach Camp and I attended the Princeton-Harvard game at Princeton +on that day. Upon our return to New York we received a telegram from +Mrs. Camp to the effect that the score made by Yale against Wesleyan was +105 to nothing. One of the graduate coaches was much impressed with the +opportunity to turn a few pennies and he requested that the information +be kept quiet until he could see a few Princeton men. The result was +that he negotiated the small end of several stakes at long odds against +Yale. When the news of the Wesleyan score was made public the next +morning, the opinion of the public changed somewhat as to the merit of +the team. It nevertheless went into the Princeton game as not being the +favorite and in the opinion of disinterested persons it was expected +that Princeton would win handsomely." + +Cowan the great has this to say: + +"I happened to be down on the grounds to watch the practice just a few +days before the Yale game. They did not have enough scrub to make a good +defense. Jim Robinson happened to see me there and asked me to play. He +had asked me before, and I had always refused, but this time for some +reason I accepted and he took me to the Club house. + +"I got into my clothes. The shoes were about three sizes too small. That +day I played guard opposite Tracy Harris. I played well enough so that +they wanted me to come down the next day, as they said they wanted good +practice. The next day I was put against Captain Bird, who had been out +of town the first day I played. He had the reputation of being not at +all delicate in the way he handled the scrub men who played against him, +so that they had learned to keep away from him. + +"As I had not played before, I did not know enough to be afraid of him, +so when the ball was put in play I simply charged forward at the +quarterback and was able to spoil a good many of his plays. I heard +afterward that Bird asked Jim Robinson who that damn freshman was that +played against him. The next year I was put in Bird's place at left +guard, as he had graduated and fought all comers for the place. I was +never put on the scrub again. + +"My condition when in Princeton was the best. Having been raised in the +country, I knew what hard work was and in the five years that I played +football I never left the field on account of injury either in practice +or in games with other teams. + +"It is a great thing to play the game of football as hard as you can. I +never deliberately went to do a man up. If he played a rough game, I +simply played him the harder. I never struck a man with my fist in the +game. I do not remember ever losing my temper. Perhaps I did not have +temper enough. + +"When we speak of a football man's nerve I would say that any man who +stopped to think of himself is not worthy of the game, but there is one +man who seemed to me had a little more nerve than the average. I think +that he played for two years on our scrub, and the reason that he was +kept there so long was on account of his size. He only weighed about 138 +pounds, but for all the time he played on the scrub he played halfback +and no one ever saw him hesitate to make every inch that he could, even +though he knew he had to suffer for it. + +"In the fall of '88, I think, Yup Cook played right tackle on the +Varsity. He was very strong in his shoulders and arms and had the grip +of a blacksmith. Channing, this nervy little 138-pounder, played left +halfback on the scrub. When he went into the line, Cook would take him +by the shoulders and slam him into the ground. Our playing field at the +time was very dry and the ground was like a rock. I used to feel very +sorry for the little fellow. On his elbows and hips and knees he had raw +sores as big as silver dollars; yet he never hesitated to make the +attempt, and he never called 'down' to save himself from punishment. The +next year he made the team. Everybody admired him. + +"Football men must never forget Tilly Lamar, who played halfback. I +think he was one of the greatest halfbacks and one who would have made a +record in any age of football. I have seen him go through a line with +nearly every man on the opposing team holding him. He would break loose +from one after the other. + +"Lamar was a short, chunky fellow and ran close to the ground with his +back level, and about the only place one could get hold of him was his +shoulders. He would always turn toward the tackler instead of away, and +it had the effect of throwing him over his head. The only way that the +Yale men could stop him at all was to dive clear under and get him by +the legs. + +"You have always heard a lot about Snake Ames. Snake was a very +spectacular player, but one very hard to stop, especially in an open +field. He was very fast and during the last year of his playing he +developed a duck and would go clear under the man trying to tackle him. +This he did by putting one hand flat on the ground, so that his body +would just miss the ground; even the good tacklers that Yale always had +were not able to stop him. + +"One of Princeton's old reliables was our center, George, '89. He may +not have got much out of the plaudits from the grandstand, but those of +us who knew what he was doing appreciated his work. We always felt safe +as to our center. He was steady and brilliant. + +"It was during this time that Yale developed a wedge play on center. +There were no restrictions as to how the line would be formed, and Yale +would put all their guards and tackles and ends back, forming a big V +with the man with the ball in the center. + +"Yale had been able to knock the opposing center out of the way till +they struck George. How well I remember this giant, who was able to hold +the whole wedge until he could knock the sides in and pile them up in a +bunch. Yale soon gave him up and tried to gain elsewhere. + +"I must tell you about one more of Princeton's football players. Not so +much for his playing, but for his head work. During the years that I was +captain, in the fall of '88 the rules were changed so that one was +allowed to block an opponent only by the body. In other words, not +allowed to use hands or arms in blocking. It was Sam Hodge, who played +end and worked out what is known to-day as boxing the tackle. You can +understand what effect it would have on a man who was not used to it. +The end would knock the opposing tackle and send him clear out of the +play and the half would keep the end out." + +I once asked Cowan to tell something about his experiences and men he +played against. + +"The Yale game was the great game in my days," he said. "Harvard did not +have the football instinct as well developed as Yale, and it is of the +Yale players that I have more in mind. One man I will always remember is +Gill, who played left tackle for Yale and was captain during his senior +year. I remember him because we had a good deal to do with each other. +When I ran with the ball I had to get around him if I made any advance, +and I must say that I found it no easy thing to do, as he was a sure +tackler. And when he ran with the ball I had the good pleasure of +cutting his runs short. + +"Another man whom I consider one of the greatest punters of the past is +Bull of Yale. I have stopped a good many punts and drop kicks in my +play, but I do not remember stopping a single kick of his, and it was +not because I did not try. He kicked with his left foot, and with his +back partially towards the line would kick a very high ball, and when +you jumped into him--on the principle, that if you cannot get the ball, +get the man--you had the sensation of striking something hard." + +After Cowan had stopped playing and graduated he acted as an official in +a good many of the big games. He states as follows: + +"You ask about my own experiences as an official, and for experience +with other officials. I always got along pretty well as a referee. There +was very little kicking on my decisions. But I was good for nothing as +an umpire. I could not keep my eyes off the ball, so did not see the +fouls as much as I should. You boys have probably heard how I was ruled +off the field in a Harvard-Princeton game in '88. I remember Terry of +Yale who refereed that game, above all others. There was a rule at that +time that intentional tackling below the knees was a foul and the +penalty was disqualification. Our game had just started. We had only two +or three plays, Harvard having the ball. I broke through the line and +tackled the man as soon as he had the ball. I had him around the legs +about the knees, but in his efforts to get away, my hands slipped down. +But at the moment remembering the rule I let him go, and for this I was +disqualified. I might say that we lost the game, for we did not have any +one to take my place. I had always been in my place and no one ever +thought that I would not be there. My being disqualified was probably +the reason for the Princeton defeat. + +"I do not think that Terry intended to be unfair. The game had just +started, and he was trying to be strict, and without stopping to think +whether it was intentional or not. He saw the rule being broken and +acted on the impulse of the moment. I have since heard that Terry felt +very bad about it afterwards. I never felt right towards him until I had +a chance to get even with him, and it came in this way. The Crescent +Club of Brooklyn played the Cleveland Athletic Club at Cleveland. George +and myself were invited to play with the Cleveland club, and on the +Crescent team were Alex Moffat and Terry. Terry played left halfback, +and right here was where I got in my work. When Terry ran with the ball +I generally had a chance to help him meet the earth. I had one chance in +particular. Terry got the ball and got around our end, and on a long end +run I took after him, caught him from the side, threw him over my head +out of bounds. As we were both running at the top of our speed he hit +the ground with considerable force. I felt better towards him after this +game." + +In such vivid phrases as these a great hero of the past tells of things +well worth recording. + + * * * * * + +Football competition is very strong. There is the keenest sort of +rivalry among college teams. There is very little love on the part of +the men who play against each other on the day of the contest, but after +the game is all over, and these men meet in after years, very strong +friendships are often formed. Sometimes these opponents never meet +again, but down deep in their hearts they have a most wholesome regard +for each other, and so in my recollections of the old heroes, it will be +most interesting to hear in their own words, something about their own +achievements and experiences in the games they played thirty years ago. +Hector Cowan, who captained the '88 team at Princeton, played three +years against George Woodruff of Yale. It has been twenty-eight years +since that wonderful battle took place between these two men. It is +still talked about by people who saw the game, and now let us read what +these two contestants say about each other. + +"Of the three years that I played guard I met George Woodruff as my +opponent," says Cowan, "and I always felt that he was the strongest man +I had to meet and one who was always on the square. He played the game +for what it was worth, and he showed later that he could teach it to +others by the way he taught the Penn' team." + +Says George Woodruff, delving into the old days: "Hector Cowan played +against me three years at guard, and he fully deserves the reputation he +had at that time in every particular of the game, including running with +the ball. I doubt whether any other Princeton man was ever more able to +make ground whenever he tried, although Cowan was not in any particular +a showy player. For some reason or other, Cowan seems to have had a +reputation for rough play, which shows how untrue traditions can be +handed down. I never played against or with a finer and steadier player, +or one more free from the remotest desire to play roughly for the sake +of roughness itself." + +When Heffelfinger's last game had been played there appeared in a +newspaper of November 26th, 1888, a farewell to Heffelfinger. + + Good-by Heff! the boys will miss you, + And the old men, too, and the girls; + You tossed the other side about as if they were ten-pins; + You took Little Bliss under your wing and he ran with + the ball like a pilot boat by the _Teutonic_. + You used eyes, ears, shoulders, legs, arms and head + and took it all in. + You're the best football rusher America, or the world, + has shown; + And best of all you never slugged, lost your temper or + did anything mean; + Oh come thou mighty one, go not away, + The team thou must not fail: + Stay where thou art, please, Heffelfinger, stay, + And still be true to Yale-- + Linger, yet linger, Heffelfinger, a truly civil engineer. + His trust would ne'er surrender; unstrap thy trunks, + Excuse this scalding tear. + Still be Yale's best defender! Linger, oh, linger, + Heffelfinger. + Princeton and Harvard, there is cause to fear + Will dance joy's double shuffle when of thy Western + flight they come to hear. Stay and their tempers + ruffle. Linger, oh, linger, Heffelfinger. + + +John Cranston + +"My inspiration for the game came when my country cousin returned from +Exeter and told me he believed I had the making of a football player," +says John Cranston, who was Harvard's famous old center and former +coach. "At once I pestered him with all kinds of questions about the +requirements, and believed that some day I would do something. I shall +always remember my first day on the field at Exeter. Lacking the +wherewithal to buy the regulation suit, I appeared in the none too +strong blue shirt and overalls used on the farm. I remember too that it +was not long before Harding said: 'Take that young countryman to the +gymnasium before he is injured for life; he doesn't know which way to +run when he gets the ball; he doesn't know the game; and he looks too +thick headed to play the game anyway.' + +"As boys on neighboring farms of Western New York, three of us, who +were later to play on different college teams, hunted skunks and rabbits +together. Had we been on the same team we would have been side by side. +Cook was a great tackle at Princeton; Reed one of the best guards +Cornell ever had; and I, owing to some good team mates, played as center +on the first Harvard eleven to defeat Yale. It is said that Cook in his +first game at Exeter grabbed the ball and started for his own goal for a +touchdown, and that Reed after playing the long afternoon in the game +which Cornell won, asked the Referee which side was victorious. + +"I well remember that at Exeter we were planning how to celebrate our +victory over Andover, even to the most minute detail. We knew who was to +ring the academy and church bells of the town, and where we were to have +the bonfire at night. We were deprived of that pleasure on account of +the great playing and better spirit of the Andover team. A few of our +Exeter men then and there made a silent compact that Exeter would feel a +little better after another contest with Andover. The following three +years we defeated Andover by large scores. + +"Any one who has played the game can recall some amusing situations. I +recall the first year at Harvard when we were playing against the +Andover team that suddenly the whole Andover School gave the Yale cheer. +Dud Dean, who was behind me, fired up and said it was the freshest +thing he had ever heard. At Springfield I remember one Yale-Harvard game +started with ten men of my own school, Exeter, in the game. In another +Yale game we were told to look ugly and defiant as we lined up to face +Yale, but I was forced to laugh long and hard when I found myself facing +Frankie Barbour, the little Yale quarter, who lived with me in the same +dormitory at Exeter for three years." + +[Illustration: BREAKERS AHEAD + +Phil King in the Old Days.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE NINETIES AND AFTER + + +Men of to-day who never had an opportunity of seeing Foster Sanford play +will be interested in some anecdotes of his playing days and to read in +another chapter of this book some of his coaching experiences. + +"As a boy," said Sandy, "I lived in New Haven. I chalked the lines on +the football field for the game in which Tilly Lamar made his famous run +for Princeton. I played on the college team two years before I entered +Yale. I learned a lot of football playing against Billy Rhodes, that +great Yale tackle. + +"I'll tell you about the day I made the Yale team in my freshman year. +Pa Corbin took me in hand. I think he wanted to see if I had lots of +nerve. He told me to report at nine o'clock for practice. He put me +through a hard, grueling work-out, showing me how to snap the ball; how +to charge and body check. All this took place in a driving rain, and he +kept me out until one o'clock, when he said: + +"'You can change your jersey now; that is, put on a dry one.' + +"I went over to the training table then to see if I couldn't get some +dinner. Believe me, I was hungry. But every one had finished his meal +and all I could pick up was the things that were left. Here I ran into a +fellow named Brennen, who said: + +"'They're trying to do you up. This is the day they are deciding whether +you will be center rush or not.' + +"I then went out to Yale Field and joined the rest of the players, and +the stunts they put me through that afternoon I will never forget. But I +remembered what Brennen had told me, and it made me play all the harder. +To tell the truth, after practice, I realized that I was so sore I could +hardly put one foot ahead of the other. To make matters worse, the +coaches told me to run in to town, a distance of two miles, while _they_ +drove off in a bus. I didn't catch the bus until they were on Park +Street, but I pegged along just the same and beat them in to the gate. +Billy Rhodes and Pa Corbin took care of me and rubbed me down. It seems +as though they rubbed every bit of skin off of me. I was like fire. + +"That's the day I made the Yale team. + +"I was twenty years old, six feet tall, and weighed about 200 pounds." + +When I asked Sandy who gave him the hardest game of his life, he replied +promptly: + +"Wharton, of Pennsylvania. He got through me." + +Parke Davis' enthusiasm for football is known the country over. From +his experience as a player, as a coach and writer, he has become an +authority. Let us read some of his recollections. + +"Years ago there was a high spirited young player at Princeton serving +his novitiate upon the scrub. One day an emergency transferred him for +the first time in his career to the Varsity. The game was against a +small college. This sudden promotion was possible through his fortunate +knowledge of the varsity signals. Upon the first play a fumble occurred. +Our hero seized the ball. A long service upon the scrub had ingrained +him to regard the Princeton Varsity men always as opponents. In the +excitement of the play he became confused, when lo! he leaped into +flight toward the wrong goal. Dashing around Princeton's left end he +reversed his field and crossed over to the right. Phil King, Princeton's +quarterback, was so amazed at the performance that he was too spellbound +to tackle his comrade. Down the backfield the player sped towards his +own goal. Shep Homans, his fullback, took in the impending catastrophe +at a glance and dashed forward, laid the halfback low with a sharp +tackle, thereby preventing a safety. The game was unimportant, the +Princeton's score was large, so the unfortunate player, although the +butt of many a jest, soon survived all jokes and jibes and became in +time a famous player." + +"The first Princeton-Yale game in 1873 being played under the old +Association rules was waged with a round ball. In the first scrimmage a +terrific report sounded across the field. When the contending players +had been separated the poor football was found upon the field a +flattened sheet of rubber. Two toes had struck it simultaneously or some +one's huge chest had crushed it and the ball had exploded. + +"Whenever men are discussing the frantic enthusiasm of some fellows of +the game I always recall the following episode as a standard of +measurement. The Rules Committee met one night at the Martinique in New +York for their annual winter session. Just as the members were going +upstairs to convene, I had the pleasure of introducing George Foster +Sanford to Fielding H. Yost. The introduction was made in the middle of +the lobby directly in the way of the traffic passing in and out of the +main door. The Rules Committee had gone into its regular session; the +hour was eight o'clock in the evening. When they came down at midnight +these two great football heroes were standing in the very spot where +they were introduced four hours before and they were talking as they had +been every minute throughout the four hours about football. Members of +the Committee joked with the two enthusiasts and then retired. When they +came down stairs the next morning at eight o'clock they found the two +fanatics seated upon a bench nearby still talking football, and that +afternoon when the Committee had finished its labors and had adjourned +_sine die_ they left Sanford and Yost still in the lobby, still on the +bench, hungry and sleepy and still talking football." + +This anecdote will be a good one for Parke Davis' friends to read, for +how he ever stayed out of that talk-fest is a mystery--maybe he did. + +Now that Yost and Sanford have retired we will let Parke continue. + +"A few years ago everybody except Dartmouth men laughed at the football +which, bounding along the ground at Princeton suddenly jumped over the +cross bar and gave to Princeton a goal from the field which carried with +it the victory. But did you ever hear that in the preceding season, in a +game between two Southern Pennsylvania colleges, a ball went awry from a +drop kick, striking in the chest a policeman who had strayed upon the +field? The ball rebounded and cleanly caromed between the goal post for +a goal from the field. Years ago Lafayette and Pennsylvania State +College were waging a close game at Easton. Suddenly, and without being +noticed, Morton F. Jones, Lafayette's famous center-rush in those days, +left the field of play to change his head gear. The ball was snapped in +play and a fleet Penn State halfback broke through Lafayette's line, +and, armed with the ball, dodged the second barriers and threatened by a +dashing sprint to score in the extreme corner of the field. As he +reached the 10-yard line, to the amazement of all, Jones dashed out of +the side line crowd upon the field between the 10-yard line and his +goal, thereby intercepting the State halfback, tackling him so sharply +that the latter dropped the ball. Jones picked it up and ran it back 40 +yards. There was no rule at that time which prevented the play, and so +Penn-State ultimately was defeated. Jones not only was a hero, but his +exploit long remained a mystery to many who endeavored to figure out how +he could have been 25 yards ahead of the ball and between the runner and +his own goal line." + +A story is told of the wonderful dodging ability of Phil King, Princeton +'93. He was known throughout the football world as one of the shiftiest +runners of his day. Through his efficient work, King had fairly won the +game against Yale in '93. The next year the Yale men made up their minds +that the only way to defeat Princeton was to take care of King, and they +were ever on the alert to watch him whenever he got the ball. The whole +Yale team was looking for King throughout this game. + +On the kick-off Phil got the ball, and all the Yale forwards began to +shout, "Here he comes, here he comes," and then as he was cleverly +dodging and evading the Yale players, one of the backs, who was waiting +to tackle him low, was heard to say, "There he goes." + +Those of the old-timers who study the picture of the flying wedge on the +opposite page will get a glimpse of Phil King about to set in motion +one of the most devilishly ingenious maneuvers in the history of the +game. With all the formidable power behind him, the old reliables of +what the modern analytical coaches are pleased to term the farce plays. +Balliet, Beef Wheeler, Biffy Lea, Gus Holly, Frank Morse, Doggy +Trenchard, Douglas Ward, Knox Taylor, Harry Brown, Jerry McCauley, and +Jim Blake; King, nevertheless, stood out in lonely eminence, ready to +touch the ball down, await the thunder of the joining lines of +interference and pick up the tremendous pace, either at the apex of the +crashing V or cunningly concealed and swept along to meet the terrific +impact with the waiting line of Blue. Great was the crash thereof, and +it was a safe wager that King with the ball would not go unscathed. + +[Illustration: LOOK OUT, PRINCETON!] + +This kind of football brought to light the old-time indomitable courage +of which the stalwarts of those days love to talk at every gridiron +reunion. + +But for the moment let us give Yale the ball and stand the giant +Princeton team upon defense. Let us watch George Adee get the ball from +Phil Stillman and with his wonderful football genius develop a smashing +play enveloped in a locked line of blue, grim with the menace of Orville +Hickok, Jim McCrea, Anse Beard, Fred Murphy, Frank Hinkey and Jack +Greenway. + +Onward these mighty Yale forwards ground their way through the +Princeton defense, making a breach through which the mighty Butterworth, +Bronc Armstrong and Brink Thorne might bring victory to Yale. + +This was truly a day when giants clashed. + +As you look at these pictures do the players of to-day wonder any longer +that the heroes of the olden time are still loyal to the game of their +first love? + +If you ever happen to go to China, I am sure one of the first Americans +you will hear about would be Pop Gailey, once a king of football centers +and now a leader in Y. M. C. A. work in China. + +Lafayette first brought Pop Gailey forth in '93 and '94, and he was the +champion All-American center of the Princeton team in '96. He had a +wonderful influence over the men on the team. He was an example well +worth following. His manly spirit was an inspiration to those about him. +After one of the games a newspaper said: + +"Old Gailey stands firm as the Eternal Calvinistic Faith, which he +intends to preach when his football scrimmages are over." + +To Charlie Young, the present professor of physical instruction of the +Cornell University gymnasium, I cannot pay tribute high enough for the +fine football spirit and the high regard with which we held him while he +was at the Princeton Seminary. He certainly loved to play football and +he used to come out and play on the scrub team against the Princeton +varsity. He was not eligible to play on the Princeton team, as he had +played his allotted time at Cornell. + +The excellent practice he gave the Princeton team--yes, more than +practice: it was oftentimes victory for him as well as the scrub. He +made Poe and Palmer ever alert and did much to make them the stars they +were, as Charlie's long suit was running back punts. His head work was +always in evidence. He was a great field general; one of his most +excellent qualities was that of punting. His was an ideal example for +men to follow. Princeton men were the better for having played with and +against a high type man like Charlie Young. + + +AN EVENING WITH JIM RODGERS + +Jim Rodgers gave all there was in him to Yale athletics. Not a single +year has passed since he played his last game of football but has seen +him back at the Yale field, coaching and giving the benefit of his +experience. + +Jim Rodgers was captain of the '97 team at New Haven, and the traditions +that can be written about a winning captain are many. No greater +pleasure can be afforded any man who loves to hear an old football +player relate experiences than to listen, while Rodgers tells of his own +playing days, and of some of the men in his experience. + +It was once my pleasure to spend an evening with Jim in his home; +really a football home. Mrs. Rodgers knows much of football and as Jim +enthusiastically and with wonderfully keen recollection tells of the old +games, a twelve-year-old boy listens, as only a boy can to his father, +his great hero, and as Jim puts his hand on the boy's shoulders he tells +him the ideal of his dreams is to have him make the Yale team some day, +and an enthusiastic daughter who sits near hopes so too. His scrap books +and athletic pictures go to make a rare collection. + +Many of us would like to have seen Jim Rodgers begin his football career +at Andover when he was sixteen years old. It was there that his 180 +pounds of bone and muscle stood for much. It was at Andover that Bill +Odlin, that great Dartmouth man, coached so many wonderful prep. school +stars, who later became more famous at the colleges to which they went. + +Rodgers went to Yale with a big rep. He had been captain of the Andover +team. In the fall of '92 Andover beat Brown 24 to 0. Jim Rodgers was +very conspicuous on the field, not only on account of his good playing +and muscular appearance, but because his blond hair, which he wore very +long as a protection, was very noticeable. + +From this Yale player, whose friends are legion, let us read some +experiences and catch his spirit: + +"I was never a star player, but I was a reliable. In my freshman year I +did not make the team, owing to the fact that I had bad knees and better +candidates were available. This was the one year in Yale football, +perhaps in all football, when the team that played the year before came +back to college with not a man missing. Frank Hinkey had been captain +the year before and then came through as senior captain. There was not a +senior on Frank Hinkey's team. The first team, therefore, all came back. + +"Al Jerrems and Louis Hinkey were the only additions to the old team. + +"Perhaps the keenest disappointment that ever came to me in football was +the fact that I could not play in that famous Yale-Harvard game my +freshman year. However, I came so very near it that Billy Rhodes and +Heffelfinger came around to where I was sitting on the side lines, after +Fred Murphy had been taken out of the game. They started to limber me up +by running me up and down the side line, but Hinkey, the captain, came +over to the side line and yelled for Chadwick, who went into the game. I +had worked myself up into a highly nervous condition anticipating going +in, but now I realized my knees would not allow it. The disappointment +that day, though, was very severe. To show you what a hold these old +games had on me, many years after this game Hinkey and I were talking +about this particular game, when he said to me: 'You never knew how +close you came to getting into that Springfield game, Jim.' Then I told +him of my experience, but he told me he had it in his mind to put me in +at halfback, and ever since then, when I think of it, cold chills run up +and down my spine. It absolutely scared me stiff to think how I might +have lost that game, even though I never actually participated in it. + +"The Yale football management, however, on account of my work during the +season decided to give me my Y, gold football and banner. The banner was +a blue flag with the names of the team and the position they played and +the score, 12 to 6. It was a case where I came so near winning it that +they gave it to me." + +Jim Rodgers played three years against Garry Cochran and this great +Princeton captain stands out in his recollections of Yale-Princeton +games. He goes on to say: + +"If it had not been for Garry Cochran, I might be rated as one of the +big tackles of the football world to-day. I used to dream of him three +weeks before the Princeton game; how I was going to stand him off, and +let me tell you if you got in between Doc Hillebrand and Garry Cochran +you were a sucker. Those games were a nightmare to me. Cochran used to +fall on my foot, box me in and hold me there, and keep me out of the +play." + +Jim Rodgers is very modest in this statement. The very reason that he +is regarded as a truly wonderful tackle is on account of the great game +he played against Cochran. How wonderfully reliable he was football +history well records. He was always to be depended upon. + +"In the fall of 1897 when I was captain of the Yale team," Rodgers +continues, "perhaps the most spectacular Yale victory was pulled off, +when Princeton, with the exception of perhaps two men, and virtually the +same team that had beaten Yale the year before, came on the field and +through overconfidence or lack of training did not show up to their best +form. We were out for blood that day. I said to Johnny Baird, Princeton +quarterback: 'Princeton is great to-day. We have played ten minutes and +you haven't scored.' Johnny, with a look of determination upon his face, +said, 'You fellows can play ten times ten minutes and you'll never +score,' but the Princeton football hangs in the Yale trophy room. + +"I have always claimed that Charlie de Saulles put the Yale '97 team on +the map. Charlie de Saulles, with his three wonderful runs, which +averaged not less than 60 yards each, really brought about the victory. + +"Frank Butterworth as head coach will always have my highest regard; he +did more than any one alive could have done to pull off an apparently +impossible victory." + +"One great feature of this game was Ad Kelly's series of individual +gains, aided by Hillebrand and Edwards, through Rodgers and Chadwick. +Kelly took the ball for 40 consecutive yards up the field in gains of +from one to three yards each, when fortunately for Yale, a fumble gave +them the ball. When the fumble occurred, I happened at the time to break +through very fast. There lay the ball on the ground, and nobody but +myself near it. The great chance was there to pick it up and perhaps, +even with my slow speed, gain 20 to 30 yards for Yale. No such thought, +however, entered my head. I wanted that ball and curled up around it and +hugged it as a tortoise would close in its shell. My recollection is now +that I sat there for about five minutes before anybody deigned to fall +on me. At all events, I had the ball. + +"Gordon Brown played as a freshman on my team. He had a football face +that I liked. He weighed 185 pounds and was 6 feet 4 inches tall. Gordon +went up against Bouve in the Harvard game, and the critics stated that +Bouve was the best guard in the country that year. I said to Gordon, +'Play this fellow the game of his life, and when you get him, let me +know and I'll send some plays through you.' After about sixty minutes of +play Gordon came to me and said, 'Jim, I've got him,' and he had him all +right, for we were then successful in gaining through that part of the +Harvard line. Gordon Brown was a very earnest player. He would allow +nothing to stop him. He got his ears pretty well bruised up and they +bothered him a great deal. In fact, he did have to lay off two or three +days. He came to me and said, 'Do you think this injury will keep me out +of the big game?' 'Well, I'll see if the trainer cannot make a head-gear +for you.' 'Well, I'll tell you this, Jim,' said Gordon, 'I'll have 'em +cut off before I'll stay out of the game.' This amused me, and I said, +'Gordon, you have nothing of beauty to lose. You will keep your ears and +you will play in the big games.' + +"Gordon Brown's team, under Malcolm McBride as head coach, was a wonder. +This eleven, to our minds, was the best ever turned out by Yale +University. They defeated Princeton 29 to 5, and the powerful Harvard +team 28 to 0. Their one weakness was that they had no long punter, but, +as they expressed it to me afterward, they had no need of one. At one +time during the game with Harvard they took the ball on their own +10-yard line and, instead of kicking, marched it up the field, and in a +very few rushes scored a touchdown. Harvard men afterwards told me that +after seeing a few minutes of the game they forgot the strain of +Harvard's defeat in their admiration of Yale's playing. This team showed +the highest co-ordination between the Yale coaching staff, the college, +and the players, and they set a high-water mark for all future teams to +aim at, which was all due to Gordon Brown's genius for organization and +leadership." + +It has been my experience in talking of football stars with some of the +old-timers that Frank Hinkey heads the list. I cannot let Frank Hinkey +remain silent this time. He says: + +"I think it was in the Fall of '95 that Skim Brown, who played the +tackle position, was captain of the scrubs team at New Haven. Brown was +a very energetic scrub captain. He was continuously urging on his men to +better work. As you recall, the cry, 'Tackle low and run low,' was +continuously called after the teams in those days. Brown's particular +pet phrase in urging his men was, 'Run low.' So that he, whenever the +halfback received the ball, would immediately start to holler, 'Run +low,' and would keep this up until the ball was dead. He got so in the +habit of using this call when on the offense that one day when the +quarterback called upon him to run with the ball from the tackle +position even before he got the ball he started to cry, 'Run low,' while +carrying the ball himself, and continued to cry out, 'Run low,' even +after he had gained ground for about fifteen yards and until the ball +was dead. + +"It was in the Fall of '92 when Vance McCormick was captain of the Yale +team, and Diney O'Neal was trying for the guard position. As you know, +the linemen are very apt to know only the signals on offense which call +for an opening at their particular position. And even then a great many +of them never know the signals. Now Diney was bright enough, but like +most linemen did not know the signals. It happened one day that +McCormick, at the quarterback position, called several plays during the +afternoon that required O'Neal to make an opening. O'Neal invariably +failed because he didn't know the signals. McCormick, suspecting this, +finally gave O'Neal a good calling down. The calling down fell flat in +its effects on O'Neal as his reply to McCormick was, 'To Hell with your +mystic signs and symbols--give me the ball!'" + +"The real founder of football at Dartmouth was Bill Odlin," writes Ed +Hall. "Odlin learned his football at Andover, and came to Dartmouth with +the class of '90 and it was while he was in college that football really +started. He was practically the only coach. He was a remarkable +kicker--certainly one of the best, if not the best. In the Fall of '89 +Odlin was captain of the team and playing fullback. Harvard and Yale +played at Springfield and on the morning of the Harvard-Yale game +Dartmouth and Williams played on the same field. It was in this game in +the Fall of '89 that he made his most remarkable kick in which the wind +was a very important element. In the second half Odlin was standing +practically on his own ten yard line. The ball was passed back to him to +be kicked and he punted. The kick itself was a remarkable kick and +perfect in every way, but when the wind caught it it became a wonder and +it went along like a balloon. The wind was really blowing a gale and the +ball landed away beyond the Williams' quarterback and the first bounce +carried it several yards beyond their goal line. Of course any such kick +as this would have been absolutely impossible except for the extreme +velocity and pressure of the wind, but it was easily the longest kick I +ever saw. + +"Three times during Odlin's football playing he kicked goals from the 65 +yard line and while at Andover he kicked a placed kick from a mark in +the exact center of the field, scoring a goal." + +When Brown men discuss football their recollections go back to the days +of Hopkins and Millard, of Robinson, McCarthy, Fultz, Everett Colby and +Gammons, Fred Murphy, Frank Smith, the giant guard; that great +spectacular player, Richardson, and other men mentioned elsewhere in +this book. + +In a recent talk with that sterling fellow, Dave Fultz, he told me +something about his football career. It was, in part, as follows:-- + +"I played at Brown in '94, '95, '96 and '97, captaining the team in my +last year. Gammons and I played in the backfield together. He was +unquestionably a great runner with the ball; one of the hardest men to +hurt, I think, I ever saw. I have often seen him get jolts, go down, and +naturally one would think go out entirely, but when I would go up to +him, he would jump up as though he had not felt it. I think Everett +Colby was as good a man interfering for the runner as I have seen. He +played quarterback and captained the Brown team in '96. I don't think +there was ever a better quarterback than Wyllys D. Richardson, Rich, as +we used to call him." + +[Illustration: BARRETT ON ONE OF HIS FAMOUS DASHES] + +[Illustration: EXETER-ANDOVER GAME, 1915] + +Dave Fultz is very modest and when he discusses his football experiences +he sidetracks one and talks of his fellow college players. Now that I +have pinned him down, he goes on to say: + +"The day before we played the Indians one year my knee hurt me so much +that I had to go to the doctor. He put some sort of ointment on it. Two +days before this game I could hardly move my leg; the doctor threatened +me with water on the knee; he told me to go to bed and stay there, but I +told him we had a game in New York and I had to go. He said, 'All right, +if you want water on the knee.' I said, 'I've got to go if I am at all +able.' Anyway, I went on down to New York with the team and played in +the game. All I needed was to get warmed up good and I went along in +great shape." + +Those who remember reading the accounts of that game will recall that +Dave Fultz made some miraculous runs that day and was a team in himself. + +Fred Murphy, who was captain of the '98 team at Brown and played end +rush, says: + +"I think Dave Fultz played under more difficulties than any man that +ever played the game. I have seen him play with a heavy knee brace. He +had his shoulder dislocated several times and I have seen him going into +the game with his arm strapped down to his side, so he could just use +his forearm. He played a number of games that way. That happened when he +was captain. He was absolutely conscientious, fearless and a good +leader." + +In 1904, Fred Murphy coached at Exeter. Fred says: + +"This was probably the best team that Exeter had had up to that time. +The team was captained by Tommy Thompson, who afterwards played at +Cornell. Eddie Hart at that time stripped at about 195 pounds. This was +the famous team on which Donald MacKenzie MacFadyen played and later +made the Princeton varsity. Tad Jones was quarterback the first year he +came to school. In those days they took to football intuitively without +much coaching. You never had to tell Tad Jones a thing more than once. +He would think things out for himself. He showed great powers of +leadership and good football sense. Howard Jones and Harry Vaughn played +on this team." + +"Charlie McCarthy of Brown will long be remembered for his great punting +ability," says Fred Murphy. "He had a great many pet theories. McCarthy +is one of the best football men in the Brown list." In a letter which I +have received from Charlie McCarthy, as a result of a wonderful victory +over Minnesota one year, McCarthy writes: + +"The students of the University gave me a beautiful gold watch engraved +on the inside--'To our Friend Mac from the students of the University of +Wisconsin.'" This shows how highly McCarthy is held at this University. + +McCarthy continues, "I go out every fall and kick around with the boys +still and I hope to do so the rest of my life if I get a chance. I think +the greatest football player I ever saw was Frank Hinkey. Speaking of my +own ability as a player, I haven't much to say. I was not much of a +football player but I got by some way. I neither had the physique, nor +the ability, but tried to do my best. I am glad to say no one ever +called me a quitter. I am proud to say that Brown University gave me a +beautiful silver cup at the end of my four years for the best work in +football, although the said cup belongs by rights to ten other men on +the team." + +As one visits the dressing room of the New York Giants and sees the +attendant work upon the wonderful physique of Christy Mathewson, one +cannot help but realize what a potent factor he must have been on +Bucknell's team. When Christy played he was 6 feet tall and weighed 168 +pounds stripped. He prepared at Keystone Academy, playing in the line. +In 1898, when he went to Bucknell, he was immediately put at fullback +and played there three years. + +Fred Crolius says of him: "Of all the long distance punters with hard +kicks to handle, Percy Haughton and Christy Mathewson stand out in his +memory. Mathewson had the leg power to turn his spiral over. That is, +instead of dropping where ordinary spirals always drop, an additional +turn seemed to carry the ball over the head of the back who was waiting +for the ball, often carrying some fifteen or twenty yards beyond." + +Football has no more ardent admirer than Christy Mathewson. It will be +interesting to hear what he has to say of his experience in the game of +football. + +"I liked to play football," says Mathewson. "I was a better football +player than a baseball player in those days. I was considered a good +punter. I was not much as a line bucker. The captain of the team always +gave me a football to take with me in the summer. I occasionally had an +opportunity to practice kicking after I was through with my baseball +work. + +"At Taunton, Mass., my first summer, I ran across a fellow who was +playing third base on the team for which I was pitching. MacAndrews was +his name. He was a Dartmouth man. He showed me how to kick. He showed me +how to drop a spiral. I liked to drop-kick and used to practice it +quite a little." + +[Illustration: + +Means Langford Hollenback Douglass Gaston Marks Allerdice +Miller Manier Schultz Draper + +BILL HOLLENBACK COMING AT YOU] + +"I remember how tough it was for me when Bucknell played Annapolis the +year before when the Navy team had a man who could kick such wonderful +spirals. They were terribly hard to handle, and I was determined to +profit by his example. So I just hung on for dear life, punting spirals +all summer. Later I used to watch George Brooke punt a good deal when he +was coaching." + +"At that time drop kickers were not so numerous. I had some recollection +of a fellow named O'Day, who had a great reputation as a drop-kicker, as +did Hudson of Carlisle. In 1898 we were to play Pennsylvania. Our team +served as a preliminary game for Pennsylvania. They often beat us by +large scores. Since then we have had teams which made a 6 to 5 score. +But they had good teams in my time. We never scored on Penn, as I +recall. + +"Our coach said one day, at the training table, 'I'll give a raincoat to +the fellow who scores on Penn to-day.' The manager walked in and +overheard his remark and added, 'Yes, and I'll give a pair of shoes to +the man who makes the second score against Penn.' That put some 'pep' +into us. Anyway, we were on Penn's 35-yard line and I kicked a field +goal. After this we rushed the ball and got up to Penn's 40-yard line, +and from there I scored again, thereby winning the shoes and the +raincoat. + +"I went up to Columbia one day to see them practice. It was in the days +when Foster Sanford was their coach. He saw me standing on the side +lines; came over to where I was; looked me over once or twice and +finally said: + +"'Why aren't you trying for the team? I think you'd make a football +player if you came out.' + +"I said I guessed I would not be eligible. + +"'Why?' asked Sandy. + +"'Well," I said, 'because I'm a professional.' Then some fellows around +me grinned and told Sanford who I was. + +"I love to think of the good old football days and some of the spirit +that entered collegiate contests. Once in a while, in baseball, I feel +the thrill of that spirit. It was only recently that I experienced that +get-together spirit, where a team full of life with everybody working +together wrought great results. That same old thrill came to me during +one of the Giants' trips in the West in which they won seventeen +straight victories. + +"There is much good fellowship in football. I played against teams whose +cheer leaders would give you a rousing cheer as you made a good play; +then again you would meet the fellow who, when you were down in the +scrimmage, or after you had kicked the ball, would try to put you down +and out. + +"One of the pleasantest recollections I have of playing was my +experience against the two great academy teams, West Point and +Annapolis. + +"Never shall I forget one year when Bucknell played West Point. At an +exciting moment in the game, Bucknell players made it possible for me to +be in a position to kick the goal from the field from a difficult angle. +After the score had been made the West Point team stood there stupefied, +and when the crowd got the idea that a goal had been kicked from a +peculiar angle, they gave us a rousing cheer. Such is the proper spirit +of American football; to see some sunshine in your opponent's play. + +"Cheering helps so much to build up one's enthusiasm." + +Al Sharpe was one of the greatest all-around athletes that ever wore the +blue of Yale. He, too, recalls the Yale-Princeton game of 1899 at New +Haven, but the memory comes to him as a nightmare. + +"When I think about the 11 to 10 game at New Haven, which Princeton +won," said Sharpe the last time I saw him, "I remember that after I had +kicked a goal from the field and the score was 10 to 6, Skim Brown +rushed up to me, and nearly took me off my feet with one of his friendly +slaps across my back. Well do I remember the joy of that great Yale +player at this stage of the game. Later, when Poe made his kick and I +saw that the ball was going over the bar, I remember that the thing I +wished most was that I could have been up in the line where I might have +had a chance to block the kick. + +"My recollections of making the Yale team centered chiefly around three +facts, none of which I was allowed to forget. First, that I was not any +good, second that I couldn't tackle, and third that I ran like an +ice-wagon. Since then I have seen so many really good players upon my +different squads that I must admit the truth of the above statement, +although at the time I am frank to say I took exception to it. Such is +the optimism of youth." + +Jack Munn, a former Princeton halfback, tells the following story: + +"My brother, Edward Munn, was the manager of the Princeton team in 1893. +In the spring of that year there was a conference with Yale +representatives to decide where the game was to be played the following +fall. Berkeley Oval, Brooklyn, Manhattan Field, and the respective +fields of the two colleges all came under discussion, and I believe that +some of the newspapers must have taken it up. One afternoon in the +Murray Hill Hotel, when representatives of Yale and Princeton were +discussing the various possibilities, a bellboy knocked at the door and +handed my brother an elaborately engraved card on which, among various +decorations, the name of Colonel Cody was to be distinguished. Buffalo +Bill was invited to come up, and it seems that, reading or hearing of +the discussion about the field for the game, he came to make a formal +offer of the use of his tent. After setting forth the desirability of +staging the game under the auspices of his Wild West Show, he brought +his offer to a close with his trump card. + +"'For, gentlemen,' said he, 'besides all the other advantages which I +have mentioned, there is this further attraction--my tent is well and +sufficiently lighted so that you can not only hold a matinee, but you +can give an evening performance as well.' + +"And those were the days of the flying wedge and two forty-five minute +halves with only ten minutes intermission!" + + +Walter C. Booth + +Walter C. Booth, a former Princeton center rush, was one of the select +coterie of Eastern football men that wended its way westward to carry +the eastern system into institutions that had had no opportunity to +build up the game, yet were hungry for real football. Booth's trip was a +successful one. + +"In the autumn of 1900, after graduating from college, I arrived at +Lincoln, Nebraska, in the dual role of law student and football coach of +the State University," says Booth. "This was my first trip west of +Pittsburgh and I viewed my new duties with some apprehension. All doubts +and fears were soon put at rest by the hearty encouragement and support +that I received and retained in my Nebraska football relations. + +"Most of the Faculty were behind football, and H. Benjamin Andrews, at +that time head of the University, was a staunch supporter of the game. +Doctor Roscoe Pound, later dean of Harvard Law School, was the father of +Nebraska football. He had as intimate an acquaintance with the rule book +as any official I have ever known. His advice on knotty problems was +always valuable. James I. Wyer, afterward State Librarian of New York, +was our first financial director, and it was largely by reason of his +unflagging zeal that football survived. + +"Football spirit ran high in the Missouri Valley and there were many +hard fought contests among the teams of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and +Nebraska. Those who saw these games or played in them will never forget +them. + +"Many amusing things happened in that section as well as in the East. +The Haskell Indians were a picturesque team. They represented the +Government School at Lawrence, Kansas--an institution similar to that of +Carlisle. In fact, many of the same players played on both teams at +different times. We always found them a hard nut to crack, and Redwater, +Archiquette, Hauser and other Indian stars made their names well known +on our field. + +"John Outland, the noted Pennsylvania player, had charge of the Indians +when I knew them. He was a great player and a fine type of man, who +succeeded in imparting some of his own personality to his pupils. He +once showed me a dark faced Indian in Lawrence who must have been at +least six feet four inches tall and of superb physique. He was a full +blooded Cheyenne and went by the name of Bob Tail Billy. Outland tried +hard to break him in at guard, but as no one understood Bob Tail's +dialect, and he understood no one else, he never learned the signals, +and proved unavailable. + +"We traveled far to play in those days; west to Boulder, Colorado, +handicapped by an altitude of 5000 feet, south to Kansas City and north +as far as St. Paul and Minneapolis. We were generally about 500 miles +from our base. We were not able to take many deadheads." + +Harry Kersburg is one of the most enthusiastic Harvard football players +I have ever met. He played guard on Harvard in 1904, '05 and '06 and is +often asked back to Cambridge to coach the center men. From his playing +days let us read what he prizes in his recollections: + +"My college career began at Lehigh, with the idea of eventually going to +Harvard. As a football enthusiast, I came under the observation of +Doctor Newton, who was coaching Lehigh at that time. Doc taught me the +first football I ever knew. In one of the games against Union College +Doc asked me before the game whether if he put me in I would deliver the +goods. I said I would try and do my best. He said, 'That won't do. I +don't want any man on my team who says, "I'll try." A man has got to say +"I'll do it." From that time on I never said, 'I'll try,' but always +said 'I'll do it.' + +"I shall never forget the day I played against John DeWitt. I did not +know much about the finer points of football then. I weighed about 165 +pounds with my football clothes on, was five feet nine inches tall and +sixteen years old. I shall always remember seeing that great big hawk of +a man opposite me. I did not have cold feet. I knew I had to go in and +give the best account of myself I could. It was like going up against a +stone wall. John DeWitt certainly could use his hands, with the result +that I resembled paper pulp when I came out of that game. DeWitt did +everything to me but kill me. After I got my growth, weight and +strength, plus my experience, I always had a desire to play against +DeWitt to see if he could the same thing again. + +"In a Harvard-Yale game one year I remember an incident that took place +between Carr, Shevlin and myself," says Harry. + +"Tom Shevlin usually stood near the goal line when Yale received the +kick-off. As a matter of fact he caught the ball most of the time. The +night before the Yale game in 1905, Bill Carr and myself were discussing +what might come up the following day. Inasmuch as we always lined up +side by side on the kick off, we made a wager that if Harvard kicked off +we would each be the first to tackle Shevlin. + +"The next day Harvard won the toss and chose to kick off, and as we had +hoped, Shevlin caught the ball. Carr and I raced down the field, each +intent on being the first to tackle him. I crashed into Shevlin and +spilled him, upsetting myself at the same time. When I picked myself up +and looked around, Carr had Shevlin pinned securely to the ground. After +the game we told Shevlin of our wager and he said that under the +circumstances all bets were off as both had won." + +Former U. S. Attorney-General William H. Lewis, who is one of the +leading representatives of the colored race, needs no introduction to +the football world, says Kersburg. 'Bill,' or 'Lew,' as he is familiarly +known to all Harvard men, laid the foundation for the present system of +line play at Cambridge. He was actively engaged in coaching until 1907 +when he was obliged to give it up due to pressure of business. + +"In 1905 'Hooks' Burr and I played the guard positions. 'Lew' seemed to +center his attention on us as we always received more 'calls' after each +game than the other linemen for doing this, that, or the other thing +wrong. In the Brown game of this year Hooks played against a colored +man who was exceptionally good and who, Hooks admitted afterward, 'put +it all over' him. The Monday following this game we received our usual +'call.' After telling me what a rotten game I had played he turned on +Burr and remarked. 'What the devil was the matter with you on Saturday, +Hooks? That guard on the Brown team "smeared" you.' Burr replied, 'I +don't know what was the matter with me. I used my hands on that nigger's +head and body all through the game but it didn't seem to do any good.' +Several of us who were listening felt a bit embarrassed that Hooks had +unwittingly made this remark. The tension was relieved, however, when +Lew drawled out, 'Why the devil didn't you kick him in the shins?' A +burst of laughter greeted this sally." + +Donald Grant Herring, better known to football men in and out of +Princeton as Heff, is one of the few American players of international +experience. After a period of splendid play for the Tigers he went to +England with a Rhodes Scholarship. At Merton College he continued his +athletic career, and it was not long before he became a member of one of +the most famous Rugby fifteens ever turned out by Oxford. + +Heff has always said that he enjoyed the English game, but whether the +brand he played was American or English, his opponent usually got +little enjoyment out of a hard afternoon with this fine Princeton +athlete. + +"In the late summer of 1903, I was on a train coming east from Montana," +Heff tells me, "after a summer spent in the Rockies. A companion +recognized among the passengers Doc Hillebrand, who was coming East from +his ranch to coach the Princeton team. This companion who was still a +Lawrenceville schoolboy, had the nerve to brace Hillebrand and tell him +in my presence that I was going to enter Princeton that fall and that I +was a star football player. You can imagine what Doc thought, and how I +felt. However, Doc was kind enough to tell me to report for practice and +to recognize me when I appeared on the field several weeks later. I soon +drifted over to the freshman field and I want to admit here what caused +me to do so. It was nothing more nor less than the size of Jim Cooney's +legs. Jim was a classmate of mine whom I first saw on the football field +when he and another tackle candidate were engaged in that delicate +pastime known to linemen as breaking through. I realized at once that, +if Jim and I were ever put up against one another, I would stand about +as much chance of shoving him back as I would if I tried to push a steam +roller. So I went over to the freshman field, where Howard Henry was +coaching at the time. He was sending ends down the field and I remember +being thrilled, after beating a certain bunch of them, at hearing him +say: 'You in the brown jersey, come over here in the first squad.' + +"DeWitt's team beat Cornell 44-0. For years there hung on the walls of +the Osborn Club at Princeton a splendid action picture of Dana Kafer +making one of the touchdowns in that game. It was a mass on tackle play, +and Jim Cooney was getting his Cornell opponent out of the way for Kafer +to go over the line. The picture gave Jim dead away. He had a firm grip +of the Cornell man's jersey and arm. Ten years or more afterward, a +group, including Cooney, was sitting in the Osborn Club. In a spirit of +fun one man said, 'Jim, we know now how you got your reputation as a +tackle. We can see it right up there on the wall.' The next day the +picture was gone. + +"After I was graduated from Princeton in 1907 I went to Merton College, +Oxford. There are twenty-two different colleges in Oxford and eighteen +in Cambridge. Each one has its own teams and crews and plays a regular +schedule. From the best of these college teams the university teams are +drawn. Each college team has a captain and a secretary, who acts as +manager. At the beginning of the college year (early October) the +captain and secretary of each team go around among the freshmen of the +college and try to get as many of them as possible to play their +particular sport; mine Rugby football. After a few days the captain +posts on the college bulletin board, which is always placed at the +Porter's Lodge, a notice that a squash will be held on the college +field. A squash is what we would call practice. + +[Illustration: "THE NEXT DAY THE PICTURE WAS GONE" + +Jim Cooney Making a Hole for Dana Kafer.] + +"Sometimes for a few days before the game an Old Blue may come down to +Oxford and give a little coaching to the team. Here often the captain +does all the coaching. The Cambridge match is for blood, and, while +friendly enough, is likely to be much more savage than any other. In the +match I played in, which Oxford won 35-3, the record score in the whole +series, which started in 1872, we had three men severely injured. In the +first three minutes of the game one of our star backs was carried off +the field with a broken shoulder, while our captain was kicked in the +head and did not come out of his daze until about seven o'clock that +evening. He played throughout the game, however. Our secretary was off +the field with a knee cap out of place for more than half the game. A +game of Rugby, by the way, consists of two 45-minute halves, with a +three minute intermission. There are no substitutes, and if a man is +injured, his team plays one man short. We beat Cambridge that year with +thirteen men the greater part of the game, twelve for some time against +their full team of fifteen. Their only try (touchdown in plain American) +was scored when we had twelve men on the field. We were champions of +England that year, and did not lose a match through the fall season, +though we tied one game with the great Harlequins Club of London, whom +we afterward beat in the return game. Of the fine fellows who made up +that great Oxford team, six are dead, five of them 'somewhere in +France.'" + +Carl Flanders was a big factor in the Yale rush line. Foster Sanford +considers him one of the greatest offensive centers that ever played. He +was six feet three and one-fourth inches tall and weighed 202 pounds. + +In 1906 Flanders coached the Indian team at Carlisle. Let us see some of +the interesting things that characterize the Indian players, through +Flanders' experience. + +The nicknames with which the Indians labelled each other were mostly +those of animals or a weapon of defense. Mount Pleasant and Libby always +called each other Knife. Bill Gardner was crowned Chicken Legs, Charles, +one of the halfbacks, and a regular little tiger, was called Bird Legs. +Other names fastened to the different players were Whale Bone, Shoe +String, Tommyhawk and Wolf. + +The Indians always played cleanly as long as their opponents played that +way. Dillon, an old Sioux Indian, and one of the fastest guards I ever +saw, was a good example of this. If anybody started rough play, Dillon +would say: + +"Stop that, boys!" and the chap who was guilty always stopped. But if +an opponent continually played dirty football, Dillon would say grimly: +"I'll get you!" On the next play or two, you'd never know how, the rough +player would be taken out. Dillon had "got" his man. + +"Wallace Denny and Bemus Pierce got up a code of signals, using an +Indian word which designated a single play. Among the Indian words which +designated these signals were Water-bucket, Watehnee, Coocoohee. I never +could find out what it all meant, and following the Indian team by this +code of signals was a task which was too much for me." + +Bill Horr, renowned in Colgate and Syracuse, writes: "Colgate University +and Colgate Academy are under the same administration, and the football +teams were practicing when I entered school. I went out for the team and +after the second practice I was put into the scrimmage. I was greatly +impressed with the game and continued for the afternoon practice, and +played at tackle in the first game of the season. In four years of +winning football I became acquainted with such wonderful athletes as +Riley Castleman and Walter Runge of the Colgate Varsity team. + +"In the fall of 1905 I entered Syracuse University and played right +tackle on the varsity team for four years and was captain of the +victorious 1908 team. In the four years I never missed a scrimmage or a +game. + +"I think that one of the hardest games I ever played in was the game +against Princeton in 1908, when they had such stars as Siegling, +MacFadyen, Eddie Dillon and Tibbott. The game ended in a scoreless tie +with the ball see-sawing back and forth on the 40-yard line. I had been +accustomed to carry the ball, and had been successful in executing a +forward pass of fifty-five yards in the Yale game the week before, +placing the ball on the 1-yard line, only to lose it on a fumble. + +"I had the reputation of being a good-natured player, and indirectly +heard it rumored many times by coaches and football players that they +would like to see me fighting mad on the football field. The few +Syracuse rooters who journeyed to Easton the day we played Lafayette had +that opportunity. Dowd was the captain of the Lafayette team. Next to me +was Barry, a first-class football player, who stripped in the +neighborhood of 200 pounds. Just before the beginning of the second half +I was in a crouching position ready to start, when some one dealt me a +stinging blow on the ear. I was dazed for the time being. I turned to +Barry and asked him who did it. He pointed to Dowd. From that instant I +was determined to seek revenge. I was ignorant of the true culprit until +about a year afterward, when Anderson, who played center, and was a good +friend of mine, told me about it. It seemed that just before we went on +the field for the second half Buck O'Neil, who was coaching the Syracuse +team, told Barry to hit me and make me mad." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +COLLEGE TRADITIONS AND SPIRIT + + +College life in America is rich in traditions. Customs are handed down +class by class and year by year until finally they acquire the force of +law. Each college and university has a community life and a character of +its own. + +The spirit of each institution abides within its walls. It cannot be +invaded by an outsider, or ever completely understood by one who has not +grown up in it. The atmosphere of a college community is conservative. +It is the outcome of generations of student custom and thought, which +have resolved themselves into distinct grooves. + +It requires a thorough understanding of the customs of college men, +their antics and pranks, to appreciate the fact that the performers are +simply boys, carrying on the traditions of those gone before. +Gray-haired graduates who know by experience what is embodied in college +spirit, join feelingly in the old customs of their college days, and in +observing the new customs which have grown out of the old. + +These traditional customs, some of them humorous, and others deeply +moving in their sentiment, are among the first things that impress the +freshman. He does not comprehend the meaning of them at once, nor does +he realize that they are the product of generations of students, but he +soon learns that there is something more powerful in college life than +the brick and mortar of beautiful buildings, or high passing marks in +the classroom. When he comes to know the value and the underlying spirit +of the traditions of his college, he treasures them among the enduring +memories of his life. + +The business man who never enjoyed the advantage of going to college, is +puzzled as he witnesses the demonstration of undergraduate life, and he +fails to catch the meaning; he does not understand; it has played no +part in his own experience; college customs seem absurd to him, and he +fails to appreciate that in these traditions our American college spirit +finds expression. + +As an outsider views the result of a football victory, he sees perhaps +only the bitter look of defeat on the losers' faces, and is at a loss to +understand the loyal spirit of thousands of graduates and undergraduates +who stand and cheer their team after defeat. Such a sight, undoubtedly, +impresses him; but he turns his attention to the triumphant march of the +victorious sympathizers around the field and watches the winners being +borne aloft by hero worshipers; while hats by the thousands are being +tossed over the cross bar of the goal post that carried the winning +play. + +The snake dance of thousands of exulting students enlivens the +scene--the spirit of glorious victory breaks loose. + +After the Harvard victory in 1908, in the midst of the excitement, a +Harvard graduate got up from his seat, climbed over the fence, put his +derby hat and bull-dog pipe on the grass, walked solemnly out a few +paces, turned two complete handsprings, walked back, put on his hat, +picked up his pipe, climbed solemnly over the fence again and took his +place in the crowd. He was very businesslike about it and didn't say a +word. He had to get it out of his system--that was all. Nobody laughed +at him. + +One sees gray-haired men stand and cheer, sing and enthuse over their +Alma Mater's team. For the moment the rest of the world is forgotten. +Tears come with defeat to those on the grandstand, as well as to the +players, and likewise happy smiles and joyous greetings come when +victory crowns the day. + +In the midst of a crisis in the game, men and women, old and young, +break over the bounds of conventionality, get acquainted with their seat +mates and share the general excitement. The thrill of victory possesses +them and the old grads embrace each other after a winning touchdown. + +There may be certain streets in a college town upon which a freshman is +never seen. It may be that a freshman has to wear a certain kind of cap; +his trousers must not be rolled up at the bottom. And if you should see +a freshman standing on a balcony at night, singing some foolish song, +with a crowd of sophomores standing below, you smile as you realize that +you are witnessing the performance of some college custom. + +And if you see a young man dressed in an absurd fantastic costume, going +about the streets of a city, or a quiet college town, it may mean an +initiation into a certain society or club, and you will note that he +does his part with a quiet, earnest look upon his face, realizing that +he is carrying on a tradition which has endured for years. + +You hear the seniors singing on the campus, while the whole college +listens. It is their hour. At games you see the cheer leaders take their +places in front of the grandstand, and as they bend and double +themselves into all sorts of shapes, they bring out the cheers which go +to make college spirit strong. + +If you were at Yale, on what is known as "Tap Day," you would view in +wonderment the solemnity and seriousness of the occasion. An election to +a senior society is Yale's highest honor. As you sit on the old Yale +fence you realize what it means to Yale men. In the secret life of the +campus men yearn most for this honor and the traditional gathering of +seniors under the oak tree for receiving elections is a college custom +that has all the binding force of a most rigid law. + + +ALUMNI PARADES + +Then come the alumni parades at Commencement. The old timers head the +procession; those who came first, are first in line, and so on down to +the youngest and most recent graduate. + +There are many interesting things in the parade, which bring out +specific class peculiarities. In one college you may see gray-haired men +walking behind an immense Sacred Bird, as it is called. This Bird--the +creation of an ingenious mind--is the size of an ostrich and has all the +semblance of life, with many lifelike tricks and habits. + +Men dress in all sorts of costumes. This is a day in which each class +has some peculiar part, and all are united in the one big thought that +it is a cherished college custom. + +You may see some man with the letter of his college on his sweater, +another may have his class numerals, another may wear a gold football. +These are not ordinary things to be purchased at sporting goods stores; +they are a reward of merit. The college custom has made it so, and if in +some college town the traditions of the university are such that a man, +as he passes the Ma Newell gateway at Cambridge raises his hat in honor +of this great Harvard hero, it is a tradition backed up by a wonderful +spirit of love towards one who has gone. And then on Commencement Day +when the seniors plant their class ivy--that is a token to remain behind +them and flourish long after they are out in the wide, wide world. + +College tradition makes it possible for a poor boy to get an education. +The poor fellow may wait on the table, where sit many rich men's sons, +but they may be all chums with him; they are on the same footing; the +campus of one is the campus of the other, and all you can say is "It is +just the way of things--just the way it must be." More power to the man +who works his way through college. + +It may be, as fellow college man, you are now recalling some custom that +is carried out on a college street, in a dormitory, in a fraternity +house, perhaps, or a club; perhaps in some boarding house, where you had +your first introduction to a college custom; maybe in the cheapest +rooming house in town you got your first impression of a bold, bad +sophomore. You probably could have given him a good trouncing had he +been alone, and yet you were prepared to take smilingly the hazing +imposed upon you. + +Maybe some of you fondly recall a cannon stuck in the ground behind a +historical building where once George Washington had his headquarters. +Around about this traditional monument cluster rich memories as you +review the many college ceremonies enacted there. + +Some of you, owing allegiance to a New England Alma Mater, may recall +with smiles and perhaps mischievous satisfaction, the chequered career +of the sculptured Sabrina in her various appearances and disappearances +since the day, now long gone by, when in pedestaled repose she graced +the college flower gardens. The Sabrina tradition is one of the golden +legacies of Amherst life. + +In the formation of college spirit and traditions I am not unmindful of +the tremendous moulding power of the college president or the popular +college professors. This is strikingly illustrated in the expression of +an old college man, who said in this connection: + +"I don't remember a thing Professor ---- said, but I remember him." + +When the graduate of a college has sons of his own, he realizes more +fully than at any other time the great influence of personality upon +youth. He understands better the problems that are faced by boys, and +the great task and responsibility of the faculty. + +I know that there are many football men who at different times in their +career have not always praised the work of the college professors, but +now that the games are over they probably look back affectionately to +the men who made them toe the mark, and by such earnestness helped them +through their college career. + +It is undoubtedly true that the head masters and teachers in our +preparatory schools and colleges generally appreciate the importance of +developing the whole man, mental, moral and physical. + + +SCHOOLMASTER AND BOY + +Indeed it is a wonderful privilege to work shoulder to shoulder with the +boys in our preparatory schools as well as in our colleges. At a recent +dinner I heard Doctor S. J. McPherson, of the Lawrenceville School, +place before an alumni gathering a sentiment, which I believe is the +sentiment of every worthy schoolmaster in our land. + +"Schoolmasters have attractive work and they can find no end of fun in +it. I admit that in a boarding school they should be willing to spend +themselves, eight days in the week and twenty-five hours a day. But no +man goes far that keeps watching the clock. There may be good reasons +for long vacations, but I regard the summer vacation as usually a bore +for at least half the length of it. + +"To be worth his salt, a schoolmaster must, of course, have +scholarship--the more the better. But that alone will never make him a +quickening teacher. He must be 'apt to teach,' and must lose himself in +his task if he is to transfuse his blood into the veins of boys. Above +all, he must be a real man and not a manikin, and he must enjoy his +boys--love them, without being quite conscious of the love, or at least +without harping on it. + +"The ideal schoolmaster needs five special and spiritual senses: common +sense, the sense of justice, the sense of honor, the sense of youth and +the sense of humor. These five gifts are very useful in every worthy +occupation. + +"Gentlemen, none of us schoolmasters has reached the ideal; however, we +reach after it. Nevertheless, we neither need, nor desire your pity. We +do not feel unimportant. Personally, I would not exchange jobs with the +richest or greatest among you. I like my own job. It really looks to me, +bigger and finer. I should rather have the right mold and put the right +stamp on a wholesome boy than to do any other thing. It counts more for +the world and is more nearly immortal. It is worth any man's life." + +Another factor in the formation and development of college traditions +and college spirit is the influence of the men who shape the athletic +policy. + +When one of the graduates returns to direct the athletic affairs of his +Alma Mater, or those of another college he naturally becomes a potent +influence in the life of the students. Great is his opportunity for +character making. The men all look up to him and the spirit of hero +worship is present everywhere. Such athletic directors are chosen +largely because of their success on the athletic field. And when one can +combine athletic directorship with scholastic knowledge, the combination +is doubly effective. + +By association they know the real spirit and patriotic sentiment of the +college men. They appreciate the fact that success in athletics, like +success in life, depends not merely upon training the head, but upon +training the will. Huxley said that: + +"The true object of all education, was to develop ability to do the +thing that ought to be done when it ought to be done, whether one felt +like doing it or not." + +Prompt obedience to rules and regulations develop character and the +athletic director becomes, therefore, one of the most important of +college instructors. A boy may be a welcher in his classroom work, but +when he gets out on the athletic field and meets the eye of a man who is +bound to get the most out of every player for the sake of his own +reputation, as well as the reputation of the school or college, that boy +finds himself in a new school. It is the school of discipline that +resembles more nearly than anything else the competitive struggle in the +business life of the outside world that he is soon to enter. + +Another exceedingly valuable trait that athletic life develops in a +student is the spirit of honorable victory. The player is taught to win, +to be sure, but he is also taught that victory must never overshadow +honor. + + Who misses or who wins the prize, + Go lose, or conquer, as you can + But if you fail, or if you rise, + Be each, Pray God, a gentleman. + +This tradition and atmosphere cannot be retained in institutions merely +by the efforts of the students. The co-operation of the alumni is +necessary. On this account it is unfortunate that the point of view of +too many college men regarding their Alma Mater is limited to the years +of their own school and college days. + +Our universities especially are beginning to learn that this has been a +great mistake and that the continued interest and loyalty of the alumni +are absolutely essential to insure progress and maintain the high +standard of an institution. There is, in other words, a real sense in +which the college belongs to the alumni. The faculty is engaged for a +specific purpose and their great work is made much more profitable by +the hearty co-operation of the old and young graduates who keep in close +touch with the happenings and the spirit of their different alma maters. + +One of the best assets in any seat of learning is the constructive +criticism of the alumni. Broad minded faculties invite intelligent +criticism from the graduate body, and they usually get it. + +But after all, the real power of enthusiasm behind college traditions +abides in the student body itself. How is this college patriotism +aroused? What are its manifestations? What is it that awakens the desire +for victory with honor, which is the real background of the great +football demonstration that tens of thousands of Americans witness each +year? + +As I think back in this connection upon my own college experiences, the +athletic mass meeting stands out in my memory and records the moment +when all that was best and strongest in my fighting spirit and manhood +came out to meet the demand of the athletic leaders. It was at that time +that the thrill and power of college spirit took mighty possession of +me. It might have been the inspiring words of an old college leader +addressing us, or perhaps it was the story of some incident that brought +out the deep significance of the coming game. Indeed I have often +thought that the spirit of loyalty and sacrifice aroused in the breast +of the young man in a college mass meeting springs from the same noble +source as the highest patriotism. + + +MASS MEETING ENTHUSIASM + +How well do I recall the mass meeting held by the undergraduates in +Alexander Hall Thursday night before the Yale game in 1898! The team and +substitutes sat in the front row of seats. There was singing and +cheering that aroused every man in the room to the highest pitch of +enthusiasm. All eyes were focused on the cheer leader as he rehearsed +the cheers and songs for the game, and as the speakers entered behind +him on the platform, they received a royal welcome. There was Johnny +Poe, Alex Moffat, some of the professors, including Jack Hibben, since +president of Princeton, in addition to the coaches. + +I can almost hear again their words, as they addressed the gathering. + +"Fellows, we are here to-night to get ready to defeat Yale on Saturday. +You men all know how hard the coaches have worked this year to get the +team ready for the last big game. Captain Hillebrand and his men know +that the college is with the team to a man. We are not here to-night to +make college spirit, but we are here to demonstrate it. + +"Those of you who saw last year's team go down to defeat at New Haven, +realize that the Princeton team this year has got to square that defeat. +Garry Cochran and the other men who graduated are not here to play. The +burden rests on the shoulders of the men in front of me, this year's +team, and we know what they're going to do. + +"It is going to take the hardest kind of work to beat Yale on our own +grounds. We must play them off their feet the first five minutes. I +wonder if you men who are in Princeton to-day truly realize the great +tradition of this dear college. Thousands and thousands of young men +have walked across the same campus you travel. The Princeton of years +gone by, is your Princeton to-day, so let us ever hold a high regard for +those whose places we now occupy. + +"Already from far off points, Princeton men are starting back to see the +Yale game--back to their Alma Mater. They're coming back to see the old +rooms they used to live in, and it is up to us to make their visit a +memorable one. You can do that by beating Yale." + + +George K. Edwards + +Many of you men have perhaps heard of the great love for Princeton shown +in the story of the last days of Horse Edwards, Princeton '89. He will +never return to Princeton again. He used to live in East College, long +since torn down. Some years after he left college, he was told that he +had but a few short months to live. He decided to live them out at +Princeton. + +One Friday afternoon in the summer of 1897, Horse Edwards arrived in +Princeton from Colorado. He was very weak from his illness. He could +barely raise his hand to wave to the host of old friends who greeted him +as he drove from the station to East College, where his old room had +been arranged as in his college days for his return. + +There he was visited by many friends of the old days, who had come back +for Commencement. Old memories were revived. That night he attended his +club dinner, and the following day was wheeled out to the field to see +the baseball game, Princeton beat Yale 16 to 8, and his cup of happiness +was overflowing. On the following Monday Horse Edwards died. He told his +close friends that as long as he had to go, he was happy that he had +been granted his last wish--to die there at Princeton. And his memory is +a treasured college tradition. + + +Job E. Hedges + +Among the men who are always welcome at Princeton mass meetings and +dinners, is Job E. Hedges. I remember what he said at a mass meeting at +Princeton in 1896. He was then secretary to Mayor Strong, in New York, +in which city the game with Yale took place that year. + +The scene was in the old gymnasium. Every inch of space was occupied. On +the front seats sat the team and substitutes. Around them and in the +small gallery were the students in mass. Before the team were prominent +alumni, trustees and some members of the faculty. Earnest appeal had +been made by the various speakers tending to arouse the team to a high +point of enthusiasm and courage, and the interest of their alma mater +and of the alumni had been earnestly pictured. Mr. Hedges was called on +as he frequently is at Princeton gatherings and as the usual field had +been fairly covered, his opportunities were limited, without repetition +of what had been said. He addressed the team and substitutes in typical +Princeton fashion and concluded, so far as a record is made of it, +somewhat as follows: + +"There is a feeling in the public mind that football games breed +dissipation and are naturally followed by unseemly conduct. We all know +that much of the excitement following football games in New York is due +largely not to college men but others, who take the game as an excuse +and the time as an opportunity to indulge in more or less boisterous +conduct, with freedom from interference usually accorded at that time. I +wish it thoroughly understood that in no way as a Princeton man do I +countenance dissipation, intemperance, boisterous or unseemly conduct. +It may be a comfort for you men to know, however, that I am personally +acquainted with every police magistrate in the City of New York. While I +do not claim to have any influence with them, nor would I try to +exercise it improperly, nevertheless if the team wins and any man should +unintentionally and weakly yield to the strain consequent upon such a +victory, I can be found that night at my residence. Any delinquent will +have my sympathetic and best efforts in his behalf. If, however, the +team loses, and any one goes over the line of propriety, he will have +from me neither sympathy nor assistance and I shall be absent from the +city." + +It is related that on the night following the victory, several daring +spirits decorated themselves with cards hung from their necks bearing +this legend, "Don't arrest me, I am a friend of Job Hedges." With these +they marched up and down Broadway and, though laboring under somewhat +strange conditions, were not molested. A full account of this +expeditionary force appeared in the daily papers the next morning and it +is related that there was a brisk conversation between Mr. Hedges and +the mayor, when the former arrived at the City Hall, which took on, not +an orange and black hue, but rather a lurid flame, of which Mayor Strong +was supposed to be but was not the victim. + +The net result of the scene, however, was that the team won, there was a +moderate celebration and no Princeton man was arrested. + +[Illustration: JOHNNY POE, FOOTBALL PLAYER AND SOLDIER] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +JOHNNY POE'S OWN STORY + + +Johnny Poe was a member of the Black Watch, that famous Scotch Regiment +whose battles had followed the English flag. On the graves of the Black +Watch heroes the sun never sets. Johnny Poe's death came on September +25th, 1915, in the Battle of Loos. Nelson Poe has given me the following +information regarding Johnny's death. It comes direct from Private W. +Faulkner, a comrade who was in the charge when Johnny fell. + +In the morning during the attack we went out on a party carrying bombs. +Poe and myself were in this party. We had gone about half way across an +open field when Poe was hit in the stomach. He was then five yards in +front of me and I saw him fall. As he fell he said, 'Never mind me. Go +ahead with our boxes.' On our return for more bombs we found him lying +dead. Shortly after he was buried at a place between the British and +German lines. I have seen his grave which is about a hundred yards to +the left of 'Lone Tree' on the left of Loos. 'Lone Tree' is the only +landmark near. The grave is marked with his name and regiment. + +Just what Johnny Poe's heroic finish on the battle field meant to us +here at home is the common knowledge of all football men and indeed of +all sportsmen. There is ample evidence, moreover, that it attracted the +attention of the four corners of the earth. Life in London or Paris was +not all roses to the Americans compelled to remain there at the height +of the war. + +Paul Mac Whelan, a Yale man and football writer, had occasion to be in +London shortly after the news of Poe's death in battle was received +there. Talking with Whelan after his return he impressed upon me the +place that Poe had made for himself in the hearts of at least one of the +fighting countries. + +"You know," said he, "that at about that time Americans were not very +popular. There seemed to be a feeling everywhere that we should have +been on the firing line. This feeling developed the fashion of polite +jeering to a point that made life abroad uncomfortable until Johnny Poe +fell fighting in the ranks of the Black Watch on the plains of Flanders. +In the dull monotony of the casualty list his name at first slipped by +with scant mention. It was the publication in the United States of the +story of his fighting career which stimulated newspaper interest not +merely in England, but throughout the British Empire. To Australia, +Canada, New Zealand and South Africa--into the farthest corners of the +earth--went the tale of the death of a great American fighter. + +"I met one man, a lawyer, on his way to do some peace work, and he told +me that he thought Poe had no right to be in the ranks of a foreign +army. Probably most of the pacifists would have returned the same +verdict regardless of Poe's love for the cause of the Allies. Yet among +the thousands of Americans in Europe in the month following Poe's death, +there was complete unity of opinion that the old Princeton football star +had done more for his country than all the pacifists put together. + +"'A toast to the memory of Poe,' said one of the group of Americans in +the Savoy, that famous gathering place of Yankees in London. 'His death +has made living a lot easier for his countrymen who have to be in France +and England during the war.'" + +"There is not an army on the continent in which Americans have not died, +but no death in action, not even that of Victor Chapman the famous +American aviator in France, gave such timely proof of American valor as +that of Poe. In London for a month after his death there was talk among +Americans and in the university clubs about raising funds for some +permanent memorial in London to Poe. There are many memorials to +Englishmen in America and it would seem that there is a place and a real +reason for erecting a memorial in London to a fighting American who gave +his life for a cause to England." + +I have always treasured, in my football collection, some anecdotes +which Johnny Poe wrote several years ago while in Nevada. In fact, from +reading his stories, after his death, I got the inspiration that +prompted me to write this book. + +"The following stories were picked up by me," says Johnny, "through the +course of college years, and after. Some of the incidents I have +actually witnessed, of others my brothers have told me, when we talked +over Princeton victories and defeats with the reasons for both, and +still others I have heard from the lips of Princeton men as they grew +reminiscent sitting around the cozy fireplace in the Trophy room at the +Varsity Club House, with the old footballs, the scores of many a hard +fought Princeton victory emblazoned upon them, and the banners with the +names of the members of the winning teams thereon inscribed looking down +from their places on the walls and ceilings." + +How the undergraduates long to have their names enrolled on the +victorious banner, knowing that they will be looked up to by future +college generations of the sons of Old Nassau! + +These old banners have much the same effect upon Princeton teams as did +the name of Horatius upon the young Romans'! + + And still his name sounds strong unto the men of Rome, + As a trumpet blast which calls to them to charge the Volsian home; + And wives still pray to Juno for boys with hearts as bold + As his who kept the bridge so well + In the brave days of old. + +Well do they know that Mother Princeton is not chary of her praise, when +she knows that they have planted her banner on the loftiest tower of her +enemies' stronghold. + +The evenings spent in the Trophy room, the Grill Room of the Princeton +Inn and in the hallways around a cheerful fire of the numerous Princeton +clubs make me think of nights in the Mess room of crack British +regiments, so graphically described by Kipling. + +The general public cannot understand the seriousness with which college +athletes take the loss of an important game. There is a Princeton +football Captain who was so broken up over a defeat by Yale that, months +after on the cattle range of New Mexico, as he lay out at night on his +cow-boy bed and thought himself unobserved, he fell to sobbing as if his +heart would break. + +A football victory to many men is as dearly longed for as any goal of +ambition in life. How else would they strive so fiercely, one side to +take the ball over, the other to prevent them doing so! + +Very few of the public hear the exhortation and cursing as the ball +slowly but irresistibly is rushed to the goal of the opponent. + +"Billy, if you do that again I'll cut your heart out!" + +"Yale, if you ever held, hold now!" + +How the calls to victory come back! + +As Hughes says in Tom Brown's School Days, a scrimmage in front of the +goal posts, or the Consulship of Plancus, is no child's play. + +My earliest Princeton football hero was Alex Moffat '84. My brother +Johnson was in his class and played on the same team, and would often +talk of him to my brothers and to me. He used to give us a sort of + + "Listen my children and you shall hear + Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, etc." + +Though my brother is a small man, I thought all other Princeton players +must be 9 cubits and a half, or as a reporter once said of Symmes '92, +center rush in Princeton team of '90 and '91, "An animated whale, broad +as the moral law and heavy as the hand of fate." I consider Alex Moffat +the greatest goal kicker college football has produced. One football in +the Princeton Trophy room has on it, "Princeton 26, Harvard 7." In that +game Moffat kicked five goals from the field, three with his right and +two with his left foot, besides the goals from the touchdowns. + +A Harvard guard made the remark after the third goal, "We came here to +play football, not to play against phenomenal kicking." + +Princeton men cannot help feeling that Moffat should have been allowed a +goal against Yale in his Post-graduate year of '84, which was called +before the full halves had been played and decided a draw, Yale being +ahead, 6 to 4. Princeton claimed it but the Referee said he didn't see +it, which caused Moffat to exclaim--something. + +An amusing story is told in connection with this decision. Quite a +number of years after Jim Robinson who was trainer of the Princeton team +in '84, went down to the dock to see his brother off for Europe. Looking +up he beheld on the deck above, the man who had refereed the '84 game, +and whom he had not seen since, "Smith," he said, "I have a brother on +this boat, but I hope she sinks." + +Tilly Lamar's name is highly honored at Princeton, not only because he +won the '85 game against Yale by a run of about 90 yards, but because he +died trying to save a girl from drowning. Only a few months later, in +the summer of '91, Fred Brokaw '92, was drowned at Elberon while trying +to save two girls from the ocean. Both Lamar and Brokaw's pictures adorn +the walls of the Varsity Club House. + +The first game I ever saw the Princeton Team play was with Harvard in +'88, which the former won 18 to 6. I was in my brother's ('91) room +about three hours and a half before the game, and Jere Black and +Channing, the halfbacks, were there. As Channing left he remarked, +"Something will have happened before I get back to this room again," +referring to the game, which doubtless made him a bit nervous. + +I believe he was no more nervous ten years after, when in the Rough +Riders he waited for word to advance up that bullet swept hill before +Santiago. + +'81 was the year so many Divinity students played on the Varsity: Hector +Cowan the great tackle, Dick Hodge the strategist, Sam Hodge, Bob Speer, +and I think Irvine; men all, who as McCready Sykes said, "Feared God and +no one else." Hector Cowan is considered one of the best tackles that +ever wore the Orange and Black jersey. While rough, he was never a dirty +player. + +In a game with Wesleyan, his opponent cried out angrily, "Keep your +hands for pounding on your Bible, don't be sticking them in my face." +One day in a game against the Scrub, Cowan had passed everyone except +the fullback and was bearing down on him like a tornado, when within a +few feet of the fullback the latter jumped aside and said politely, +"Pass on, sir, pass on." Cowan played on two winning teams, '85 and '89. + +In '89 the eligibility rules at the college were not as strict as now, +so as Princeton needed a tackle, Walter Cash who had played on +Pennsylvania the year before, was sent for and came all the way from +Wyoming. He came so hurriedly that his wardrobe consisted of two +6-shooters and a monte deck of cards, on account of which he was dubbed +"Monte" Cash. Cash was not fond of attending lectures, and once the +faculty had him up before them and told him what a disgrace it would be +if he were dropped out of College. "It may be in the East, but we don't +think much of a little thing like that out West," was his reply. Cash +was in the Rough Riders and was wounded at San Juan. + +Sport Donnelly was a great end that year. Heffelfinger the great Yale +guard who is probably the best that ever played, said of Donnelly, that +he was the only player he had ever seen who could slug and keep his eye +on the ball at the same time. The following story is often told of how +Donnelly got Rhodes of Yale ruled off in '89. Rhodes had hit Channing of +Princeton in the eye, so that Donnelly was laying for him, and when +Rhodes came through the line, Donnelly grabbed up two handsful of +mud--it was a very muddy field--and rubbed them in his face and +hollered, "Mr. Umpire," so that when Rhodes, in a burst of righteous +indignation, hit him, the Umpire saw it and promptly ruled Rhodes from +the field. + +Snake Ames and House Janeway played that year, and as the latter was +big--210 pounds stripped--and good natured, Ames thought that if he +could only get Janeway angry he would play even better than usual, so, +with Machiavellian craft, he said to him before the Harvard game, +"House, the man you are going to play against to-morrow insulted your +girl. I heard him do it, so you want to murder him." "All right," said +House, ominously, and as Princeton won, 41 to 15, Janeway must certainly +have helped a heap. + +George played center for Princeton four years, and for three years "Pa" +Corbin and George played against each other, and, as cow-boys would say, +"sure did chew each other's mane." I don't mean slugged. + +My brother Edgar '91 was a great admirer of George. In '88 Edgar was +playing in the scrub, and George broke through and was about to make a +tackle when the former knocked one of his arms down as it was +outstretched to catch it. George missed the tackle but said nothing. A +second time almost identically the same thing occurred. This time he +remarked grimly, "Good trick that, Poe." But when the same thing +happened a third time on the same afternoon, he exclaimed, "Poe, if you +weren't so small, I'd hit you." + +In '89 Thomas '90, substitute guard, was highly indignant at the way +some Boston newspaper described him. "The Princeton men were giants, one +in particular was picturesque in his grotesqueness. He was 6 feet 5 and, +when he ran, his arms and legs moved up and down like the piston rods of +an engine." + +In '90 Buck Irvine '88 brought an unknown team to Princeton, Franklin +and Marshall, which he coached, and they scored 16 points against the +Tigers. And though the latter won, 33 to 16, still that was the largest +score ever made against Princeton up to that time. They did it, too, by +rushing, which was all the more to their credit. + +Victor Harding, Harvard, and Yup Cook, Princeton '89, had played on +Andover and Exeter, respectively, and had trouble then, so four years +later when they met, one on Princeton and the other on Harvard, they had +more trouble. Both were ruled off for rough work. Cook picked Harding up +off the ground and slammed him down and then walked off the field. In a +few minutes Harding, after trying to trip Ames, also was ruled off. That +was the net result of the old Andover-Exeter feud. + +In '91 Princeton was playing Rutgers. Those were the days of the old "V" +trick in starting a game. When the Orange and Black guards and centers +tore up the Rutgers' V it was found that the Captain of the latter team +had broken his leg in the crush. He showed great nerve, for while +sitting on the ground waiting for a stretcher, he remarked in a +nonchalant way, "Give me a cigarette. I could die for Old Rutgers," his +tone being "Me first and then Nathan Hale." One version quite prevalent +around Princeton has it that a Tiger player rushed up and exclaimed, +"Die then." This is not true as I played in that game and know whereof I +speak. + +Fifteen years after that had happened, I met Phil Brett who had +captained the Rutgers Team that day, and he told me that his life had +been a burden to him at times, and like Job, he felt like cursing God +and dying, because often upon coming into a cafe or even a hotel +dining-room some half drunken acquaintance would yell out, "Hello, Phil, +old man, could you die for dear Old Rutgers?" + +Several years ago while in the Kentucky Militia in connection with one +of those feud cases, I was asked by a private if I were related to Edgar +Allan Poe, "De mug what used to write poetry," and when I replied, "Yes, +he was my grandmother's first cousin," he, evidently thinking I was too +boastful, remarked, "Well, man, you've got a swell chance." + +So, knowing that the football season is near I think I have a "swell +chance" to tell some of the old football stories handed down at +Princeton from college generation to generation. If I have hurt any old +Princeton players' feelings, I do humbly ask pardon and assure them that +it is unintentional; for as the Indians would put it, my heart is warm +toward them, and, when I die, place my hands upon my chest and put their +hands between my hands. + +With apologies to Kipling in his poem when he speaks of the parting of +the Colonial troops with the Regulars: + + "There isn't much we haven't shared + For to make the Elis run. + The same old hurts, the same old breaks, + The same old rain and sun. + The same old chance which knocked us out + Or winked and let us through. + The same old joy, the same old sorrow, + Good-bye, good luck to you." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ARMY AND NAVY + + When the Navy meets the Army, + When the friend becomes the foe, + When the sailor and the soldier + Seek each other to o'erthrow; + When old vet'rans, gray and grizzled, + Elbow, struggle, push, and shove, + That they may cheer on to vict'ry + Each the service of his love; + When the maiden, fair and dainty, + Lets her dignity depart, + And, all breathless, does her utmost + For the team that's next her heart; + When you see these strange things happen, + Then we pray you to recall + That the Army and Navy + Stand firm friends beneath it all. + + +There is a distinctive flavor about an Army-Navy football game which, +irrespective of the quality of the contending elevens and of their +relative standing among the high-class teams in any given season, rates +these contests annually as among the "big games" of the year. Tactically +and strategically football bears a close relation to war. That is a +vital reason why it should be studied and applied in our two government +schools. + +On the part of the public there is general appreciation of the spirit +which these two academies have brought into the great autumn sport, a +spirit which combines with football per se the color, the martial pomp, +the _elan_ of the military. The merger is a happy one, because football +in its essence is a stern, grim game, a game that calls for +self-sacrifice, for mental alertness and for endurance; all these are +elements, among others, which we commonly associate with the soldier's +calling. + +If West Point and Annapolis players are not young men, who, after +graduation, will go out into the world in various civil professions or +other pursuits relating to commerce and industry, they are men, on the +contrary, who are being trained to uphold the honor of our flag at home +or abroad, as fate may decree--fighting men whose lives are to be +devoted to the National weal. It would be strange, therefore, if games +in which those thus set apart participate, were not marked by a quality +peculiarly their own. To far-flung warships the scores are sent on the +wings of the wireless and there is elation or depression in many a +remote wardroom in accordance with the aspect of the news. In lonely +army posts wherever the flag flies word of the annual struggle is +flashed alike to colonel and the budding second lieutenant still with +down on lip, by them passed to the top sergeant and so on to the bottom +of the line. + +Every football player who has had the good fortune to visit West Point +or Annapolis, there to engage in a gridiron contest, has had an +experience that he will always cherish. Every team, as a rule, looks +forward to out of town trips, but when an eleven is to play the Army or +the Navy, not a little of the pleasure lies in anticipation. + +Mayhap the visitor even now is recalling the officer who met him at the +station, and his hospitable welcome; the thrill that resulted from a +tour, under such pleasant auspices, of the buildings and the natural +surroundings of the two great academies. There was the historic campus, +where so many great Army and Navy men spent their preparatory days. An +inspiration unique in the experience of the visitor was to be found in +the drill of the battalion as they marched past, led by the famous +academy bands. + +There arose in the heart of the stranger perhaps, the thought that he +was not giving to his country as much as these young men. Such is the +contagion of the spirit of the two institutions. There is always the +thrill of the military whether the cadets and midshipmen pass to the +urge of martial music in their purely military duties, or in equally +perfect order to the ordinary functions of life, such as the daily +meals, which in the colleges are so informal and in the mess hall are so +precise. Joining their orderly ranks in this big dining-room one comes +upon a scene never to be forgotten. + +In the process of developing college teams, an eleven gets a real test +at either of these academies; you get what you go after; they are out to +beat you; their spirit is an indomitable one; your cherished idea that +you cannot be beaten never occurs to them until the final whistle is +blown. Your men will realize after the game that a bruised leg or a lame +joint will recall hard tackling of a player like Mustin of the Navy, or +Arnold of West Point, souvenirs of the dash they put into their play. +Maybe there comes to your mind a recollection of the Navy's fast +offense; their snappy play; the military precision with which their work +is done. Possibly you dream of the wriggling open field running of Snake +Izard, or the bulwark defense of Nichols; or in your West Point +experiences you are reminded of the tussle you had in suppressing the +brilliant Kromer, that clever little quarterback and field general, or +the task of stopping the forging King, the Army's old captain and +fullback. + +Not less vivid are the memories of the spontaneous if measured cheering +behind these men--a whole-hearted support that was at once the +background and the incentive to their work. The "Siren Cheer" of the +Navy and the "Long Corps Yell" of the Army still ringing in the ears of +the college invader were proof of the drive behind the team. + +I have always counted it a privilege that I was invited to coach at +Annapolis through several football seasons. It was an unrivalled +opportunity to catch the spirit that permeates the atmosphere of this +great Service school and to realize how eagerly the progress of football +is watched by the heroes of the past who are serving wherever duty +calls. + +It was there that I met Superintendent Wainwright. His interest in +Annapolis football was keen. Another officer whose friendship I made at +the Academy was Commander Grant, who later was Rear Admiral, Commander +of the Submarine Flotilla. His spirit was truly remarkable. The way he +could talk to a team was an inspiration. + +It was during the intermission of a Navy-Carlisle game when the score +was 11 to 6 in Carlisle's favor, that this exponent of fighting spirit +came into the dressing-room and in a talk to the team spared nothing and +nobody. What he said about the White man not being able to defeat the +Indian was typical. As a result of this unique dressing-room scene when +he commanded the Navy to win out over the Indians, his charges came +through to victory by the score of 17-11. + +There is no one man at Annapolis who sticks closer to the ship and +around whom more football traditions have grown than Paul Dashiell, a +professor in the Academy. He bore for many years the burden of +responsibility of Annapolis football. His earnest desire has been to +see the Navy succeed. He has worked arduously, and whenever Navy men get +together they speak enthusiastically of the devotion of this former +Lehigh hero, official and rule maker. Players have come and gone; the +call in recent years has been elsewhere, but Paul Dashiell has remained, +and his interest in the game has been manifested by self-denial and hard +work. Defeat has come to him with great sadness, and there are many +games of which he still feels the sting; these come to him as nightmares +in his recollections of Annapolis football history. Great has been his +joy in the Navy's hour of victory. + +It was here at Annapolis that I learned something of the old Navy +football heroes. Most brilliant of all, perhaps, was Worth Bagley, a +marvelous punter and great fighter. He lost his life later in the war +with Spain, standing to his duty under open fire on the deck of the +_Winslow_ at Cardenas, with the utter fearlessness that was +characteristic of him. + +I heard of the deeds on the football field of Mike Johnson, Trench, +Pearson, McCormack, Cavanaugh, Reeves, McCauley, Craven, Kimball and +Bookwalter. I have played against the great Navy guard Halligan. I saw +developed the Navy players, Long, Chambers, Reed, Nichols and Chip +Smith, who later was in charge of the Navy athletics. He was one of the +best quarterbacks the Navy ever had. I saw Dug Howard grow up from +boyhood in Annapolis and develop into a Navy star; saw him later coach +their teams to victory; witnessed the great playing of Dougherty, +Piersol, Grady and Bill Carpenter, who is no longer on the Navy list. +All these players, together with Norton, Northcroft, Dague, Halsey, +Ingram, Douglas, Jerry Land, Babe Brown and Dalton stand out among those +who have given their best in Army and Navy games. + +Young Nichols, who was quarterback in 1912, was a most brilliant ground +gainer. He resigned from the Service early in 1913, receiving a +commission in the British Army. He was wounded, but later returned to +duty only to be killed shortly afterward. Another splendid man. + +In speaking of Navy football I cannot pass over the name of W. H. +Stayton, a man whose whole soul seemed to be permeated with Navy +atmosphere, and who is always to be depended upon in Navy matters. The +association that I formed later in life with McDonough Craven and other +loyal Navy football men gave me an opportunity to learn of Annapolis +football in their day. + +The list of men who have been invited to coach the Navy from year to +year is a long one. The ideal method of development of an undergraduate +team is by a system of coaching conducted by graduates of that +institution. Such alumni can best preserve the traditions, correct +blunders of other years, and carry through a continuous policy along +lines most acceptable. Graduate coaching exclusively is nearly +impossible for Navy teams, for the graduates, as officers, are stationed +at far distant points, mostly on board ship. Their duties do not permit +of interruption for two months. They cannot be spared from turret and +bridge; from the team work so highly developed at present on shipboard. +Furthermore, their absence from our country sometimes for years, keeps +them out of touch with football generally, and it is impossible for them +to keep up to date--hence the coaching from other institutions. + +[Illustration: NORTHCROFT KICKING THE FIELD GOAL ANTICIPATED BY THE NAVY +AND FEARED BY THE ARMY] + +Lieutenant Frank B. Berrien was one of the early coaches and an able +one. Immediately afterward Dug Howard for three years coached the team +to victory. The Navy's football future was then turned over to Jonas +Ingram, with the idea of working out a purely graduate system, in the +face of such serious obstacles as have already been pointed out. + +One of the nightmares of my coaching experiences was the day that the +Army beat the Navy through the combined effort of the whole Army team +plus the individual running of Charlie Daly. This run occurred at the +very start of the second half. Doc Hillebrand and I were talking on the +side lines to Evarts Wrenn, the Umpire. None of us heard the whistle +blow for the starting of the second half. Before we knew it the Army +sympathizers were on their feet cheering and we saw Daly hitting it up +the field, weaving through the Navy defense. + +Harmon Graves, who was coaching West Point that year, has since told me +that the Army coaches had drilled the team carefully in receiving the +ball on a kick-off--with Daly clear back under the goal posts. On the +kick-off, the Navy did just what West Point had been trained to expect. +Belknap kicked a long high one direct to Daly, and then and there began +the carefully prepared advance of the Army team. Mowing down the +oncoming Navy players, the West Point forwards made it possible for +clever Daly to get loose and score a touchdown after a run of nearly the +entire length of the field. + +This game stands out in my recollection as one of the most sensational +on record. The Navy, like West Point, had had many victories, but the +purpose of this book is not to record year by year the achievements of +these two institutions, but rather catch their spirit, as one from +without looks in upon a small portion of the busy life that is typical +of these Service schools. + +Scattered over the seven seas are those who heard the reveille of +football at Annapolis. From a few old-timers let us garner their +experiences and the effects of football in the Service. + +C. L. Poor, one of the veterans of the Annapolis squad, Varsity and +Hustlers, has something to say concerning the effect of football upon +the relationship between officers and men. + +"Generally speaking," he says, "it is considered that the relationship +is beneficial. The young officer assumes qualities of leadership and +shows himself in a favorable light to the men, who appreciate his +ability to show them something and do it well. The average young +American, whether himself athletic or not, is a bit of a hero worshipper +towards a prominent athlete, and so the young officer who has good +football ability gets the respect and appreciation of the crew to start +with." + +J. B. Patton, who played three years at Annapolis, says of the early +days: + +"I entered the Academy in 1895. In those days athletics were not +encouraged. The average number of cadets was less than 200, and the +entrance age was from 14 to 18--really a boys' school. So when an +occasional college team appeared, they looked like old men to us. + +"Match games were usually on Saturday afternoon, and all the cadets +spent the forenoon at sail drill on board the _Wyoming_ in Chesapeake +Bay. I can remember spending four hours racing up and down the top +gallant yard with Stone and Hayward, loosing and furling sail, and then +returning to a roast beef dinner, followed by two 45-minute halves of +football. + +"One of our best games, as a rule, was with Johns Hopkins University. +Paul Dashiell, then a Hopkins man, usually managed to smuggle one or +more Poes to Annapolis with his team. We knew it, but at that time we +did not object because we usually beat the Hopkins team. + +"Another interesting match was with the Deaf Mutes from Kendall College. +It was a standing joke with us that they too frequently smuggled good +football players who were not mutes. These kept silent during the game +and talked with their hands, but frequently when I tackled one hard and +fell on him, I could hear him cuss under his breath." + +M. M. Taylor brings us down to Navy football of the early nineties. + +"In my day the principal quality sought was beef. Being embryo sailors +we had to have nautical terms for our signals, and they made our +opponents sit up and take notice. When I played halfback I remember my +signals were my order relating to the foremast. For instance, +'Fore-top-gallant clew lines and hands-by-the-halyards' meant that I was +the victim. On the conclusion of the order, if the captain could not +launch a play made at once, he had to lengthen his signal, and sometimes +there would be a string of jargon, intelligible only to a sailor, which +would take the light yard men aloft, furl the sail, and probably cast +reflections on the stowage of the bunt. Anything connected with the +anchor was a kick. The mainmast was consecrated to the left half, and +the mizzen to the fullback. + +"In one game our lack of proper uniform worked to our advantage. I was +on the sick list and had turned my suit over to a substitute. I braved +the doctor's disapproval and went into the game in a pair of long +working trousers and a blue flannel shirt. The opposing team, +Pennsylvania, hailed me as 'Little Boy Blue,' and paid no further +attention to me, so that by good fortune I made a couple of scores. Then +they fell upon me, and at the close all I had left was the pants." + +J. W. Powell, captain of the '97 team, tells of the interim between +Army-Navy games. + +"Our head coach was Johnny Poe," he says, "and he and Paul Dashiell took +charge of the squad. Some of our good men were Rus White, Bill Tardy, +Halligan and Fisher, holding over from the year before. A. T. Graham and +Jerry Landis in the line. A wild Irishman in the plebe class, Paddy +Shea, earned one end position in short order, while A. H. McCarthy went +in at the other wing. Jack Asserson, Bobby Henderson, Louis Richardson +and I made up the backfield. In '95, Princeton had developed their +famous ends back system which was adopted by Johnny Poe and the game we +played that year was built around this system. Johnny was a deadly +tackler and nearly killed half the team with his system of live tackling +practice. This was one of the years in which there was no Army and Navy +game and our big game was the Thanksgiving Day contest with Lafayette. +Barclay, Bray and Rinehart made Lafayette's name a terror in the +football world. The game resulted in an 18 to 6 victory for Lafayette. + +"My most vivid recollections of that game are McCarthy's plucky playing +with his hand in a plaster cast, due to a broken bone, stopping Barclay +and Bray repeatedly in spite of this handicap, and my own touchdown, +after a twelve yard run, with Rinehart's 250 pounds hanging to me most +of the way." + +I recall a trip that the Princeton team of 1898 made to West Point. It +was truly an attack upon the historical old school in a fashion de luxe. + +Alex Van Rensselaer, an old Princeton football captain, invited Doc +Hillebrand to have the Tiger eleven meet him that Saturday morning at +the Pennsylvania Ferry slip in Jersey City. En route to West Point that +morning this old Princeton leader met us with his steam yacht, _The +May_. Boyhood enthusiasm ran high as we jumped aboard. Good fellowship +prevailed. We lunched on board, dressed on board. Upon our arrival at +West Point we were met by the Academy representative and were driven to +the football field. + +The snappy work of the Princeton team that day brought victory, and we +attributed our success to the Van Rensselaer transport. Returning that +night on the boat, Doc Hillebrand and Arthur Poe bribed the captain of +_The May_ to just miss connecting with the last train to Princeton, and +as a worried manager sat alongside of Van Rensselaer wondering whether +it were not possible to hurry the boat along a little faster, Van +Rensselaer himself knew what was in Doc's mind and so helped make it +possible for us to rest at the Murray Hill Hotel over night, and not +allow a railroad trip to Princeton mar the luxury of the day. + +I have a lot of respect for the football brains of West Point. My lot +has been very happily cast with the Navy. I have generally been on the +opposite side of the field. I knew the strength of their team. I have +learned much of the spirit of the academy from their cheering at Army +and Navy games. Playing against West Point our Princeton teams have +always realized the hard, difficult task which confronted them, and +victory was not always the reward. + +Football plays a valued part in the athletic life of West Point. From +the very first game between the Army and the Navy on the plains when the +Middies were victorious, West Point set out in a thoroughly businesslike +way to see that the Navy did not get the lion's share of victories. + +If one studies the businesslike methods of the Army Athletic Association +and reads carefully the bulletins which are printed after each game, one +is impressed by the attention given to details. + +I have always appreciated what King, '96, meant to West Point football. +Let me quote from the publication of the _Howitzer_, in 1896, the +estimated value of this player at that time: + +"King, of course, stands first. Captain for two years he brought West +Point from second class directly into first. As fullback he outplayed +every fullback opposed to him and stands in the judgment of all +observers second only to Brooke of Pennsylvania. Let us read what King +has to say of a period of West Point football not widely known. + +"I first played on the '92 team," he says. "We had two Navy games before +this, but they were not much as I look back upon them. At this time we +had for practice that period of Saturday afternoon after inspection. +That gave us from about 3 P. M. on. We also had about fifteen +minutes between dinner and the afternoon recitations, and such days as +were too rainy to drill, and from 5:45 A. M., to 6:05 A. M. +Later in the year when it grew too cold to drill, we had the +time after about 4:15 P. M., but it became dark so early that +we didn't get much practice. We practiced signals even by moonlight. + +"Visiting teams used to watch us at inspection, two o'clock. We were in +tight full dress clothes, standing at attention for thirty to forty-five +minutes just before the game. A fine preparation for a stiff contest. We +had quite a character by the name of Stacy, a Maine boy. He was a +thickset chap, husky and fast. He never knew what it was to be stopped. +He would fight it out to the end for every inch. Early in one of the +Yale games he broke a rib and started another, but the more it hurt, the +harder he played. In a contest with an athletic club in the last +non-collegiate game we ever played, the opposing right tackle was +bothering us. In a scrimmage Stacy twisted the gentleman's nose very +severely and then backed away, as the man followed him, calling out to +the Umpire. Stacy held his face up and took two of the nicest punches in +the eyes that I ever saw. Of course, the Umpire saw it, and promptly +ruled the puncher out, just as Stacy had planned. + +"Just before the Spanish War Stacy became ill. Orders were issued that +regiments should send officers to the different cities for the purpose +of recruiting. He was at this time not fit for field service, so was +assigned to this duty. He protested so strongly that in some way he was +able to join his regiment in time to go to Cuba with his men. He +participated in all the work down there; and when it was over, even he +had to give in. He was sent to Montauk Point in very bad shape. He +rallied for a time and obtained sick leave. He went to his old home in +Maine, where he died. It was his old football grit that kept him going +in Cuba until the fighting was over. + +"No mention of West Point's football would be complete without the name +of Dennis Michie. He is usually referred to as the Father of Football +at the Academy. He was captain of the first two teams we ever had. He +played throughout the Navy game in '91 with ten boils on his back and +neck. He was a backfield man and one of West Point's main line backers. +He was most popular as a cadet and officer and was killed in action at +San Juan, Cuba. + +"One of the longest runs when both yards and time are considered ever +pulled off on a football field, was made by Duncan, '95, in our +Princeton game of '93. Duncan got the ball on his 5-yard line on a +fumble, and was well under way before he was discovered. Lott, '96, +later a captain of Cavalry, followed Duncan to interfere from behind. +The only Princeton man who sensed trouble was Doggy Trenchard. He set +sail in pursuit. He soon caught up with Lott and would have caught +Duncan, but for the latter's interference. Duncan finally scored the +touchdown, having made the 105 yards in what would have been fast time +for a Wefers. + +"We at West Point often speak of Balliet's being obliged to call on Phil +King to back him up that day, as Ames, one of our greatest centres, was +outplaying him, and of the rage of Phil King, because on every point, +Nolan, '96, tackled him at once and prevented King from making those +phenomenal runs which characterized his playing." + +Harmon Graves of Yale is a coach who has contributed much to West +Point's football. + +"Harmon Graves is too well known now as coach to need our praise," says +a West Pointer, "but it is not only as a successful coach, but as a +personal friend that he lives in the heart of every member of the team +and indeed the entire corps. There will always be a sunny spot at West +Point for Graves." + +In a recent talk with Harmon Graves he showed me a beautifully engraved +watch presented to him by the Cadet Corps of West Point, a treasure +prized. + +Of the privileged days spent at West Point Graves writes, as follows: + +"Every civilian who has the privilege of working with the officers and +cadets at West Point to accomplish some worthy object comes away a far +better man than when he went there. I was fortunate enough to be asked +by them to help in the establishment of football at the Academy and for +many years I gave the best I had and still feel greatly their debtor. + +"At West Point amateur sport flourishes in its perfection, and a very +high standard of accomplishment has been attained in football. There are +no cross-cuts to the kind of football success West Point has worked for: +it is all a question of merit based on competency, accuracy and fearless +execution. Those of us who have had the privilege of assisting in the +development of West Point football have learned much of real value from +the officers and cadets about the game and what really counts in the +make-up of a successful team. It is fair to say that West Point has +contributed a great deal to football generally and has, in spite of many +necessary time restrictions, turned out some of the best teams and +players in the last fifteen years. + +"The greatest credit is due to the Army Officers Athletic Association, +which, through its football representatives, started right and then +pursued a sound policy which has placed football at West Point on a firm +basis, becoming the standing and dignity of the institution. + +"There have been many interesting and amusing incidents in connection +with football at West Point which help to make up the tradition of the +game there and are many times repeated at any gathering of officers and +cadets. I well remember when Daly, the former Harvard Captain, modestly +took his place as a plebe candidate for the team and sat in the front +row on the floor of the gymnasium when I explained to the squad, and +illustrated by the use of a blackboard, what he and every one else there +knew was the then Yale defense. There was, perhaps, the suggestion of a +smile all around when I began by saying that from then on we were +gathered there for West Point and to make its team a success that season +and not for the benefit of Harvard or Yale. He told me afterwards that +he had never understood the defense as I had explained it. He mastered +it and believed in it, as he won and kept his place on the team and +learned some things from West Point football,--as we all did. + +"The rivalry with the Navy is wholesome and intense, as it should be. My +friend, Paul Dashiell, who fully shares that feeling, has much to do +with the success of the Navy team, and the development of football at +the Naval Academy. After a West Point victory at Philadelphia, he came +to the West Point dressing room and offered his congratulations. As I +took his hand, I noted that tears were in his eyes and that his voice +shook. The next year the Navy won and I returned the call. I was feeling +rather grim, but when I found him surrounded by the happy Navy team, he +was crying again and hardly smiled when I offered my congratulation, and +told him that it really made no difference which team won for he cried +anyway. + +"The sportsmanship and friendly rivalry which the Army and Navy game +brings out in both branches of the Service is admirable and unique and +reaches all officers on the day of the game wherever in the world they +are. Real preparedness is an old axiom at West Point and it has been +applied to football. There I learned to love my country and respect the +manhood and efficiency of the Army officers in a better way than I did +before. I recall the seasons I have spent there with gratitude and +affection, both for the friends I have made and for the Army spirit." + +Siding with the Navy has enabled me to know West Point's strength. Any +mention of West Point's football would be incomplete without the names +of some officers who have not only safeguarded the game at West Point, +but have been the able representatives of the Army's football during +their service there. Such men are, Richmond P. Davis, Palmer E. Pierce, +and W. R. Richardson. + + +THE WAY THEY HAVE IN THE ARMY + +If there is any one man who has permanently influenced football at West +Point that man is H. J. Koehler, for years Master of the Sword at the +Academy. Under his active coaching some of the Army's finest players +were developed. In recent years he has not been a member of the coaching +staff, but he none the less never loses touch with the team and his +advice concerning men and methods is always eagerly sought. By virtue of +long experience at the Academy and because of an aptitude for analysis +of the game itself he has been invaluable in harmonizing practice and +play with peculiar local conditions. + +Any time the stranger seeks to delve either into the history or the +constructive coaching of the game at the Academy, the younger men, as +well as the older, will always answer your questions by saying "Go ask +Koehler." Always a hard worker and serious thinker, he is apt to give +an almost nightly demonstration during the season of the foundation +principles of the game. + +Not only West Pointers, but also Yale and Princeton men, who had to face +the elevens under Koehler's coaching will remember Romeyn, who, had he +been kicking in the days of Felton, Mahan and the other long distance +artillerists, might well have held his own, in the opinion of Army men. +Nesbitt, Waldron and Scales were among the other really brilliant +players whom Koehler developed. He was in charge of some of the teams +that played the hardest schedules in the history of West Point football. +One year the cadets met Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Syracuse and +Penn State. Surely this was a season's work calculated to develop +remarkable men, or break them in the making. Bettison, center, King +Boyers at guard, and Bunker at tackle and half, were among the splendid +players who survived this trial by fire. Casad, Clark and Phillips made +up a backfield that would have been a credit to any of the colleges. + +Soon, however, the Army strength was greatly to be augmented by the +acquisition of Charles Dudley Daly, fresh from four years of football at +Harvard. Reputations made elsewhere do not count for much at West Point. +The coaches were glad to have Plebe Daly come out for the squad, but +they knew and he knew quite as well as they, that there are no short +cuts to the big "A." Now began a remarkable demonstration of football +genius. Not only did the former Harvard Captain make the team, but his +aid in coaching was also eagerly sought. An unusual move this, but a +tribute to the new man. + +Daly was modesty itself in those days as he has been ever since, even +when equipped with the yellow jacket and peacock feather of the head +coach. As player and as coach and often as the two combined, Daly's +connection with West Point football covered eight years, in the course +of which he never played on or coached a losing team. His record against +the Navy alone is seven victories and one tie, 146 points to 33. His +final year's coaching was done in 1915. From West Point he was sent to +Hawaii, whence he writes me, as follows: + +"There are certain episodes in the game that have always been of +particular interest to me, such as Ely's game playing with broken ribs +in the Harvard-Yale game of 1898; Charlie de Saulles' great playing with +a sprained ankle in the Yale-Princeton game of the same year; the +tackling of Bunker by Long of the Navy in the Army-Navy game of +1902--the hardest tackle I have ever seen; and the daring quarterback +work of Johnny Cutler in the Harvard-Dartmouth 1908 game, when he +snatched victory from defeat in the last few minutes of play." + +Undoubtedly Daly's deep study of strategy and tactics as used in warfare +had a great deal to do with his continued ascendency as a coach. +Writing to Herbert Reed, one of the pencil and paper football men, with +whom he had had many a long argument over the generalship of the game, +he said in part: + +"Football within the limitations of the rules and sportsmanship is a war +game. Either by force or by deception it advances through the opposition +to the goal line, which might be considered the capital of the enemy." + +It was in Daly's first year that a huge Southerner, with a pleasant +drawl, turned up in the plebe class. It was a foregone conclusion almost +on sight that Ernest, better known to football men throughout the +country as Pot Graves, would make the Eleven. He not only played the +game almost flawlessly from the start, but he made so thorough a study +of line play in general that his system, even down to the most intimate +details of face to face coaching filed away for all time in that secret +library of football methods at West Point, has come to be known as +Graves' Bible. + +Daly, still with that ineradicable love for his own Alma Mater, lent a +page or two from this tome to Harvard, and even the author appeared in +person on Soldiers' Field. The manner in which Graves made personal +demonstration of his teachings will not soon be forgotten by the Harvard +men who had to face Pot Graves. + +Graves has always believed in the force mentioned in Daly's few lines +quoted above on the subject of military methods as applied to football. +While always declaring that the gridiron was no place for a fist fight, +he always maintained that stalwarts should be allowed to fight it out +with as little interference by rule as possible. As a matter of fact, +Graves was badly injured in a game with Yale, and for a long time +afterwards hobbled around with a troublesome knee. He knew the man who +did it, but would never tell his name, and he contents himself with +saying "I have no ill will--he got me first. If he hadn't I would have +got him." + +A story is told of Graves' impatience with the members of a little +luncheon party, who in the course of an argument on the new football, +were getting away from the fundamentals. Rising and stepping over to the +window of the Officers' Club, he said, with a sleepy smile: "Come here a +minute, you fellows," and, pointing down to the roadway, added, "there's +_my_ team." Looking out of the window the other members of the party saw +a huge steam roller snorting and puffing up the hill. + +Among the men who played football with Graves and were indeed of his +type, were Doe and Bunker. Like Graves, Bunker in spite of his great +weight, was fast enough to play in the backfield in those years when +Army elevens were relying so much upon terrific power. Those were the +days when substitutes had very little opportunity. In the final Navy +game of 1902 the same eleven men played for the Army from start to +finish. + +In this period of Army football other first-class men were developed, +notably Torney, a remarkable back, Thompson, a guard, and Tom Hammond, +who was later to make a reputation as an end coach. Bunker was still +with this aggregation, an eleven that marched fifty yards for a +touchdown in fifteen plays against the midshipmen. The Army was among +the early Eastern teams to test Eastern football methods against those +of the West, the Cadets defeating a team from the University of Chicago +on the plains. + +The West Pointers had only one criticism to make of their visitors, and +it was laconically put by one of the backs, who said: + +"They're all-fired fast, but it's funny how they stop when you tackle +them." + +In this lineup was A. C. Tipton, at center, to whom belongs the honor of +forcing the Rules Committee to change the code in one particular in +order to stop a maneuver which he invented while in midcareer in a big +game. No one will ever forget how, when chasing a loose ball and +realizing that he had no chance to pick it up, he kicked it again and +again until it crossed the final chalk mark where he fell on it for a +touchdown. Tipton was something of a wrestler too, as a certain +Japanese expert in the art of Jiu-jitsu can testify and indeed did +testify on the spot after the doctors had brought him too. + +There was no lowering of the standards in the succeeding years, which +saw the development of players like Hackett, Prince, Farnsworth and +Davis. Those years too saw the rise of such wonderful forwards as W. W. +(Red) Erwin and that huge man from Alaska, D. D. Pullen. + +Coming now to more recent times, the coaching was turned over to H. M. +Nelly, assisted by Joseph W. Beacham, fresh from chasing the little +brown brother in the Philippines. Beacham had made a great reputation at +Cornell, and there was evidence that he had kept up with the game at +least in the matter of strategic possibilities, even while in the +tangled jungle of Luzon. He brought with him even more than that--an +uncanny ability to see through the machinery of the team and pick out +its human qualities, upon which he never neglected to play. There have +been few coaches closer to his men than Joe. + +Whenever I talk football with Joe Beacham he never forgets to mention +Vaughn Cooper, to whom he gives a large share of the credit for the good +work of his elevens. Cooper was of the quiet type, whose specialty was +defense. These two made a great team. + +It was in this period that West Point saw the development of one of its +greatest field generals. There was nothing impressive in the physical +appearance of little H. L. Hyatt. A reasonably good man, ball in hand, +his greatest value lay in his head work. As the West Point trainer said +one day: "I've got him all bandaged up like a leg in a puttee, but from +the neck up he's a piece of ice." The charts of games in which Hyatt ran +the team are set before the squad each year as examples, not merely of +perfect generalship, but of the proper time to violate that generalship +and make it go, a distinction shared by Prichard, who followed in his +footsteps with added touches of his own. + +One cannot mention Prichard's name without thinking at once of Merillat, +who, with Prichard, formed one of the finest forward passing +combinations the game has seen. Both at Franklin Field and at the Polo +Grounds this pair brought woe to the Navy. + +These stars had able assistance in the persons of McEwan, one of the +greatest centers the game has seen and who was chosen to lead the team +in 1916, Weyand, Neyland and O'Hare, among the forwards, and the +brilliant and sturdy Oliphant in the backfield, the man whose slashing +play against the Navy in 1915 will never be forgotten. Oliphant was of a +most unusual type. Even when he was doing the heaviest damage to the +Navy Corps the midshipmen could not but admire his wonderful work. + +What the Hustlers are to Annapolis the Cullom Hall team is to West +Point. It is made up of the leftovers from the first squad and +substitutes. One would travel far afield in search of a team with more +spirit and greater pep in action, whether playing in outside games, or +as their coach would put it, "showing up" the first Eleven. Not +infrequently a player of the highest caliber is developed in this squad +and taken to the first eleven. + +The Cullom Hall squad, whose eleven generally manages to clean up some +of the strongest school teams of the Hudson Valley, draws not a little +of its spirit, I think, from the late Lieutenant E. M. Zell, better +known at the Academy as "Jobey." It was a treat to see the Cullom Hall +team marching down the field against the first Eleven with the roly-poly +figure of Jobey in the thick of every scrimmage, coaching at the top of +his lungs, even when bowled over by the interference of his own pupils. +Since his time the squad has been turned over to Lieutenants Sellack and +Crawford, who have kept alive the traditions and the playing spirit of +this unique organization. + +Their reward for the bruising, hard work, with hardly a shadow of the +hope of getting their letter, comes in seeing the great game itself. +Like the college scrub teams the hardest rooters for the Varsity are to +be found in their ranks. + +Now for the game itself. Always hard fought, always well fought, there +is perhaps no clash of all the year that so wakes the interest of the +general public, that vast throng which, without college affiliations, +is nevertheless hungry for the right of allegiance somewhere, somehow. + +While the Service Elevens are superbly supported by the men who have +been through the exacting mill at West Point and Annapolis--their +sweethearts and wives, not to mention sisters, cousins, uncles and +aunts--they are urged on to battle by that great impartial public which +believes that in a sense these two teams belong to it. It is not +uncommon to find men who have had no connection with either academy in +hot argument as to the relative merits of the teams. + +Once in the stands some apparently trifling thing begets a partisanship +that this class of spectator is wont to wonder at after it is all over. + +Whether in Philadelphia in the earlier history of these contests on +neutral ground, or in New York, Army and Navy Day has become by tacit +consent the nearest thing to a real gridiron holiday. For the civilian +who has been starved for thrilling action and the chance to cheer +through the autumn days, the jam at the hotels used as headquarters by +the followers of the two elevens satisfies a yearning that he has +hitherto been unable to define. There too, is found a host of old-time +college football men and coaches who hold reunion and sometimes even +bury hatchets. Making his way through the crowds and jogging elbows with +the heroes of a sport that he understands only as organized combat he +becomes obsessed with the spirit of the two fighting institutions. + +Once in possession of the coveted ticket he hies himself to the field as +early as possible, if he is wise, in order to enjoy the preliminaries +which are unlike those at any other game. Soon his heart beats faster, +attuned to the sound of tramping feet without the gates. The measured +cadence swells, draws nearer, and the thousands rise as one, when first +the long gray column and then the solid ranks of blue swing out upon the +field. The precision of the thing, the realization that order and system +can go so far as to hold in check to the last moment the enthusiasms of +these youngsters thrills him to the core. Then suddenly gray ranks and +blue alike break for the stands, there to cut loose such a volume of now +orderly, now merely frenzied noise as never before smote his ears. + +It is inspiration and it is novelty. The time, the place and the men +that wake the loyalty dormant in every man which, sad to say, so seldom +has a chance of expression. + +Around the field are ranged diplomat, dignitary of whatsoever rank, both +native and foreign. In common with those who came to see, as well as to +be seen--and who does not boast of having been to the Army-Navy +game--they rise uncovered as the only official non-partisan of football +history enters the gates--the President of the United States. Throughout +one half of the game he lends his support to one Academy and in the +intermission makes triumphal progress across the field, welcomed on his +arrival by a din of shouting surpassing all previous effort, there to +support their side. + +[Illustration: CADETS AND MIDDIES ENTERING THE FIELD] + +It is perhaps one of those blessed hours in the life of a man upon whom +the white light so pitilessly beats, when he can indulge in the popular +sport, to him so long denied, of being merely human. + +Men, methods, moods pass on. The years roll by, taking toll of every one +of us from highest to lowest. Yet, whether we are absorbed in the game +of games, or whether we look upon it as so many needs must merely as a +spectacle, the Army-Navy game will remain a milestone never to be +uprooted. I have spoken elsewhere and at length of football traditions. +The Army-Navy game is not merely a football tradition but an American +institution. It is for all the people every time. + +May this great game go on forever, serene in its power to bring out the +best that is in us, and when the Great Bugler sounds the silver-sweet +call of taps for all too many, there will still be those who in their +turn will answer the call of reveille to carry on the traditions of the +great day that was ours. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HARD LUCK IN THE GAME + + +It is as true in football, as it is in life, that we have no use for a +quitter. The man who shirks in time of need--indeed there is no part in +this chapter or in this book for such a man. Football was never made for +him. He is soon discovered and relegated to the side line. He is hounded +throughout his college career, and afterwards he is known as a man who +was yellow. As Garry Cochran used to say: + +"If I find any man on my football squad showing a white feather, I'll +have him hounded out of college." + +Football is a game for the man who has nerve, and when put to the test, +under severe handicap, proves his sterling worth. + +A man has to be game in spirit. A man has to give every inch there is in +him. Optimism should surround him. There is much to be gained by hearty +co-operation of spirit. There is much in the thought that you believe +your team is going to win; that the opposing team cannot beat you; that +if your opponent wins, it is going to be over your dead body. This sort +of spirit is contagious, and generally passes from one to the other, +until you have a wonderful team spirit, and eleven men are found +fighting like demons for victory. Such a spirit generally means a +victory, and so gets its reward. There must be no dissenting spirit. If +there is such a spirit discernible, it should be weeded out immediately. + +Some years ago the Princeton players were going to the field house to +dress for the Harvard game. The captain and two of the players were +walking ahead of the rest of the members of the team. The game was under +discussion, when the captain overheard one of the players behind him +remark: + +"I believe Harvard will win to-day." + +Shocked by this remark, the captain, who was one of those thoroughbreds +who never saw anything but victory ahead, full of hope and confidence in +his team, turned and discovered that the remark came from one of his +regular players. Addressing him, he said: + +"Well! If you feel that way about it, you need not even put on your +suit. I have a substitute, who is game to the core. He will take your +place." + +It is true that teams have been ruined where the men lack the great +quality of optimism in football. When a man gets in a tight place, when +the odds are all against him, there comes to him an amazing superhuman +strength, which enables him to work out wonders. At such a time men have +been known to do what seemed almost impossible. + +I recall being out in the country in my younger days and seeing a man, +who had become irrational, near the roadside, where some heavy logs were +piled. This man, who ordinarily was only a man of medium strength, was +picking up one end of a log and tossing it around--a log, which, +ordinarily, would have taken three men to lift. In the bewildering and +exciting problems of football, there are instances similar to this, +where a small man on one team, lined up against a giant in the opposing +rush line, and game though handicapped in weight there comes to him at +such a time a certain added strength, by which he was able to handle +successfully the duty which presented itself to him. + +I have found it to be the rule rather than the exception, that the big +man in football did not give me the most trouble; it was the man much +smaller than myself. Other big linemen have found it to be true. Many a +small man has made a big man look ridiculous. + +Bill Caldwell, who used to weigh over 200 pounds when he played guard on +the Cornell team some years ago, has this to say: + +"I want to pay a tribute to a young man who gave me my worst seventy +minutes on the football field. His name was Payne. He played left guard +for Lehigh. He weighed about 145 pounds; was of slight build and seemed +to have a sort of sickly pallor. I have never seen him since, but I take +this occasion to say this was the greatest little guard I ever met. At +least he was great that day. Payne had been playing back of the line +during part of the season, but was put in at guard against me. I had a +hunch that he was going to bite me in the ankle, when he lined up the +first time, for he bristled up and tore into me like a wild cat. I have +met a goodish few guards in my day, and was accustomed to almost any +form of warfare, but this Payne went around me, like a cooper around a +barrel, and broke through the line and downed the runners in their +tracks. On plunges straight at him, he went to the mat and grabbed every +leg in sight and hung on for dear life. He darted through between my +legs; would vault over me; what he did to me was a shame. He was not +rough, but was just the opposite. I never laid a hand on him all the +afternoon. He would make a world beater in the game as it is played +to-day." + +Whenever Brown University men get together and speak of their wonderful +quarterbacks, the names of Sprackling and Crowther are always mentioned. +Both of these men were All-American quarterbacks. Crowther filled the +position after Sprackling graduated. He weighed only 134 pounds, but he +gave everything he had in him--game, though handicapped in weight. In +the Harvard game of that year, about the middle of the second half, +Haughton sent word over to Robinson, the Brown coach, that he ought to +take the little fellow out; that he was too small to play football, and +was in danger of being seriously injured. Crowther, however, was like an +India-rubber ball and not once during the season had he received any +sort of injury. Robby told Crowther what Haughton had suggested, and +smiling, the latter said: + +"Tell him not to worry about me; better look out for himself." + +On the next play Crowther took the ball and went around Harvard's end +for forty yards, scoring a touchdown. After he had kicked the goal, the +little fellow came over to the side line, and said to Robby: + +"Send word over to Haughton and ask him how he likes that. Ask him if he +thinks I'm all in? Perhaps he would like to have me quit now." + +In the Yale game that year Crowther was tackled by Pendleton, one of the +big Yale guards. It so happened that Pendleton was injured several times +when he tackled Crowther and time had to be taken out. Finally the big +fellow was obliged to quit, and as he was led off the field, Crowther +hurried over to him, reaching up, placed his hands on his shoulder and +said: + +"Sorry, old man! I didn't mean to hurt you." Pendleton, who weighed well +over 200 pounds, looked down upon the little fellow, but said never a +word. + +It is most unpleasant to play in a game where a man is injured. Yet +still more distressing when you realize that you yourself injured +another player, especially one of your own team mates. + +In the Brown game of 1898, at Providence, Bosey Reiter, Princeton's star +halfback, made a flying tackle of a Brown runner. The latter was +struggling hard, trying his best to get away from Reiter. At this moment +I was coming along and threw myself upon the Brown man to prevent his +advancing further. In the mixup my weight struck Bosey and fractured his +collar-bone. It was a severe loss to the team, and only one who has had +a similar experience can appreciate my feelings, as well as the team's, +on the journey back to Princeton. + +We were to play Yale the following Saturday at Princeton. I knew +Reiter's injury was so serious that he could not possibly play in that +game. + +The following Saturday, as that great football warrior lay in his bed at +the infirmary, the whistle blew for the start of the Yale game. We all +realized Reiter was not there: not even on the side lines, and Arthur +Poe said, at the start of the game: + +"Play for Bosey Reiter. He can't play for himself to-day." + +This spurred us on to better team work and to victory. The attendants at +the hospital told us later that they never had had such a lively +patient. He kept things stirring from start to finish of the gridiron +battle. As the reports of the game were brought to him, he joined in +the thrill of the play. + +"My injury proved a blessing," says Reiter, "as it gave me an extra +year, for in those days a year did not count in football, unless you +played against Yale, and when I made the touchdown against Yale the +following season, it was a happy moment for me." + +All is not clear sailing in football. The breaks must come some time. +They may come singly or in a bunch, but whenever they do come, it takes +courage to buck the hard luck in the game. Just when things get nicely +under way one of the star players is injured, which means the systematic +team work is handicapped. It is not the team, as a whole that I am +thinking of, but the pangs of sorrow which go down deep into a fellow's +soul, when he finds that he is injured; that he is in the hands of the +doctor. It is then he realizes that he is only a spoke in the big wheel; +that the spirit of the game puts another man in his place. The game goes +on. Nature is left to do her best for him. + +Let us for a while consider the player who does not realize, until after +the game is over, that he is hurt. It is after the contest, when the +excitement has ceased, when reaction sets in, that a doctor and trainer +can take stock of the number and extent of casualties. + +When such injured men are discovered, at a time like that, we wonder how +they ever played the game out. In fact the man never knew he was +injured until the game was over. No more loyal supporter of football +follows the big games than Reggi Wentworth, Williams, '91. + +He is most loyal to Bill Hotchkiss, Williams '91. + +"At Williamstown, one year," Wentworth says, "Hotchkiss, who was a +wonderful all round guard, probably as great a football player as ever +lived (at least I think so) played with the Williams team on a field +covered with mud and snow three inches deep. The game was an unusually +severe one, and Hotchkiss did yeoman's work that day. + +"As we ran off the field, after the game, I happened to stop, turned, +and discovered Hotchkiss standing on the side of the field, with his +feet planted well apart, like an old bull at bay. I went back where he +was and said: + +"'Come on, Bill, what's the matter?' + +"'I don't know,' said he. 'There's something the matter with my ankles. +I don't think I can walk.' + +"He took one step and collapsed. I got a boy's sled, which was on the +field, laid Hotchkiss on it and took him to his room, only to find that +both ankles were sprained. He did not leave his room for two weeks and +walked with crutches for two weeks more. It seemed almost unbelievable +that a man handicapped as he was could play the game through. Splints +and ankle braces were unknown in those days. He went on the field with +two perfectly good ankles. How did he do it?" + +Charles H. Huggins, of Brown University, better known perhaps, simply as +"Huggins of Brown," recalls a curious case in a game on Andrews Field: + +"Stewart Jarvis, one of the Brown ends, made a flying tackle. As he did +so, he felt something snap in one of his legs. We carried him off to the +field house, making a hasty investigation. We found nothing more +apparent than a bruise. I bundled him off to college in a cab; gave him +a pair of crutches; told him not to go out until our doctor could +examine the injury at six o'clock that evening. When the doctor arrived +at his room, Jarvis was not there. He had gone to the training table for +dinner. The doctor hurried to the Union dining-room, only to find that +Jarvis had discarded the crutches and with some of the boys had gone out +to Rhodes, then, as now, a popular resort for the students. Later, we +learned that he danced several times. The next morning an X-ray clearly +showed a complete fracture of the tibia. + +"How it was possible for a man, with a broken leg, to walk around and +dance, as he did, is more than I can fathom." + +What is there in a man's make-up that leads him to conceal from the +trainer an injury that he receives in a game; that makes him stay in the +field of play? Why is it that he disregards himself, and goes on in the +game, suffering physical as well as mental tortures, plucky though +handicapped? The playing of such men is extended far beyond the point of +their usefulness. Yes, even into the danger zone. Such men give +everything they have in them while it lasts. It is not intelligent +football, however, and what might be called bravery is foolishness after +all. It is an unwritten law in football that a fresh substitute is far +superior to a crippled star. The keen desire to remain in the game is so +firmly fixed in his mind that he is willing to sacrifice himself, and at +the same time by concealing his injury from the trainer and coaches he, +unconsciously, is sacrificing his team; his power is gone. + +One of the greatest exhibitions of grit ever seen in a football game was +given by Harry Watson of Williams in a game at Newton Center between +Williams and Dartmouth. He was knocked out about eight times but +absolutely refused to leave the field. + +Another was furnished by W. H. Lewis, the Amherst captain and center +rush, against Williams in his last game at Amherst--the score was 0-0 on +a wet field. Williams was a big favorite but Lewis played a wonderful +game, and was all over the field on the defense. When the game was over +he was carried off, but refused to leave the field until the final +whistle. + +One of the most thrilling stories of a man who was game, though +handicapped, is told by Morris Ely, quarterback for Yale, 1898. + +"My most vivid recollection of the Harvard-Yale game of 1898 is that +Harvard won by the largest score Yale had ever been beaten by up to that +time, 17 to 0. Next, that the game seemed unusually long. I believe I +proved a good exponent of the theory of being in good condition. I +started the game at 135 pounds, in the best physical condition I have +ever enjoyed, and while I managed to accumulate two broken ribs, a +broken collar-bone and a sprained shoulder, I was discharged by the +doctor in less than three weeks as good as ever. + +"I received the broken ribs in the first half when Percy Jaffrey fell on +me with a proper intention of having me drop a fumbled ball behind our +goal line, which would have given Harvard an additional touchdown +instead of a touchback. I did not know just what had gone wrong but +tried to help it out by putting a shin guard under my jersey over the +ribs during the intermission. No one knew I was hurt. + +"In the second half I tried to stop one of Ben Dibblee's runs on a punt +and got a broken collar-bone, but not Dibblee. About the end of the game +we managed to work a successful double pass and I carried the ball to +Harvard's ten-yard line when Charlie Daly, who was playing back on +defense, stopped any chance we had of scoring by a hard tackle. There +was no getting away from him that day, and as I had to carry the ball +in the wrong arm with no free arm to use to ward him off, I presume, I +got off pretty well with only a sprained shoulder. The next play ended +the game, when Stub Chamberlin tried a quick place goal from the field +and, on a poor pass and on my poor handling of the ball, hit the goal +post and the ball bounded back. I admit that just about that time the +whistle sounded pretty good as apparently the entire Harvard team landed +on us in their attempt to block a kick." + +Val Flood, once a trainer at Princeton, recalls a game at New Haven, +when Princeton was playing Yale: + +"Frank Bergen was quarterback," he says. "I saw he was not going right, +and surprised the coaches by asking them to make a change. They asked me +to wait. In a few minutes I went to them again, with the same result. I +came back a third time, and insisted that he be taken out. A substitute +was put in. I will never forget Bergen's face when he burst into tears +and asked me who was responsible for his being taken out. I told him I +was. It almost broke his heart, for he had always regarded me as a +friend. I knew how much he wanted to play the game out. He lived in New +Haven. When the doctor examined him, it was found that he had three +broken ribs. There was great danger of one of them piercing his lungs +had he continued in the game. Of course, there are lots of boys that +are willing to do such things for their Alma Mater, but the gamest of +all is the man who, with a broken neck to start with, went out and put +in four years of college football. I refer to Eddie Hart, who was not +only the gamest, but one of the strongest, quickest, cleanest men that +ever played the game, and any one who knows Eddie Hart and those who +have seen him play, know that he never saved himself but played the game +for all it was worth. He was the life and spirit of every team he ever +played on at Exeter or Princeton." + +Ed Wylie, an enthusiastic Hill School Alumnus, football player at Hill +and Yale, tells the following anecdote: + +"The nerviest thing I ever saw in a football game was in the +Hill-Hotchkiss 0 to 0 game in 1904. At the start of the second half, +Arthur Cable, who was Hill's quarterback, broke his collar-bone. He +concealed the fact and until the end of the game, no one knew how badly +he was hurt. He was in every play, and never had time called but once. +He caught a couple of punts with his one good arm and every other punt +he attempted to catch and muffed he saved the ball from the other side +by falling on it. In the same game, a peculiar thing happened to me. I +tackled Ted Coy about fifteen minutes before the end of the game, and +until I awoke hours later, lying in a drawing-room car, pulling into +the Grand Central Station, my mind was a blank. Yet I am told the last +fifteen minutes of the game I played well, especially when our line was +going to pieces. I made several gains on the offensive, never missed a +signal and punted two or three times when close to our goal line." + +No less noteworthy is the spirit of a University of Pennsylvania player, +who was handicapped during his gridiron career with Penn' by many severe +injuries. This man had worked as hard as any one possibly could to make +the varsity for three years. His last year was no different from +previous seasons; injuries always worked against him. In his final year +he had broken his leg early in the season. A short time before the +Cornell game he appeared upon the field in football togs, full of spirit +and determined to get in the game if they needed him. This was his last +chance to play on the Penn' team. + +I was an official in that game. Near its close I saw him warming up on +the side line. His knee was done up in a plaster cast. He could do +nothing better than hobble along the side lines, but in the closing +moments when Penn' had the game well in hand, a mighty shout went up +from the side lines, as that gallant fellow, who had been handicapped +all during his football career, rushed out upon the field to take his +place as the defensive halfback. Cornell had the ball, and they were +making a tremendous effort to score. The Cornell captain, not knowing +of this man's physical condition, sent a play in his direction. The +interference of the big red team crashed successfully around the Penn' +end and there was left only this plucky, though handicapped player, +between the Cornell runner and a touchdown. + +Putting aside all personal thought, he rushed in and made a wonderful +tackle. Then this hero was carried off the field, and with him the +tradition of one who was willing to sacrifice himself for the sport he +loved. + +Andy Smith, a former University of Pennsylvania player, was a man who +was game through and through. He seemed to play better in a severe game, +when the odds were against him. Smith had formerly been at Pennsylvania +State College. In a game between Penn' State and Dartmouth, Fred +Crolius, of Dartmouth, says of Smith: + +"Andy Smith was one of the gamest men I ever played against. This big, +determined, husky offensive fullback and defensive end, when he wasn't +butting his head into our impregnable line, was smashing an interference +that nearly killed him in every other play. Battered and bruised he kept +coming on, and to every one's surprise he lasted the entire game. Years +afterward he showed me the scars on his head, where the wounds had +healed, with the naive remark: 'Some team you fellows had that year, +Fred.' Some team was right. And we all remember Andy and his own +individual greatness." + +There is no finer, unselfish spirit brought out in football, than that +evidenced in the following story, told by Shep Homans, an old time +Princeton fullback: + +"A young fellow named Hodge, who was quarterback on the Princeton scrub, +was making a terrific effort to play the best he could on the last day +of practice before the Yale game. He had hoped even at the last hour +that the opportunity might be afforded him to be a substitute quarter in +the game. However, his leg was broken in a scrimmage. As he lay on the +ground in great pain, realizing what had happened and forgetting +himself, he looked up and said: + +"'I'm mighty glad it is not one of the regulars who is hurt, so that our +chance against Yale will not be affected.'" + +Crolius, one of the hardest men to stop that Dartmouth ever had, tells +of Arthur Poe's gameness, when they played together on the Homestead +Athletic Club team, after they left college. "Arthur Poe was about as +game a man as the football world ever saw. He was handicapped in his +playing by a knee which would easily slip out of place. We men who +played with him on the Homestead team were often stopped after Arthur +had made a magnificent tackle and had broken up heavy interference, with +this quiet request: + +"'Pull my bum knee back into place.' + +"After this was done, he would jump up and no one would ever know that +it had been out. This man, who perhaps was the smallest man playing at +that time, was absolutely unprotected. His suit consisted of a pair of +shoes, stockings, unpadded pants, jersey and one elastic knee bandage." + +Mike Donohue, a Yale man who had been coach at Auburn for many years, +vouches for the following story: + +When Mike went to Auburn and for several years thereafter he had no one +to assist him, except a few of the old players, who would drop in for a +day or so during the latter part of the season. One afternoon Mike +happened to glance down at the lower end of the field where a squad of +grass-cutters (the name given to the fourth and fifth teams) were +booting the ball around, when he noticed a pretty good sized boy who was +swinging his foot into the ball with a good stiff leg and was kicking +high and getting fine distance. Mike made a mental note of this fact and +decided to investigate later, as a good punter was very hard to find. + +Later in the afternoon he again looked towards the lower end of the +field and saw that the grass-cutters were lining up for a scrimmage +among themselves, using that part of the field, which was behind the +goal post, so he dismissed the squad with which he had been working and +went down to see what the boy he had noticed early in the afternoon +really looked like. When he arrived he soon found the boy he was looking +for. He was playing left end and Mike immediately noticed that he had +his right leg extended perfectly straight behind him. Stopping the play, +Mike went over to the fellow and slapping him on the back said: + +"Don't keep that right leg stiff behind you like that. Pull it up under +you. Bend it at the knee so you can get a good start." + +With a sad expression on his face, and tears almost in his eyes, the boy +turned to Mike and said: + +"Coach, that damn thing won't bend. It's wood." + +Vonalbalde Gammon, one of the few players who met his death in an +intercollegiate game, lived at Rome, Georgia, and entered the University +of Georgia in 1896. He made the team his first year, playing quarterback +on the eleven which was coached by Pop Warner and which won the Southern +championship. He received the injury which caused his death in the +Georgia-Virginia game, played in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 30th, +1897. He was a fine fellow personally and one of the most popular men at +the University. As a football player, he was an excellent punter, a +good plunger, and a strong defensive man. On account of his kicking and +plunging ability he was moved to fullback in his second year. + +In the Virginia game he backed up the line on the defense. All that +afternoon he worked like a Trojan to hold in check the powerful masses +Virginia had been driving at the tackles. Early in the second half Von +dove in and stopped a mass aimed at Georgia's right tackle, but when the +mass was untangled, he was unable to get up. An examination showed that +he was badly hurt. In a minute or two, however, he revived and was set +on his feet and was being taken from the field by Coach McCarthy, when +Captain Kent, thinking that he was not too badly hurt to continue in the +game, said to him: + +"Von, you are not going to give up, are you?" + +"No, Bill," he replied, "I've got too much Georgia grit for that." + +These were his last words, for upon reaching the side lines he lapsed +into unconsciousness and died at two o'clock the next morning. + +Gammon's death ended the football season that year at the University. It +also came very near ending football in the State of Georgia, as the +Legislature was in session, and immediately passed a bill prohibiting +the playing of the game in the State. + +However, Mrs. Gammon--Von's mother--made a strong, earnest and personal +appeal to Governor Atkinson to veto the bill, which he did. + +Had it not been for Mrs. Gammon, football would certainly have been +abolished in the State of Georgia by an act of the Legislature of 1897. + +I knew a great guard whose whole heart was set on making the Princeton +team, and on playing against Yale. This man made the team. In a +Princeton-Columbia game he was trying his best to stop that wonderful +Columbia player, Harold Weekes, who with his great hurdling play was +that season's sensation. In his hurdling he seemed to take his life in +his hands, going over the line of the opposing team feet first. When the +great guard of the Princeton team to whom I refer tried to stop Weekes, +his head collided with Weekes' feet and was badly cut. + +The trainer rushed upon the field, sponged and dressed the wound and the +guard continued to play. But that night it was discovered that blood +poisoning had set in. There was gloom on the team when this became +known. But John Dana, lying there injured in the hospital, and knowing +how badly his services were needed in the coming game with Yale, with +his ambition unsatisfied, used his wits to appear better than he really +was in order to get discharged from the hospital and back on the team. + +The physician who attended him has told me since that Dana would keep +his mouth open slyly when the nurse was taking his temperature so that +it would not be too high and the chart would make it appear that he was +all right. + +At any rate, he seemed to improve steadily, and finally reported to the +trainer, Jim Robinson, two days before the Yale game. He was full of +hope and the coaches decided to have Robinson give him a try-out, so +that they could decide whether he was as fit as he was making it appear +he was. + +I shall never forget watching that heroic effort, as Robinson took him +out behind the training house, to make the final test. With a head-gear, +especially made for him, Dana settled down in his regular position, +ready for the charge, anticipating the oncoming Yale halfback and +throbbing with eagerness to tackle the man with the ball. + +Then he plunged forward, both arms extended, but handicapped by his +terrible injury, he toppled over upon his face, heart-broken. The spirit +was there, but he was physically unfit for the task. + +The Yale game started without Dana, and as he sat there on the side +lines and saw Princeton go down to defeat, he was overcome with the +thought of his helplessness. He was needed, but he didn't have a chance. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BRINGING HOME THE BACON + + +Happy is the thought of victory, and while we realize that there should +always be eleven men in every play, each man doing his duty, there +frequently comes a time in a game, when some one man earns the credit +for winning the game, and brings home the bacon. Maybe he has been the +captain of the team, with a wonderful power of leadership which had held +the Eleven together all season and made his team a winning one. From the +recollections of some of the victories, from the experiences of the men +who participated in them and made victory possible, let us play some of +those games over with some of the heroes of past years. + + +Billy Bull + +One of the truly great bacon-getters of the past is Yale's Billy Bull. +Football history is full of his exploits when he played on the Yale team +in '85, '86, '87 and '88. Old-time players can sit up all night telling +stories of the games in which he scored for Yale. His kicking proved a +winning card and in happy recollection the old-timers tell of Bull, the +hero of many a game, being carried off the field on the shoulders of an +admiring crowd of Yale men after a big victory. + +"In the course of my years at Yale, six big games were played," says +Bull, "four with Princeton and two with Harvard. I was fortunate in +being able to go through all of them, sustaining no injury whatsoever, +except in the last game with Princeton. In this game, Channing came +through to me in the fullback position and in tackling him I received a +scalp wound which did not, however, necessitate my removal from the +game. + +"Of the six games played, only one was lost, and that was the Lamar game +in the fall of '85. In the five games won I was the regular kicker in +the last three, and, in two of these, kicking proved to be the deciding +factor. Thus in '87--Yale 17, Harvard 8--two place kicks and one drop +kick were scored in the three attempts, totaling nine points. +Considering the punting I did that day, and the fact that both +place-kicks were scored from close to the side lines, I feel that that +game represents my best work. + +"The third year of my play was undoubtedly my best year; in fact the +only year in which I might lay claim to being anything of a kicker. Thus +in the Rutgers game of '87 I kicked twelve straight goals from +placement. Counting the two goals from touchdowns against Princeton I +had a batting average of 1000 in three games. + +"Through the last year I was handicapped with a lame kicking leg and +was out of form, for in the final game with Princeton that year, '88, I +tried at least four times before scoring the first field goal of the +game. In the second half I had but one chance and that was successful. +This was the 10-0 game, in which all the points were scored by kicking, +although the ground was wet and slippery. + +"It is of interest to note, in connection with drop-kicking in the old +days, that the proposition was not the simple matter it is to-day. Then, +the ball had to go through the quarter's hands, and the kicker in +consequence had so little time in which to get the ball away that he was +really forced to kick in his tracks and immediately on receipt of the +ball. Fortunately I was able to do both, and I never had a try for a +drop blocked, and only one punt, the latter due to the fact that the +ball was down by the side line, and I could not run to the left (which +would have taken me out of bounds) before kicking. + +"Perhaps one of the greatest sources of satisfaction to me, speaking of +punting in particular, was the fact that I was never blocked by +Princeton. And yet it was extremely fortunate for me that I was a +left-footed kicker and thus could run away from Cowan, who played a left +tackle before kicking. If I had had to use my right foot I doubt if I +could have got away with anything, for Cowan was certainly a wonderful +player and could get through the Yale line as though it were paper. He +always brought me down, but always after the ball had left my foot. I +know that it has been thought at Princeton that I stood twelve yards +back from the line when kicking. This was not so. Ten yards was the +regular distance, always. But, I either kicked in my tracks or directly +after running to the left." + + +THE DAY COLUMBIA BEAT YALE + +Columbia men enthusiastically recall the day Columbia beat Yale. A +Columbia man who is always on hand for the big games of the year is +Charles Halstead Mapes, the ever reliable, loyal rooter for the game. He +has told the tale of this victory so wonderfully well that football +enthusiasts cannot but enjoy this enthusiastic Columbia version. + +"Fifteen years ago Yale was supreme in football," runs Mapes' story. +"Occasionally, but only very occasionally, one of their great rivals, +Princeton or Harvard, would win a game from them, but for any outsider, +anybody except one of the 'Eternal Triangle,' to beat Yale was out of +the question--an utter impossibility. And, by the way, that Triangle at +times got almost as much on the nerves of the outside public as the +Frenchmen's celebrated three--wife, husband, lover--the foundation of +their plays. + +"The psychological effect of Yale's past prestige was all-powerful in +every game. The blue-jerseyed figures with the white Y would tumble +through the gate and spread out on the field; the stands would rise to +them with a roar of joyous welcome that would raise the very +skies--Y-a-l-e! Y-a-l-e! Y--A--L--E! + +[Illustration: TWO ACES--BILL MORLEY AND HAROLD WEEKS] + +"'Small wonder that each man was right on his toes, felt as though he +were made of steel springs. All other Yale teams had won, 'We will win, +of course.' + +"But the poor other side--they might just as well throw their canvas +jackets and mole-skin trousers in the old suit-case at once and go home. +'Beat Yale! boys, we're crazy, but every man must try his damnedest to +keep the score low,' and so the game was won and lost before the referee +even blew his starting whistle. + +"This was the general rule, but every rule needs an exception to prove +it, and on a certain November afternoon in 1899 we gave them their +belly-full of exception. We had a very strong team that year, with some +truly great players, Harold Weekes and Bill Morley (there never were two +better men behind the line), and Jack Wright, old Jack Wright, playing +equally well guard or center, as fine a linesman as I have ever seen. +Weekes, Morley, and Wright were on the All-American team of that year, +and Walter Camp in selecting his All-American team for All Time several +years ago picked Harold Weekes as his first halfback. + +"I can see the game now; there was no scoring in the first half. To +the outsider the teams seemed evenly matched, but we, who knew our +men, thought we saw that the power was there; and if they could but +realize their strength and that they had it in them to lay low at +last that armor-plated old rhinoceros, the terror of the college +jungle--Yale,--with an even break of luck, the game must be ours. + +"In the second half our opportunity came. By one of the shifting chances +of the game we got the ball on about their 25-yard line; one yard, three +yards, two yards, four yards, we went through them; there was no +stopping us, and at last--over, well over, for a touchdown. + +"Through some technicality in the last rush the officials, instead of +allowing the touchdown, took the ball away from us and gave it to Yale. +They were right, probably quite right, but how could we think so? Yale +at once kicked the ball to the middle of the field well out of danger. +The teams lined up. + +"On the very next play, with every man of that splendidly trained Eleven +doing his allotted work, Harold Weekes swept around the end, aided by +the magnificent interference of Jack Wright, which gave him his start. +He ran half the length of the field, through the entire Yale team, and +planted the ball squarely behind the goal posts for the touchdown which +won the game. If we had ever had any doubt that cruel wrong is righted, +that truth and justice must prevail, it was swept away that moment in a +great wave of thanksgiving. + +"I shall never forget it--Columbia had beaten Yale! Tears running down +my cheeks, shaken by emotion, I couldn't speak, let alone cheer. My best +girl was with me. She gave one quick half-frightened glance and I +believe almost realized all I felt. She was all gold. I feel now the +timid little pressure on my arm as she tried to help me regain control +of myself. God! why has life so few such moments!" + + +BEHIND THE SCENES + +Let us go into the dressing room of a victorious team, which defeated +Yale at Manhattan Field a good many years ago and let us read with that +great lover of football, the late Richard Harding Davis, as he describes +so wonderfully well some of the unique things that happened in the +celebration of victory. + +"People who live far away from New York and who cannot understand from +the faint echoes they receive how great is the enthusiasm that this +contest arouses, may possibly get some idea of what it means to the +contestants themselves through the story of a remarkable incident, that +occurred after the game in the Princeton dressing room. The team were +being rubbed down for the last time and after their three months of +self-denial and anxiety and the hardest and roughest sort of work that +young men are called upon to do, and outside in the semi-darkness +thousands of Princeton followers were jumping up and down and hugging +each other and shrieking themselves hoarse. One of the Princeton coaches +came into the room out of this mob, and holding up his arm for silence +said, + +"'Boys, I want you to sing the doxology.'" + +"Standing as they were, naked and covered with mud, blood and +perspiration, the eleven men that had won the championship sang the +Doxology from the beginning to the end as solemnly and as seriously, and +I am sure, as sincerely, as they ever did in their lives, while outside +the no less thankful fellow-students yelled and cheered and beat at the +doors and windows and howled for them to come out and show themselves. +This may strike some people as a very sacrilegious performance and as a +most improper one, but the spirit in which it was done has a great deal +to do with the question, and any one who has seen a defeated team lying +on the benches of their dressing room, sobbing like hysterical school +girls, can understand how great and how serious is the joy of victory to +the men that conquer." + +Introducing Vic Kennard, opportunist extraordinary. Where is the Harvard +man, Yale man, or indeed any football man who will not be stirred by the +recollection of his remarkable goal from the field at New Haven that +provided the winning points for the eleven Percy Haughton turned out in +the first year of his regime. To Kennard himself the memory is still +vivid, and there are side lights on that performance and indeed on all +his football days at Cambridge, of which he alone can tell. I'll not +make a conversation of this, but simply say as one does over the 'phone, +"Kennard talking":-- + +[Illustration: VIC KENNARD'S KICK] + +"Many of us are under the impression that the only real football fan is +molded from the male sex and that the female of the species attends the +game for decorative purposes only. I protest. Listen. In 1908 I had the +good fortune to be selected to enter the Harvard-Yale Game at New Haven, +for the purpose of scoring on Yale in a most undignified way, through +the medium of a drop-kick, Haughton realizing that while a touchdown was +distinctly preferable, he was not afraid to fight it out in the next +best way. + +"My prayers were answered, for the ball somehow or other made its way +over the crossbar and between the uprights, making the score, Harvard 4, +Yale 0. My mother, who had made her way to New Haven by a forced march, +was sitting in the middle of the stand on the Yale (no, I'm wrong, it +was, on second thought, on the Harvard side) accompanied by my two +brothers, one of whom forgot himself far enough to go to Yale, and will +not even to this day acknowledge his hideous mistake. + +"Five or six minutes before the end of the game, one E. H. Coy decided +that the time was getting short and Yale needed a touchdown. So he +grabbed a Harvard punt on the run and started. Yes, he did more than +start, he got well under way, circled the Harvard end and after +galloping fifteen yards, apparently concluded that I would look well as +minced meat, and headed straight for me, stationed well back on the +secondary defense. He had received no invitation whatsoever, but owing +to the fact that I believe every Harvard man should be at least cordial +to every Yale man, I decided to go 50-50 and meet him half way. + +"We met informally. That I know. I will never forget that. He weighed +only 195 pounds, but I am sure he had another couple of hundred tucked +away somewhere. When I had finished counting a great variety and number +of stars, it occurred to me that I had been in a ghastly railroad wreck, +and that the engine and cars following had picked out my right knee as a +nice soft place to pile up on. There was a feeling of great relief when +I looked around and saw that the engineer of that train, Mr. E. H. Coy, +had stopped with the train, and I held the greatest hopes that neither +the engine nor any one of the ten cars following would ever reach the +terminal. + +"Mother, who had seen the whole performance, was little concerned with +other than the fact that E. H. had been delayed. His mission had been +more than delayed--as it turned out, it had been postponed. In the +meantime Dr. Nichols of the Harvard staff of first aid was working with +my knee, and from the stands it looked as though I might have broken my +leg. + +"At this point some one who sat almost directly back of my mother called +out loud, 'That's young Kennard. It looks as though he'd broken his +leg.' My brother, feeling that mother had not heard the remark, and not +knowing what he might say, turned and informed him that Mrs. Kennard was +sitting almost directly in front of him, requesting that he be careful +what he said. Mother, however, heard the whole thing, and turning in her +seat said, 'That's all right, I don't care if his leg is broken, if we +only win this game.' + +"My mother, who is a great football fan, after following the game for +three or four years, learned all the slang expressions typical of +football. She tried to work out new plays, criticised the generalship +occasionally, and fairly 'ate and slept' football during the months of +October and November. While the season was in progress I usually slept +at home in Boston where I could rest more comfortably. I occupied the +adjoining room to my mother's, and when I was ready for bed always +opened the door between the rooms. + +"One night I woke up suddenly and heard my mother talking. Wondering +whether something was the matter, I got out of bed and went into her +room, appearing just in time to see my mothers arms outstretched. She +was calling 'Fair catch.' I spoke to her to see just what the trouble +was, and she, in a sleepy way, mumbled, 'We won.' She had been dreaming +of the Harvard-Dartmouth game. + +"Early in the fall of 1908 Haughton heard rumors that the Indians were +equipping their backfield in a very peculiar fashion. Warner had had a +piece of leather the color and shape of a football sewed on the jerseys +of his backfield men, in such a position that when the arm was folded as +if carrying the ball, it would appear as if each of the backfield +players might have possession of the ball, and therefore disorganize +somewhat the defense against the man who was actually carrying the ball. +Instead of one runner each time, there appeared to be four. + +"Haughton studied the rules and found nothing to prevent Warner's +scheme. He wrote a friendly letter to Warner, stating that he did not +think it for the best interest of the game to permit his players to +appear in the Stadium equipped in this way, at the same time admitting +that there was nothing in the rules against it. Taking no chances, +however, Haughton worked out a scheme of his own. He discovered that +there was no rule which prevented painting the ball red, so he had a +ball painted the same color as the crimson jerseys. Had the Indians come +on the field with the leather ruse sewed on their jerseys, Haughton +would have insisted that the game be played with the crimson ball. + +"What did I learn in my football course? I learned to control my +temper, to exercise judgment, to think quickly and act decisively. I +learned the meaning of discipline, to take orders and carry them out to +the best of my ability without asking why. I had through the training +regular habits knocked into me. I learned to meet, know and size up men. +I learned to smile when I was the most discouraged fellow in this great +wide world, the importance of being on time, a better control of my +nerves, and to demand the respect of fellow players. I learned to work +out problems for myself and to apply my energy more intelligently,--to +stick by the ship. I secured a wide friendship which money can't buy." + +What Eddie Mahan was to Harvard, Charlie Barrett, Captain of the +victorious 1915 Eleven, was to Cornell. The Ithaca Captain was one of +those powerful runners whose remarkable physique did not interfere with +his shiftiness. Like his Harvard contemporary, he was a fine leader, but +unlike Mahan, with whom he clashed in the game with the Crimson in his +final year, he was not able to play the play through what was to him +probably the most important gridiron battle of his career. Nevertheless, +it was his touchdown in the first quarter that sounded the knell of the +Crimson hopes that day, and Cornell men will always believe that his +presence on the side line wrapped in a blanket, after his recovery from +the shock that put him out of the game, had much to do with inspiring +his Eleven. + +Barrett was one of the products of the Cleveland University School, +whence so many star players have been sent up to the leading +universities. On the occasion of his first appearance at Ithaca it +became a practical certainty that he would not only make the Varsity +Eleven, but would some day be its captain. In course of time it became a +habit for the followers of the Carnelian and White to look to Barrett +for rescue in games that seemed to be hopelessly in the fire. + +In his senior year the team was noted for its ability to come from +behind, and this team spirit was generally understood as being the +reflection of that of their leader. The Cornell Captain played the +second and third periods of his final game against Pennsylvania in a +dazed condition, and it is a tribute to his mental and physical +resources that in the last period of that game he played perhaps as fine +football as he had ever shown. + +It was from no weakened Pennsylvania Eleven that Barrett snatched the +victory in this his crowded moment. The Quakers had had a disastrous +season up to Thanksgiving Day, but their pluck and rallying power, which +has become a tradition on Franklin Field, was never more in evidence. +The Quakers played with fire, with power and aggressiveness that none +save those who know the Quaker spirit had been led to expect. There +were heroes on the Red and Blue team that day, and without a Barrett at +his best against them, they would have won. + +[Illustration: SAM WHITE'S RUN] + +It was up to Eddie Hart with his supreme personality and indomitable +spirit, which has always characterized him from the day he entered +Exeter until he forged his way to the leadership of one of Princeton's +finest elevens to bring home the long deferred championship. When the +final whistle rang down the football curtain for the season of 1911 it +found Hart in the ascendancy having fulfilled the wonderful promise of +his old Exeter days. For he had made good indeed. + +Yale and Harvard had been beaten through a remarkable combination of +team and individual effort in which Sam White's alertness and DeWitt's +kicking stood out; a combination which was made possible only through +Hart's splendid leadership. + +At a banquet for this championship team given by the Princeton Club of +Philadelphia, Lou Reichner, the toastmaster, in introducing Sam White, +the hero of the evening, quoted from First Samuel III, Chapter ii, 12th +and 1st verses--"And the Lord said unto Samuel, behold I will do a thing +in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall +tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli, all things which I have +spoken concerning his house; when I begin I will also make an end. And +The Child Samuel ministered unto the Lord Eli." Mr. Reichner then +presented to the Child Samuel the souvenir sleeve links and a silver box +containing the genuine soil from Yale Field. + +After Sam had been sufficiently honored, Alfred T. Baker, Princeton '85, +a former Varsity football player, and his son Hobey Baker, who played on +Eddie Hart's team, were called before the toastmaster. There was a +triple cheer for Hobey and his father. Reichner said that he had nothing +for Papa Baker, but a souvenir for Hobey, and if the father was man +enough to take it away from him he could have it. + +In speaking of the Yale-Princeton game at New Haven, some of the things +incidental to victory were told that evening by Sam White, who said: + +"In the Yale game of 1911, Joe Duff, the Princeton guard, came over to +Hart, Captain of the Princeton team, and said: + +"'Ed, I can't play any more. I can't stand on my left leg.' + +"'That's all right,' answered Hart, 'go back and play on your right +one.' + +"Joe did and that year he made the All-American guard. + +"It was less than a week before the Harvard-Princeton game at Princeton, +1911, a friend of mine wrote down and asked me to get him four good +seats, and said if I'd mention my favorite cigar, he'd send me a box in +appreciation. I got the seats for him, but it was more or less of a +struggle, but in writing on did not mention cigars. He sent me a check +to cover the cost of the tickets and in the letter enclosed a small +scarf pin which he said was sure to bring me luck. He had done quite a +little running in his time and said it had never failed him and urged me +to be sure and put it in my tie the day of the Harvard-Princeton game. I +am not superstitious, but I did stick it in my tie when I dressed that +Saturday morning and it surely had a charm. It was in the first half +that I got away for my run, and as we came out of the field house at the +start of the second half, whom should I see but my friend, yelling like +a madman-- + +"'Did you wear it? Did you wear it?' + +"I assured him I did, and it seemed to quiet and please him, for he +merely grinned and replied: + +"'I told you! I told you!' + +"After the game I said nothing of the episode, but did secretly decide +to keep the pin safely locked up until the day of the Yale-Princeton +game. I again stuck it in my tie that morning and the charm still held, +and I am still wondering to this day, if it doesn't pay to be a little +bit superstitious." + +Every Harvard man remembers vividly the great Crimson triumph of 1915 +over Yale. It will never be forgotten. During the game I sat on the +Harvard side lines with Doctor Billy Brooks, a former Harvard captain. +He was not satisfied when Harvard had Yale beaten by the score of 41 to +0, but was enthusiastically urging Harvard on to at least one or two +more touchdowns, so that the defeat which Yale meted out to Harvard in +1884, a game in which he was a player, would be avenged by a larger +score, but alas! he had to be satisfied with the tally as it stood. + +A story is told of the enthusiasm of Evert Jansen Wendell, as he stood +on the side lines of this same game and saw the big Crimson roller +crushing Yale down to overwhelming defeat. This enthusiastic Harvard +graduate cried out: + +"'We must score again!' + +"Another Harvard sympathiser, standing nearby, said: + +"'Mr. Wendell, don't you think we have beaten them badly enough? What +more do you want?' + +"'Oh, I want to see them suffer,' retorted Wendell." + +After this game was over and the crowd was surging out of the stadium +that afternoon I heard an energetic newsboy, who was selling the +_Harvard Lampoon_, crying out at the top of his voice: + +"'_Harvard Lampoon_ for sale here. All about the New Haven wreck.'" + + +Eddie Mahan + +There is no question that the American game of football will go on for +years to come. If the future football generals develop a better +all-around man than Eddie Mahan, captain of the great Harvard team of +1915, whose playing brought not only victory to Harvard but was +accompanied by great admiration throughout the football world, they may +well congratulate themselves. From this peerless leader, whose playing +was an inspiration to the men on his team, let us put on record, so that +future heroes may also draw like inspiration from them, some of Mahan's +own recollections of his playing days. + +"I think the greatest game I ever played in was the Princeton game in +1915, because we never knew until the last minute that we had won the +game," says the Crimson star. "There was always a chance of Princeton's +beating us. The score was 10 to 6. I worked harder in that game than in +any game I ever played. + +"Frank Glick's defensive work was nothing short of marvelous. He is the +football player I respect. He hit me so hard. The way I ran, it was +seldom that anybody got a crack at me. I would see a clear space and the +first thing I knew Glick would come from behind somewhere, or somebody, +and would hit me when I least expected it, and he usually hit me good +and hard. It seemed sometimes that he came right out of the ground. I +tell you after he hit me a few times he was the only man I was looking +for; I did not care much about the rest of the team. + +"One of the things that helped me most in my backfield play was Pooch +Donovan's coaching. He practiced me in sprints, my whole freshman year. +He took a great interest in me. He speeded me up. I owe a great debt of +gratitude to Pooch. I could always kick before I went to Harvard, back +in the old Andover days. I learned to kick by punting the ball all the +afternoon, instead of playing football all the time. I think that is the +way men should learn to kick. The more I kicked, the better I seemed to +get." + +Among the many trophies Eddie Mahan has received, he prizes as much as +any the watch presented to him by the townspeople of Natick, his home +town, his last year at Andover, after the football season closed. He was +attending a football game at Natick between Natick High and Milton High. + +"It was all a surprise to me," says Eddie. "They called me out on the +field and presented me with this watch which is very handsomely +inscribed. + +"Well do I recall those wonderful days at Andover and the games between +Andover and Exeter. There is intense rivalry between these two schools. +Many are the traditions at Andover, and some of the men who had preceded +me, and some with whom I played were Jack Curtis, Ralph Bloomer, Frank +Hinkey, Doc Hillebrand and Jim Rodgers. Then there was Trevor Hogg, who +was captain of the Princeton 1916 team, Shelton, Red Braun, Bob Jones. +The older crowd of football men made the game what it is at Andover. +Lately they have had a much younger crowd. When I was at Andover, Johnny +Kilpatrick, Henry Hobbs, Ham Andrews, Bob Foster and Bob McKay had +already left there and gone to college. + +"It has been a great privilege for me to have played on different teams +that have had strong players. I cannot say too much about Hardwick, +Bradlee, and Trumbull. Brickley was one of the hardest men for our +opponents to bring down when he got the ball. He was a phenomenal +kicker. I had also a lot of respect for Mal Logan, who played +quarterback on my team in 1915. He weighed less than 150 pounds. He used +to get into the interference in grand shape. He counted for something. +He was a tough kid. He could stand all sorts of knocks and he used to +get them too. When I was kicking he warded off the big tackles as they +came through. He was always there and nobody could ever block a kick +from his side. The harder they hit him, the stronger he came back every +time." + +When I asked Mahan about fun in football he said: + +"We didn't seem to do much kidding. There was a sort of serious spirit; +Haughton had such an influence over everybody, they were afraid to laugh +before practice, while waiting for Haughton, and after practice +everybody was usually so tired there was not much fooling in the +dressing room; but we got a lot of fun out of the game." + +Of Haughton's coaching methods and the Harvard system Eddie has a few +things to tell us that will be news to many football men. + +"Haughton coaches a great deal by the use of photographs which are taken +of us in practice as well as regular games. He would get us all together +and coach from the pictures--point out the poor work. Seldom were the +good points shown. Nevertheless, he always gave credit to the man who +got his opponent in the interference. Haughton used to say: + +"'Any one can carry a ball through a bunch of dead men.' + +"Haughton is a good organizer. He has been the moving spirit at +Cambridge but by no means the whole Harvard coaching staff. The +individual coaches work with him and with each other. Each one has +control or supreme authority over his own department. The backfield +coach has the picking of men for their positions. Harvard follows +Charlie Daly's backfield play; improved upon somewhat, of course, +according to conditions. Each coach is considered an expert in his own +line. No coach is considered an expert in all fields. This is the method +at Harvard. + +"Outside of Haughton, Bill Withington, Reggie Brown, and Leo Leary have +been the most recent prominent coaches. The Harvard generalship has +been the old Charlie Daly system. Reggie Brown has been a great +strategist. Harvard line play came from Pot Graves of West Point." + +[Illustration: KING, OF HARVARD, MAKING A RUN; MAHAN PUTTING BLACK ON +HIS HEAD] + + +George Chadwick + +What George Chadwick, captain of Yale's winning team of 1902, gave of +himself to Yale football has amply earned the thoroughly remarkable +tributes constantly paid to this great Yale player. He was a most +deceptive man with the ball. In the Princeton game John DeWitt was the +dangerous man on the Princeton team, feared most on account of his great +kicking ability. + +DeWitt has always contended that Chadwick's team was the best Yale team +he ever saw. He says: "It was a better team than Gordon Brown's for the +reason that they had a kicker and Gordon Brown's team did not have a +kicker. But this is only my opinion." + +Yale and Princeton men will not forget in a hurry the two wonderful runs +for touchdowns, one from about the center of the field, that Chadwick +made in 1902. + +"I note," writes Chadwick, "that there is a general impression that the +opening in the line through which I went was large enough to accommodate +an express train. As a matter of fact, the opening was hardly large +enough for me to squeeze through. The play was not to make a large +opening, and I certainly remember the sensation of being squeezed when +going through the line. + +"There were some amusing incidents in connection with that particular +game that come back to me now. I remember that when going down on the +train from New York to Princeton, I was very much amused at Mike +Murphy's efforts to get Tom Shevlin worked up so he would play an extra +good game. Mike kept telling Tom what a good man Davis was and how the +latter was going to put it all over him. Tom clenched his fists, put on +a silly grin and almost wept. It really did me a lot of good, as it +helped to keep my mind off the game. When it did come to the game, his +first big game, Shevlin certainly played wonderful football. + +"I had been ill for about a week and a half before this game and really +had not played in practice for two or three weeks. Mike was rather +afraid of my condition, so he told me to be the last man always to get +up before the ball was put in play. I carefully followed his advice and +as a result a lot of my friends in the stand kept thinking that I had +been hurt. + +"Toward the end of the game we were down about on Princeton's 40-yard +line. It was the third down and the probabilities were that we would not +gain the distance, so I decided to have Bowman try for a drop-kick. I +happened to glance over at the side line and there was old Mike Murphy +making strenuous motions with his foot. The umpire, Dashiell, saw him +too, and put him off the side lines for signalling. I remember being +extremely angry at the time because I was not looking at the side lines +for any signals and had decided on a drop kick anyhow. + +"In my day it was still the policy to work the men to death, to drill +them to endure long hours of practice scrimmage. About two weeks before +the Princeton game in my senior year, we were in a slump. We had a long, +miserable Monday's practice. A lot of the old coaches insisted that +football must be knocked into the men by hard work, but it seemed to me +that the men knew a lot of football. They were fundamentally good and +what they really needed was condition to enable them to show their +football knowledge. It is needless to say that I was influenced greatly +in this by Mike Murphy and his knowledge of men and conditioning them. +Joe Swann, the field coach, and Walter Camp were in accord, so we turned +down the advice of a lot of the older coaches and gave the Varsity only +about five minutes' scrimmage during the week and a half preceding the +Princeton game, with the exception of the Bucknell game the Saturday +before. During the week before the Princeton and Harvard games we went +up to Ardsley and had no practice for three days. There was a +five-minutes' scrimmage on Thursday. This was an unusual proceeding, but +it was so intensely hot the day of the Princeton game, and we all lost +so much weight something unusual had to be done. The team played well in +the Princeton game, but it was simply a coming team then. In the Harvard +game, which we won 23 to 0, it seemed to me that we were at the top of +our form. + +"I think the whole incident was a lesson to us at New Haven of the great +value of condition to men who know a great deal of football. I know from +my own experience during the three preceding years that it had been too +little thought of. The great cry had too often been 'We must drum +football into them, no matter what their physical condition.' + +"After the terribly exhausting game at Princeton, which we won, 12 to 5, +DeWitt Cochrane invited the team to go to his place at Ardsley and +recuperate. It really was our salvation, and I have always been most +grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Cochrane for so generously giving up their +house completely to a mob of youngsters. We spent three delightful days, +almost forgot football entirely, ate ravenously and slept like tops. + +"Big Eddie Glass was a wonderful help in interference. I used to play +left half and Eddie left guard. On plays where I would take the ball +around the end, or skirting tackle, Eddie would either run in the +interference or break through the line and meet me some yards beyond. We +had a great pulling and hauling team that year, and the greatest puller +and hauler was Eddie Glass. Perry Hale, who played fullback my +sophomore year, was a great interferer. He was big, and strong and fast. +On a straight buck through tackle, when he would be behind me, if there +was not a hole in the proper place, he would whirl me all the way round +and shoot me through a hole somewhere else. It would, of course, act as +an impromptu delayed play. In one game I remember making a forty yard +run to a touchdown on such a manoeuver." + +[Illustration: + +McCord Mills Roper Burke Pell Craig Mattis Lathrope Lloyd Bannard Booth +Wheeler Reiter +Poe Edwards Hillebrand +Hutchinson Palmer McClave + +PRINCETON'S 1899 TEAM] + + +Arthur Poe + +There never was as much real football ability concealed in a small +package as there was in that great player, Arthur Poe. He was always +using his head, following the ball, strong in emergency. He was endowed +with a wonderful personality, and a man who always got a lot of fun out +of the game and made fun for others, but yet was on the job every +minute. He always inspired his team mates to play a little harder. +Rather than write anything more about this great player, let us read +with him the part he so ably played in some of Princeton's football +games. + +"The story of my run in 1898 is very simple. Yale tried a mass play on +Doc Hillebrand, which, as usual, was very unsuccessful in that quarter. +He broke through and tackled the man with the ball. While the Yale men +were trying to push him forward, I grabbed the ball from his arms and +had a clear field and about ten yards start for the goal line. I don't +believe I was ever happier in my life than on this day when I made the +Princeton team and scored this touchdown against Yale. + +"In the second half McBride tried a center drive on Booth and Edwards. +The line held and I rushed in, and grabbed the ball, but before I got +very far the Referee blew his whistle, and after I had run across the +goal line I realized that the touchdown was not going to be allowed. + +"Lew Palmer and I were tried at end simply to endeavor to provide a +defense against the return runs of de Saulles on punts. He, by the way, +was the greatest open field runner I have ever seen. + +"My senior year started auspiciously and the prospects for a victorious +eleven appeared especially bright, as only two of the regular players of +the year before had graduated. The first hard game was against Columbia, +coached by Foster Sanford, who had a wealth of material drawn from the +four corners of the earth. In the latter part of the game my opponent by +way of showing his disapproval of my features attempted to change them, +but was immediately assisted to the ground by my running mate and was +undergoing an unpleasant few moments, when Sanford, reinforced by +several dozen substitutes, ran to his rescue and bestowed some unkind +compliments on different parts of my pal's anatomy. With the arrival of +Burr McIntosh and several old grads, however, we were released from +their clutches, and the game proceeded. + +"After the Cornell game the Yale game was close at hand. We were +confident of our ability to win, though we expected a bitter hard +struggle, in which we were not disappointed. Through a well developed +interference on an end run, Reiter was sent around the end for several +long gains, resulting in a touchdown, but Yale retaliated by blocking a +kick and falling on the ball for a touchdown. Sharpe, a few minutes +later, kicked a beautiful goal, so that the score was 10 to 6 in Yale's +favor. The wind was blowing a gale all through the first half and as +Yale had the wind at their backs we were forced to play a rushing game, +but shortly after the second half began the wind died down considerably +so that McBride's long, low kicks were not effective to any great +extent. + +"Yale was on the defensive and we were unable to break through for the +coveted touchdown, though we were able to gain ground consistently for +long advances. In the shadow of their goal line Yale held us mainly +through the wonderful defensive playing of McBride. I never saw a finer +display of backing up the rush line than that of McBride during the +second half. So strenuous was the play that eight substitutions had been +made on our team, but with less than five minutes to play we started a +furious drive for the goal line from the middle of the field, and with +McClave, Mattis and Lathrope carrying the ball we went to Yale's 25-yard +line in quick time. + +"With only about a minute to play it was decided to try a goal from the +field. I was selected as the one to make the attempt. I was standing on +the 34-yard line, about ten yards to the left of centre when I kicked; +the ball started straight for the far goal post, but apparently was +deflected by air currents and curved in not more than a yard from the +post. I turned to the Referee, saw his arms raised and heard him say +'Goal' and then everything broke loose. + +"I saw members of the team turning somersaults, and all I remember after +that was being seized by a crowd of alumni who rushed out upon the +field, and hearing my brother Ned shout, 'You damned lucky kid, you have +licked them again.' I kicked the ball with my instep, having learned +this from Charlie Young of Cornell, who was then at Princeton Seminary +and was playing on the scrub team. The reason I did this was because Lew +Palmer and myself wore light running shoes with light toes, not kicking +shoes at all. + +"After the crowd had been cleared off the field there were only 29 +seconds left to play, and after Yale had kicked off we held the ball +without risking a play until the whistle blew, when I started full speed +for the gate, followed by Bert Wheeler. I recall knocking down several +men as we were bursting through and making our way to the bus. It was +the first, last and only goal from the field I ever attempted, and the +most plausible explanation for its success was probably predestination." + +[Illustration: "NOTHING GOT BY JOHN DeWITT"] + +Arthur Poe was a big factor in football, even when he wasn't running or +kicking Yale down to defeat. + +"Bill Church's roughness, in my freshman year, had the scrub bluffed," +continues Arthur. "When Lew Palmer volunteered to play halfback and take +care of Bill on punts, Bill was surprised on the first kick he attempted +to block to feel Lew's fist on his jaw and immediately shouted: + +"'I like you for that, you damn freshman.' + +"That was the first accident that attracted attention to Lew. Palmer was +one of the gamest men and he won a Varsity place by the hardest kind of +work. + +"Well do I recall the indignation meeting of the scrub to talk over +plans of curbing Johnny Baird and Fred Smith in their endeavor to kill +the scrub." + + +John DeWitt + +Big John DeWitt was the man who brought home the Yale bacon for the +Tigers in 1903. To be exact he not only carried, but also kicked it +home. Two surprise parties by a single player in so hard a game are rare +indeed. Whenever I think of DeWitt I think of his great power of +leadership. He was an ideal captain. He thought things out for himself. +He was the spirit of his team. + +This great Princeton captain was one of the most versatile football men +known to fame. Playing so remarkably in the guard position, he also did +the kicking for his team and was a great power in running with the ball. + +DeWitt thought things out almost instantly and took advantage of every +possible point. The picture on the opposite page illustrates wonderfully +well how he exerted and extended himself. This man put his whole soul +into his work and was never found wanting. His achievements will hold a +conspicuous place in football history. Nothing got by John DeWitt. + +DeWitt's team in 1903 was the first to bring victory over Yale to +Princeton since 1899. On that day John DeWitt scored a touchdown and +kicked a placement goal, which will long be remembered. Let us go back +and play a part of that game over with John himself. + +"Whenever I think of football my recollections go back to the Yale game +of 1903," says DeWitt. "My most vivid recollections are of my loyal team +mates whose wonderful spirit and good fellowship meant so much to the +success of that Eleven. Without their combined effort Princeton could +not have won that day. + +"We had a fine optimistic spirit before the game and the fact that Jim +Hogan scored a touchdown for Yale in the first part of the game seemed +to put us on our mettle and we came back with the spirit that I have +always been proud of. Hogan was almost irresistible. You could hardly +stop him when he had the ball. He scored between Harold Short and myself +and jammed through for about 12 yards to a touchdown. If you tackled Jim +Hogan head on he would pull you right over backwards. He was the +strongest tackle I ever saw. He seemed to have overpowering strength in +his legs. He was a regular player. He never gave up until the whistle +blew, but after the Princeton team got its scoring machine at work, the +Princeton line outplayed the Yale line. + +"I think Yale had as good a team as we had, if not better, that day. The +personnel of the team was far superior to ours, but we had our spirit in +the game. We were going through Yale to beat the band the last part of +the game." + +DeWitt, describing the run that made him famous, says: + +"Towards the end of the first half, with the score 6 to 0 against +Princeton, Yale was rushing us down the field. Roraback, the Yale +center, was not able to pass the ball the full distance back for the +punter. Rockwell took the ball from quarterback position and passed it +to Mitchell, the fullback. On this particular play our whole line went +through on the Yale kick formation. No written account that I have ever +seen has accurately described just what happened. Ralph Davis was the +first man through, and he blocked Mitchell's kick. Ridge Hart, who was +coming along behind him, kicked the loose ball forward and the oval was +about fifteen to twenty yards from where it started. I was coming +through all the time. + +"As the bouncing ball went behind Mitchell it bobbed up right in front +of me. I probably broke all rules of football by picking it up, but the +chances looked good and I took advantage of them. I really was wondering +then whether to pick it up or fall on it, but figured that it was harder +to fall on it than to pick it up, so I put on all the steam I had and +started for the goal. Howard Henry was right behind me until I got near +the goal post. After I had kicked the goal the score was 6 to 6. Never +can I forget the fierce playing on the part of both teams that now took +place. + +"Shortly after this in the second half I punted down into Yale's +territory. Mitchell fumbled and Ralph Davis fell on the ball on the +30-yard line. We tried to gain, but could not. Bowman fell on the ball +after the ensuing kick, which was blocked. It had rolled to the 5-yard +line. Yale tried to gain once; then Bowman went back to kick. I can +never pay enough tribute to Vetterlein, to the rare judgment that he +displayed at this point in the game. When he caught that punt and heeled +it, he used fine judgment; but for his good head work we never would +have won that game. I kicked my goal from the field from the 43-yard +line. + +[Illustration: JOHN DeWITT ABOUT TO PICK UP THE BALL] + +"As Ralph Davis was holding the ball before I kicked it, the Yale +players, who were standing ten yards away were not trying to make it any +the easier for us. I remember in particular Tom Shevlin was kidding +Ralph Davis, who replied: 'Well, Tom, you might as well give it to us +now--the score is going to be 11-6,' and just then what Davis had said +came through. + +"If any one thinks that my entire football experience was a bed of +roses, I want to assure him that it was not. I experienced the sadness +of injury and of not making the team. The first day I lined up I broke +three bones in one hand. Three weeks later, after they had healed I +broke the bones in my other hand and so patiently waited until the +following year to make the team. + +"The next year I went through the bitter experience of defeat, and we +were beaten good and plenty by Yale. Defeat came again in 1902. It was +in that year that I met, as my opponent, the hardest man I ever played +against, Eddie Glass. The Yale team came at me pretty hard the first +fifteen minutes. Glass especially crashed into me. He was warned three +times by Dashiell in the opening part of the game for strenuous work. +Glass was a rough, hard player, but he was not an unfair player at +that. I always liked good, rough football. He played the game for all +it was worth and was a Gibraltar to the Yale team. + +"Now that my playing days are over, I think there is one thing that +young fellows never realize until they are through playing; that they +might have helped more; that they might have given a few extra minutes +to perfect a play. The thing that has always appealed to me most in +football is to think of what might have been done by a little extra +effort. It is very seldom you see a man come off the field absolutely +used up. I have never seen but one or two cases where a man had to be +helped to the dressing room. I have always thought such a man did not +give as much as he should,--we're all guilty of this offense. A little +extra punch might have made a touchdown." + +Tichenor, of the University of Georgia, tells the following: + +"In a Tech-Georgia game a peculiar thing happened. One of the goal lines +was about seven yards from the fence which was twelve feet high and +perfectly smooth. Tech had worked the ball down to within about three +yards of Georgia's goal near the fence. Here the defense of the Red and +Black stiffened and, taking the ball on downs, Ted Sullivan immediately +dropped back for a kick. The pass was none too good and he swung his +foot into the ball, which struck the cross bar, bounded high up in the +air, over the fence, behind the goal post. + +"Then began the mighty wall-scaling struggle to get over the fence and +secure the coveted ball. As fast as one team would try to boost each +other over, their opponents would pull them down. This contest continued +for fully five minutes while the crowd roared with delight. In the +meantime George Butler, the Referee, took advantage of the situation +and, with the assistance of several spectators, was boosted over the +fence where he waited for some player to come and fall on the ball, +which was fairly hidden in a ditch covered over with branches. Butler +tells to this day of the amusing sight as he beheld first one pair of +hands grasping the top of the fence; one hand would loosen, then the +other; then another set of hands would appear. Heads were bobbing up and +down and disappearing one after the other. The crowd now became +interested and showed their partiality, and with the assistance of some +of the spectators a Tech player made his way over the fence and began +his search for the ball, closely followed by a Georgia player. They +rushed around frantically looking for the ball. Then Red Wilson joined +in the search and quickly located it in the ditch; soon had it safely in +his arms and Tech scored a touchdown. + +"This was probably the only touchdown play in the history of the game +which none of the spectators saw and which only the Referee and two +other players saw at the time the player touched the ball down." + +That Charlie Brickley was in the way of bringing home the bacon to +Harvard is well known to all. There have been very few players who were +as reliable as this star. It was in his senior year that he was captain +of the team and when the announcement came at the start of the football +season that Brickley had been operated upon for appendicitis the +football world extended to him its deepest sympathy. During his illness +he yearned to get out in time to play against Yale. This all came true. +The applause which greeted him when Haughton sent this great player into +the game--with the Doctor's approval--must have impressed him that one +and all were glad to see him get into the game. + +Let us hear what Brickley has to say about playing the game. + +"I have often been asked how I felt when attempting a drop kick in a +close game before a large crowd. During my first year I was a little +nervous, but after that it didn't bother me any more than as if I were +eating lunch. Constant practice for years gave me the feeling that I +could kick the ball over every time I tried. If I was successful, those +who have seen me play are the best judges. Confidence is a necessity in +drop kicking. The three hardest games I ever played in were the +Dartmouth 3 to 0 game in 1912, and Princeton 3 to 0 in 1913, and the +Yale 15 to 5 game of the same year. The hardest field goal I ever had to +kick was against Princeton in the mud in 1913. + +[Illustration: THE EVER RELIABLE BRICKLEY] + +[Illustration: A FOOTBALL THOROUGHBRED--TACK HARDWICK] + +"The most finished player in all around play I ever came across is Tack +Hardwick. He could go through a game, or afternoon's practice and +perform every fundamental function of the game in perfect fashion. The +most interesting and remarkable player I ever came across was Eddie +Mahan. He could do anything on the football field. He was so versatile, +that no real defense could be built against him. He had a wonderful +intuitive sense and always did just the right thing at the right time." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"THE BLOODY ANGLE" + + +Football in its very nature is a rough game. It calls for the contact of +bodies under high momentum and this means strains and bruises! Thanks to +the superb physical condition of players, it usually means nothing more +serious. + +The play, be it ever so hard, is not likely to be dangerous provided it +is clean, and the worst indictment that can be framed against a player +of to-day, and that by his fellows, is that he is given to dirty +tactics. This attitude has now been established by public opinion, and +is reflected in turn by the strictness of officials, the sentiment of +coaches and football authorities generally. So scientific is the game +to-day that only the player who can keep his head, and clear his mind of +angry emotions, is really a valuable man in a crisis. + +Again, the keynote of success in football to-day is team work, perfect +interlocking of all parts. In the old days play was individual, man +against man, and this gave rise in many cases to personal animosity +which frequently reduced great football contests to little more than +pitched battles. Those who to-day are prone to decry football as a +rough and brutal sport--which it no longer is--might at least reverse +their opinions of the present game, could they have spent a certain +lurid afternoon in the fall of '87 at Jarvis Field where the elevens of +Harvard and Princeton fought a battle so sanguinary as to come down to +us through the years legended as a real _crimson_ affair. One of the +saddest accidents that ever occurred on a university football field +happened in this contest and suggested the caption of "the Bloody +Angle," the historic shambles of the great Gettysburg battle. + +Luther Price, who played halfback on the Princeton teams of '86 and '87 +and who was acting captain the larger part of the latter season, tells +the following story of the game: + +"Princeton's contest with Harvard in the autumn of '87 was the bloodiest +game that I ever experienced or saw. At that period the football +relations between the two colleges were fast approaching a crisis and +the long break between the institutions followed a couple of seasons +later. It is perhaps true that the '87 game was largely responsible for +the rupture because it left secret bitterness. + +"In fact, the game was pretty near butchery and the defects of the rules +contributed to this end. Both sides realized that the contest was going +to be a hummer but neither imagined the extent of the casualties. Had +the present rules applied there would have been a long string of +substitutes in the game and the caption of 'The Bloody Angle' could not +have been applied. + +"In those days an injured player was not allowed to leave the field of +play without the consent of the opponents' captain. One can easily grasp +the fact that your adversaries' captain was not apt to permit a player, +battered almost to worthlessness, to go to the bench and to allow you to +substitute a strong and fresh player. Therein lies the tale of this +game. + +"Princeton was confident of winning but not overconfident. We went out +to Jarvis field on a tallyho from Boston, and I recall how eagerly we +dashed upon the field, anxious for the scrap to begin. It was a clear, +cold day with a firm turf--a condition that helped us, as we were +lighter than Harvard, especially behind the line. None of our backs +weighed more than 155 pounds. + +"Holden, the Crimson captain, was probably the most dangerous of our +opponents. He was a deceptive running back owing to the difficulty of +gauging his pace. He was one of the speediest sprinters in the Eastern +colleges and if he managed to circle either end it was almost good-bye +to his opponents. + +"We were all lying in wait for Holden, not to cripple him or take any +unfair advantage, but to see that he did not cross our goal line. It was +not long before we had no cause to be concerned on that score. But +before Holden was disposed of we suffered a most grievous loss in the +disqualification of Hector Cowan, our left guard and our main source of +strength. Princeton worked a majority of the tricks through Cowan and +when he was gone we lost the larger part of our offensive power. + +"Cowan's disqualification was unjustified by his record or by any +tendency toward unfair play, though this statement should not be +regarded as a reflection on the fairness of Wyllys Terry, the old Yale +player, who was the umpire. Walter Camp, by the way, was the referee. + +"There never was a fairer player than Cowan, and such a misfortune as +losing him by disqualification for any act on the field was never dreamt +of by the Princeton men. The trouble was that Terry mistook an accident +for a deliberate act. Holden was skirting Princeton's left end when +Cowan made a lunge to reach him. Holden's deceptive pace was nearly too +much for even such a star as Cowan, whose hands slipped from the Harvard +captain's waist down to below his knees until the ankles were touched. +Cowan could have kept his hands on Holden's ankles, but as tackling +below the knees was foul, he quickly let go. But Holden tumbled and +several Princeton men were on him in a jiffy. + +"Harvard immediately claimed that it was a foul tackle. It was a +desperate claim but it proved successful. To our astonishment and +chagrin, Terry ruled Cowan off the field. Cowan was thunderstruck at the +decision and protested that he never meant to tackle unfairly. We argued +with Terry but he was unrelenting. To him it seemed that Cowan meant to +make a foul tackle. The situation was disheartening but we still felt +that we had a good chance of pulling through even without Cowan. + +"What was particularly galling to us was that we had allowed two +touchdowns to slip from our grasp. Twice we had carried the ball to +within a few yards of the Harvard line and had dropped the ball when +about to cross it. Both errors were hardly excusable and were traceable +to over-anxiety to score. With Cowan on the field we had found that he +could open up the Harvard line for the backs to make long runs but now +that he was gone we could be sure of nothing except grilling work. + +"Soon after occurred the most dramatic and lamentable incident which put +Holden out of the game. We had been warned long before the contest that +Holden was a fierce tackler and that if we, who were back of the +Princeton line, wished to stay in the game it would be necessary to +watch out for his catapultic lunges. + +"Holden made his tackles low, a kind of a running dive with his head +thrust into his quarry's stomach. The best policy seemed, in case Holden +had you cornered, to go at him with a stiff arm and a suddenly raised +knee to check his onslaught and, if possible, shake him off in the +shuffle, but that was a mighty difficult matter for light backs to do. + +"First the line was opened up so that I went through. Harding, the +Harvard quarter, who was running up and down the Crimson line like a +panther, didn't get me. My hand went against his face and somehow I got +rid of him. Finally I reached Holden, who played the fullback position +while on the defensive, and had him to pass in order to get a touchdown. +There was a savage onslaught and Holden had me on the ground. + +"A few moments later Ames, who played back with Channing and me, went +through the Harvard line and again Holden was the only obstacle to a +touchdown for Princeton. There was another savage impact and both +players rolled upon the ground, but this time Holden did not get up. He +got his man but he was unconscious or at least seemingly so. His chest +bone had been broken. It was a tense moment. We all felt a pang of +sympathy, for Holden was a square, if rough, player. Harvard's cheers +subsided into murmurs of sorrow and Holden was carried tenderly off the +field. + +"The accident made Harvard desperate, and as we were without Cowan we +were in the same mental condition. It was hammer and tongs from that +time on. I don't know that there was any intention to put players out +of business, but there was not much mercy shown. + +"It appeared to me that some doubt existed on the Harvard side as to who +caused Holden's chest bone to be broken, but that the suspicion was +mainly directed at me. Several years later an article written at Harvard +and published in the _Public Ledger_ in Philadelphia gave a long account +of how I broke Holden's chest bone. This seemed to confirm my notion +that there was a mixup of identity. However that may be, it soon became +evident in the game that I was marked for slaughter. + +"Vic Harding made a profound and lasting impression on me both with his +hands and feet. In fact, Harding played in few games of importance in +which he was not disqualified. He was not a bad fellow at all in social +relations, but on a football field he was the limit of 'frightfulness.' +I don't know of any player that I took so much pleasure in punching as +Harding. Ames and Harding also took delight in trying to make each +other's faces change radically in appearance. + +"I think that Harding began to paint my face from the start of the game +and that as it proceeded he warmed up to the task, seeing that he was +making a pretty good job of it. He had several mighty able assistants. +The work was done with several hundred Wellesley College girls, who were +seated on benches close to the sideline, looking on with the deepest +interest and, as it soon appeared, with much sympathy. I will not forget +how concerned they looked. + +"By the middle of the second half I guess they did see a spectacle in me +for they began to call to me and hold out handkerchiefs. At first I +didn't realize what they meant for I was so much engaged with the duties +that lay in front of me that it was difficult to notice them, but their +entreaties soon enlightened me. They were asking me as a special favor +to clean my face with their handkerchiefs, but I replied--perhaps rather +abruptly--that I really didn't have time to attend to my facial toilet. + +"My nose had been broken, both eyes well closed and my canvas jacket and +doeskin knickerbockers were scarlet or crimson--whichever you prefer--in +hue. Strength was quickly leaving me and the field swam. I finally +propped myself up against a goal post. The next thing I knew was that I +was being helped off the field. My brother, Billy, who was highly +indignant over the developments, took my place. This was about ten or +fifteen minutes before the end of the game, which then consisted of two +45 minute periods. + +"Ames emerged from the game with nothing more than the usual number of +cuts and bruises. At that time we did not have any nose-guards, +head-guards and other paraphernalia such as are used nowadays, except +that we could get ankle braces, and Ames wore one. That ankle stood the +test during the fight. + +"A majority of the other players were pretty well cut up. After Cowan +was disqualified Bob (J. Robb) Church, subsequently Major in the United +States Army Medical Corps and formerly the surgeon of Roosevelt's Rough +Riders in the Spanish War, was shifted from tackle to Cowan's position +at guard. Chapin, a brilliant student, who had changed from Amherst to +Princeton, went in at tackle. He was a rather erratic player, and +Harvard kept pounding in his direction with the result that Bob Church +had a sea of trouble and I was forced to move up close to the line for +defensive work. It was this that really put me out of business. My left +shoulder had been hurt early in the season and it was bound in rubber, +but fortunately it was not much worse off than at the beginning of the +game. + +"Bob Church risked his life more than once in the Spanish War and for +his valor he received a Medal of Honor from Congress, but it is safe to +say that he never got such a gruelling as in this Harvard game. He was +battered to the extent of finding it difficult to rise after tackling +and finally he was lining up on his knees. It was a magnificent +exhibition of pluck. As I recall, Bob lasted to the end of the game. + +"It was not until near the close that any scoring took place and then +Harvard made two touchdowns in quick succession. We lacked substitutes +to put in and, even if we had had them, it is doubtful whether we could +have got them in as long as a player was able to stand up. The only +satisfaction we had was that we had done the best we could to win and +our confidence that with Cowan we could have won even if Holden had not +been hurt. We had beaten Harvard the year before with essentially the +same team that we played in this game." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FAMILY IN FOOTBALL + + +It is almost possible, I think, to divide football men into two distinct +classes--those who are made into players (and often very good ones) by +the coaches and those who are born with the football instinct. Just how +to define football instinct is a puzzle, but it is very easy to discern +it in a candidate, even if he never saw a football till he set foot on +the campus. By and large, it will be read first in a natural aptitude +for following the ball. After that, in the general way he has of +handling himself, from falling on the ball to dodging and straight arm. +Watch the head coach grin when some green six-foot freshman dives for a +rolling ball and instinctively clutches it into the soft part of his +body as he falls on it. Nobody told him to do it just that way, or to +keep his long arms and legs under control so as to avoid accident, but +he does it nevertheless and thus shows his football instinct. + +There is still another kind of football instinct, and that is the kind +that is passed down from father to son and from brother to brother. They +say that the lacemakers of Nottingham don't have to be taught how to +make lace because, as children, they somehow absorb most of the +necessary knowledge in the bosom of their family, and I think the same +thing is true of sons and brothers of football players. Generally, they +pick up the essentials of the game from "Pop" long before they get to +school or college or else are properly educated by an argus-eyed +brother. + +[Illustration: + +Johnson Edgar Allen +Arthur Nelson Gresham Johnny + +THE POE FAMILY] + +But the matter of getting football knowledge--of developing the +instinct--isn't always left to the boy. Unless I'm grievously mistaken +it's more often the fond father who takes the first step. In fact, some +fathers I've known have, with a commendable eye to future victories, +even dated the preparation of their offspring from the hour when he was +first shown them by the nurse: "Let me take a squint at the little +rascal," says the beaming father and expertly examines the young +hopeful's legs. "Ah, hah, bully! We'll make a real football player out +of _him_!" + +And so, some day when Dick or Ken is six or seven, Father produces a +strange looking, leather-cased bladder out of a trunk where Mother +hasn't discovered it and blows it up out on the front porch under the +youngster's inquisitive eye and tucks in the neck and laces it up. + +"What is it, Pop? What you going to do with it?" + +"That's what men call a football, Son. And right now I'm going to _kick_ +it." And kick it he does--all around the lot--until after a particularly +good lift he chuckles to himself, the old war horse, and with the smell +of ancient battles in his nostrils sits down to give the boy his first +lesson in the manliest and best game on earth. And this first lesson is +tackling. Perhaps the picture on the opposite page will remind you of +the time you taught _your_ boys the good old game. + +This particular kind of football instinct has produced many of the +finest players the colleges have ever seen. In a real football family +there isn't much bluffing as to what you can do nor are there many +excuses for a fumble or a missed tackle. With your big brothers' ears +open and their tongues ready with a caustic remark, it doesn't need +"Pop's" keen eye to keep you within the realms of truth as to the length +of your run or why you missed that catch. + +Quite often, as it happens, "Pop" is thinking of a certain big game he +once played in and remembering a play--Ah! if only he could forget that +play!--in which he fumbled and missed the chance of a life-time. Like +some inexorable motion picture film that refuses to throw anything but +one fatal scene on the screen, his recollections make the actors take +their well-remembered positions and the play begins. For the thousandth +time he gnashes his teeth as he sees the ball slip from his grasp. +"Dog-gone it," he mutters, "if my boy doesn't do better in the big game +than _I_ did, I'll whale the hide off him!" + +Strangely enough not all brothers of a football family follow one +another to the same college, and there have been several cases where +brother played against brother. But for the only son of a great player +to go anywhere else than to his father's college would be rank heresy. I +daresay even the other college wouldn't like it. + +[Illustration: JUST BOYS] + +Of famous fathers whose football instinct descended without dilution +into their sons perhaps the easiest remembered have been Walter Camp, +who captained the Elis in '78 and '79 and whose son, Walter, Jr., played +fullback in 1911--Alfred T. Baker, one of the Princeton backs in '83, +and '84, whose son Hobey captained his team in 1914--Snake Ames, who +played in four championship games for Princeton against both Yale and +Harvard, and whose son, Knowlton Ames, Jr., played on the Princeton +teams of '12, '13 and '14--and that sterling Yale tackle of '91 and '92, +"Wallie" Winter, whose son, Wallace, Jr., played on his Freshman team in +1915. + +When we come to enumerating the brothers who have played, it is the Poe +family which comes first to mind. Laying aside friendship or natural +bias, I feel that my readers will agree with me in the belief that it +would be hard to find six football players ranking higher than the six +Poe brothers. Altogether, Princeton has seen some twenty-two years of +Poes, during at least thirteen of which there was a Poe on the Varsity +team. Johnson Poe, '84, came first, to be followed by Edgar Allen, twice +captain, then by Johnny, now in his last resting place "somewhere in +France," then by Nelson, then Arthur, twice the fly in Yale's ointment, +and lastly by Gresham Poe. I haven't a doubt but that after due lapse of +time this wonderful family will produce other Poes, sons and cousins, to +carry on the precious tradition. + +Next in point of numbers probably comes the Riggs family of five +brothers, of whom three, Lawrence, Jesse and Dudley, played on Princeton +teams, while Harry and Frank were substitutes. The Hodge family were +four who played at Princeton--Jack, Hugh, Dick and Sam. + +After the Riggs family comes the Young family of Cornell--Ed., Charles, +George and Will--all of whom played tremendously for the Carnelian and +White in the nineties. Charles Young later studied at the Theological +Seminary at Princeton and played wonderful football on the scrub in my +time from sheer love of sport, since as he is, at this writing, physical +director at Cornell. Amherst boasts of the wonderful Pratt brothers, who +did much for Amherst football. + +Of threes there are quite a number. Prominent among them have been the +Wilsons of both Yale and Princeton, Tom being a guard on the Princeton +teams of 1911 and 1912, while Alex captained Yale in 1915 and saw +another brother in orange and black waiting on the side lines across the +field. Situations like this are always productive of thrills. Let the +brother who has been waiting longingly throw off his blanket and rush +across the field into his position and instantly the news flashes +through the stands. "Brother against brother!" goes the thrilling +whisper--and every heart gives an extra throb as it hungers in an unholy +but perfectly human way for a clash between the two. There were three +Harlan brothers who played at Princeton in '81, '83, '84. + +At Harvard Lothrope, Paul and Ted Withington; Percy, Jack and Sam +Wendell. + +In Cornell a redoubtable trio were the Taussigs. Of these J. Hawley +Taussig played end for four years ending with the '96 team. Charles +followed in the same position in '99, '00 and '01 and Joseph K., later +Lieutenant Commander of the torpedoboat destroyer _Wadsworth_ played +quarter on the Naval Academy team in '97 and '98. + +A third trio of brothers were the Greenways of Yale. Of these, John and +Gil Greenway played both football and baseball while Jim Greenway rowed +on the crew. Another Princeton family, well known, has been the Moffats. +The first of these to play football was Henry, who played on the '73 +team which was the first to beat Yale. He was followed by the +redoubtable Alex, who kicked goals from all over the field in '82, '83, +and '84, by Will Moffat who was a Varsity first baseman and by Ned +Moffat who played with me at Lawrenceville. Equally well known have been +the Hallowells of Harvard--F. W. Hallowell, '93, R. H. Hallowell, '96, +and J. W. Hallowell, '01. Another Hallowell--Penrose--was on the track +team, while Colonel Hallowell, the father, was always a power in Harvard +athletics. + +When we come to cite the pairs of brothers who have played, the list +seems endless. The first to come to mind are Laurie Bliss of the Yale +teams of '90, '91 and '92 and "Pop" Bliss of the '92 team, principally, +I think, because of Laurie's wonderful end running behind interference +and because "Pop" Bliss, at a crucial moment in a Harvard-Yale game +deliberately disobeyed the signal to plunge through centre on Harvard's +2-yard line and ingeniously ran around the end for a touchdown. Tommy +Baker and Alfred Baker were brothers. + +Continuing the Yale list, there have been the Hinkeys, Frank and Louis, +who need no praise as wonderful players--Charlie and Johnny de +Saulles--Sherman and "Ted" Coy--W. O. Hickok, the famous guard of '92, +'93 and '94 and his brother Ross--Herbert and Malcolm McBride, both of +whom played fullback--Tad Jones and his brother Howard--the Philbins, +Steve and Holliday--Charlie Chadwick and his younger brother, George, +who captained his team in 1902. Their father before them was an athlete. + +In Harvard there have been the Traffords, Perry and Bernie--Arthur +Brewer and Charley the fleet of foot, who ran ninety yards in the +Harvard-Princeton game of 1895 and caught Suter from behind--the two +Shaws,--Evarts Wrenn, '92 and his famous cousin Bob who played tennis +quite as well as he played football. + +[Illustration: HOBEY BAKER WALTER CAMP, JR. SNAKE AMES, JR.] + +Princeton, too, has seen many pairs of brothers--"Beef" Wheeler, the +famous guard of '92, '93 and '94 and Bert Wheeler, the splendid fullback +of '98 and '99 whose cool-headed playing helped us win from Yale both in +Princeton and at New Haven--the Rosengartens, Albert and his cousin +Fritz and Albert's brother who played for Pennsylvania--the Tibbotts, +Dave and Fred--J. R. Church, '88, and Bill Church, the roaring, stamping +tackle of '95 and '96--Ross and Steve McClave--Harry and George +Lathrope--Jarvis Geer and Marshall Geer who played with me on teams at +both school and college--Billy Bannard and Horace Bannard--Fred Kafer +and Dana Kafer, the first named being also the very best amateur catcher +I have ever seen. Fred Kafer, by the way, furnished an interesting +anachronism in that while he was one of the ablest mathematicians of his +time in college he found it wellnigh impossible to remember his football +signals! Let us not forget, too, Bal Ballin, who was a Princeton +captain, and his brother Cyril. + +In other colleges, the instances of football skill developed by +brotherly emulation have been nearly as well marked. Dartmouth, for +instance, produced the Bankhart brothers--Cornell, the Starbucks--one +of them, Raymond, captaining his team--the Cools, Frank and Gib--the +latter being picked by good judges as the All-America center in +1915--and the Warners, Bill and Glenn. + +The greatest three players from any one family that ever played the +backfield would probably be the three Draper brothers--Louis, Phil and +Fred. All went to Williams and all were stars; heavy, fast backs, who +were good both on defense and offense, capable of doing an immense +amount of work and never getting hurt. + +At Pennsylvania, there have been the Folwells, Nate and R. C. Folwell +and the Woodruffs, George and Wiley, although George Woodruff, +originator of the celebrated "guards back," was a Yale man long before +he coached at Pennsylvania. It is impossible for any one who saw Jack +Minds play to forget this great back of '94, '95, '96 and '97, whose +brother also wore the Red and Blue a few years later. + +Doubtless there have been many more fathers, brothers and sons who have +been equally famous and I ask indulgence for my sins of omission, for +the list is long. Principally, I have recalled their names for the +reason that I knew or now know many of these great players intimately +and so have learned the curious longing--perhaps "passion"--for the game +which is passed from one to the other of a football family. In a way +this might be compared with the military spirit which allows a family +to state proudly that "_we_ have always been Army (or Navy) people." And +who shall say that the clash and conflict of this game, invented and +played only by thoroughly virile men, are not productive of precisely +those qualities of which the race may, some day, well stand in need. If +by the passing down from father to son and from brother to brother of a +spirit of cheerful self-denial throughout the hard fall months--of grim +doggedness under imminent defeat and of fair play at all times, whether +victor or vanquished--a finer, truer sense of what a man may be and do +is forged out of the raw material, then football may feel that it has +served a purpose even nobler than that of being simply America's +greatest college game. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +OUR GOOD OLD TRAINERS + + +There are not many football enthusiasts who analyze the factors that +bring victory. Many of us do not appreciate the importance attached to +the trainer, or realize the great part that he plays, until we are out +of college. We know that the men who bore the brunt of the battle have +received their full share of glory--the players and coaches. + +But there arises in the midst of our athletic world men who trained, men +who safeguarded the players. Trainers have been associated with football +since the early eighties, and a careful trainer's eye should ever be on +the lookout wherever football is played. Players, coaches and trainers +go hand in hand in football. + +Every one of these men that I have known has had a strong personality. +Each one, however, differed somewhat from the others. There is a great +affection on the part of the players for the man who cares for their +athletic welfare. These men are often more than mere trainers. Their +personalities have carried them farther than the dressing room. Their +interest in the boys has continued after they left college. Their +influence has been a lasting one, morally, as well as physically. + +On account of their association, the trainers keep pace with the men +about them; not limiting their interest to athletics. They are always +found entertaining at the athletic banquets, and their personalities +count for much on the campus. They are all but boys grown up, with well +known athletic records behind them. In the hospital, or in the quietness +of a college room, or on trips, the trainer is a friend and adviser. + +Go and talk to the trainer of the football team if you want to get an +unbiased opinion of the team's work or of the value of the individual +coaches. Some of our trainers know much about the game of football--the +technical side--and their advice is valuable. + +Every trainer longs to handle good material, but more power to the +trainer who goes ahead with what he's got and makes the best out of it +without a murmur. In our recollections we know of teams that were +reported to be going stale--"over-trained"--"a team of cripples"--who +slumped--could not stand the test--were easily winded--could not endure. + +They were nightmares to the trainer. Soon you read in the daily press +indications that a change of trainer is about to take place in such a +college. + +Then we turn to another page of our recollections where we read: + +"The team is fit to play the game of their lives." "Only eleven men +were used in to-day's game." "Great tribute to the trainer." "Men could +have played all day"--"no time taken out"--"not a man injured"--"pink of +condition." Usually all this spells victory. + +Jack McMasters was the first trainer that I met. "Scottie," as every one +affectionately called him, never asked a man to work for him any harder +than he would work himself. In a former chapter you have read how Jack +and I put in some hard work together. + +I recall a trip to Boston, where Princeton was to play Harvard. Most of +the Princeton team had retired for the night. About ten o'clock Arthur +Poe came down into the corridor of the Vendome Hotel and told "Scottie" +that Bill Church and Johnny Baird were upstairs taking a cold shower. + +Jack was furious, and without stopping for the elevator hustled upstairs +two steps at a time only to find both of these players sound asleep in +bed. Needless to say that Arthur Poe kept out of sight until Jack +retired for the night. A trainer's life is not all pleasure. + +Once after the train had started from Princeton this same devilish +Arthur Poe, as Jack would call him, rushed up forward to where Jack was +sitting in the train and said: + +"Jack, I don't see Bummie Booth anywhere on the train. I guess he must +have been left behind." + +With much haste and worry Jack made a hurried search of the entire train +to find Booth sitting in the last seat in the rear car with a broad grin +on his face. + +Jack's training experience was a very broad one. He trained many +victorious teams at Harvard after he left Princeton and was finally +trainer at Annapolis. A pronounced decoration that adorns "Scottie" is a +much admired bunch of gold footballs and baseballs, which he wears +suspended from his watch chain--in fact, so many, that he has had to +have his chain reinforced. If you could but sit down with Jack and +admire this prized collection and listen to some of his prized +achievements--humorous stories of the men he has trained and some of the +victories which these trophies designate you would agree with me that no +two covers could hold them. + +But we must leave Jack for the present at home with his family in Sandy +Hook Cottage, Drummore by Stranraer, Scotland, in the best of health, +happy in his recollection of a service well rendered and appreciated by +every one who knew him. + + +Jim Robinson + +There was something about Jim Robinson that made the men who knew him in +his training days refer to him as "Dear Old Jim," and although he no +longer cries out from the side lines "trot up, men," a favorite +expression of his when he wanted to keep the men stirring about, there +still lives within all of us who knew him a keen appreciation of his +service and loyalty to the different colleges where he trained. + +He began training at Princeton in 1883 and he finished his work there. +How fine was the tribute that was paid him on the day of his funeral! +Dolly Dillon, captain of the 1906 team, and his loyal team mates, all of +whom had been carefully attended by Jim Robinson on the football field +that fall, acted as pallbearers. There was also a host of old athletes +and friends from all over the country who came to pay their last tribute +to this great sportsman and trainer. + +Mike Murphy and Jim Robinson were always contesting trainers. At +Princeton that day with the team gathered around, Murphy related some +interesting and touching experiences of Jim's career. + +Jim's family still lives at Princeton, and on one of my recent visits +there, I called upon Mrs. Robinson. We talked of Jim, and I saw again +the loving cups and trophies that Jim had shown me years before. + +Jim Robinson trained many of the heroes of the old days, Hector Cowan +being one of them. In later years he idolized the playing of that great +football hero, John DeWitt, who appreciated all that Jim did to make +his team the winner. The spirit of Jim Robinson was comforting as well +as humorous. No mention of Jim would be complete without his dialect. + +[Illustration: THE ELECT] + +He was an Englishman and abused his h's in a way that was a delight to +the team. Ross McClave tells of fun at the training table one day when +he asked Jim how to spell "saloon." Jim, smiling broadly and knowing he +was to amuse these fellows as he had the men in days gone by, said: +"Hess--Hay--Hell--two Hoes--and--a Hen." + +Few men got more work out of a team than did Jim Robinson. There was +always a time for play and a time for work with Jim. + + +Mike Murphy + +Mike Murphy was the dean of trainers. + +Bob Torrey, one of the most remarkable center-rushes that Pennsylvania +ever had, is perhaps one of the greatest admirers of Mike Murphy during +his latter years. Torrey can tell it better than I can. + +"Murphy's sense of system was wonderful; he was a keen observer and had +a remarkable memory; he seemed to do very little in the way of +bookkeeping, but his mind was carefully pigeon-holed and was a perfect +card index. + +"He could have thirty men on the field at once and carry on +conversations with visitors and graduates; issue orders to workmen and +never lose sight of a single one of his men. He was popular wherever he +went. His fame was not only known here, but abroad. His charm of manner +and his cheerful courage will be remembered by all who knew him, but +only those who knew him well realize what an influence he had on the +boys with whom he worked, and how high were his ideals of manhood. The +amount of good done by Mike Murphy in steering boys into the right track +can never be estimated." + +Prep' School boys athletically inclined followed Murphy. Many a man went +to college in order to get Murphy's training. He was an athletic magnet. + + +"The Old Mike" + +The town of Natick, Mass., boasts of Mike Murphy's early days. Wonderful +athletic traditions centered there. His early days were eventful for his +athletic success, as he won all kinds of professional prizes for short +distance running. Boyhood friends of Mike Murphy tell of the comradeship +among Mike Murphy, Keene Fitzpatrick, Pooch and Piper Donovan--all +Natick boys. They give glowing accounts of the "truck team" consisting +of this clever quartet, each of whom were "ten-second" men in the +sprinting game. + +If that great event which was run off at the Marlboro Fair and Cattle +Show could be witnessed to-day, thousands of admirers would love to see +in action those trainers, see them as the Natick Hose truck defeated +the Westboro team that day, and sent the Westboro contingent home with +shattered hopes and empty pocketbooks. + +"In connection with Army-Navy games," writes Crolius of Dartmouth, "I'll +never forget Mike Murphy's wonderful ability to read men's condition by +their 'mental attitude.' He was nearly infallible in his diagnosis." + +Once we questioned Mike. He said, "Go get last year's money back, you're +going to lick them!" And true to his uncanny understanding he was right. +Was it any wonder that men gave Murphy the credit due him? + +Mike Murphy had a strong influence over the players. He was their +ever-present friend. He could talk to a man, and his personality could +reach farther than any of the coaches. The teams that Murphy talked to +between the halves, both at Yale and Pennsylvania, were always inspired. +Mike Murphy always gave a man something of himself. + +It is interesting to read what a fellow trainer, Keene Fitzpatrick, has +to say of Mike: + +"Mike first started to train at Yale. Then he went to the Detroit +Athletic Club in Detroit; then he came back to Yale; then he went to the +University of Pennsylvania; then back to Yale again, and finally back to +the University of Penn', where he died. + +"We were always great friends and got together every summer; we used to +go up to a little country town, Westboro, on a farm; had a little room +in a farmhouse outside of the town of Natick, and there we used to get +together every year (Mike and Fitz') and share our opinions, and compare +and give each other the benefit of our discoveries of the season's work. + +"Murphy was one of the greatest sprinters this world ever had. They +called him 'stucky' because he had so much grit and determination. The +year after Mike died the Intercollegiate was held at Cambridge. All the +trainers got together and a lot of flowers were sent out to Mike's grave +in Hopkinton, Massachusetts." + + +A CHAT WITH POOCH DONOVAN + +Pooch Donovan's success at Harvard goes hand in hand with that of +Haughton. + +In the great success of Harvard's Varsity, year after year, the fine +hand of the trainer has been noticeable. Harvard's teams have stood the +test wonderfully well, and all the honors that go with victory have been +heaped upon Pooch Donovan's head. + +Every man on the Harvard squad knows that Donovan can get as much work +out of his players as it is possible for any human being to get out of +them. Pooch Donovan served at Yale in 1888, 1889 and 1890, when Mike +Murphy was trainer there. He and Donovan used to have long talks +together and they were ever comparing notes on the training of varsity +teams. Pooch Donovan owes much to Mike Murphy, and the latter was +Pooch's loyal supporter. + +"What made Mike Murphy a sturdy man, was that he was such a hard +loser--he could not stand to lose," says Donovan. + +"You know the thing that keeps me young is working shoulder to shoulder +with these young fellows." This to me, in the dressing-room, where we +have no time for anything but cold truths. "It was the same thing that +kept Mike Murphy going ten years after the doctors said he would soon be +all in. That was when he returned to Yale, after he had been at +Pennsylvania. There is something about this sort of work that +invigorates us and keeps us young. I'm no longer a young man in years, +but it is the spirit and inspiration of youth with which this work +identifies me that keeps me really young." + +When I asked Pooch about Eddie Mahan's great all-around ability, his +face lighted up, and I saw immediately that what I had heard was +true--that Donovan simply idolized Eddie Mahan. Mahan lives in Natick, +Massachusetts, where Donovan also has his home. He has seen Ned Mahan +grow to manhood. Mahan had his first football training as a player on +the Natick High School team. + +"Ned Mahan," said Pooch, "was the best all-around football man I have +ever handled. He was easy to handle, eager to do as he was told, and he +never caused the trainer any worry. Up to the very last moment he +played, he was eager to learn everything he could that would improve his +game. He had lots of football ability. + +"You know Mahan was a great star at Andover. He kicked wonderfully there +and was good in all departments of the game, and he improved a hundred +per cent. after he came to Harvard." + +Pooch Donovan told me about the first day that Eddie Mahan came out upon +the Harvard field. At Cambridge, little is known by the head coach about +a freshman's ability. One day Haughton said to Pooch Donovan: + +"Where is that Natick friend of yours? Bring him over to the Stadium and +let's see him kick." + +Donovan got Mahan and Haughton said to Mahan: + +"Let's see you kick." + +Mahan boosted the ball seventy yards, and Haughton said: + +"What kind of a kick is that?" + +Mahan thought it was a great kick. + +"How do you think any ends can cover that?" said Haughton. + +Mahan thereupon kicked a couple more, low ones, but they went about as +far. + +"Who told you _you_ could kick?" quoth Haughton. "You must kick high +enough for your ends to cover the distance." + +"Take it easy and don't get excited," Donovan was whispering to Mahan +on the side. "Take your time, Ned." + +But Mahan continued kicking from bad to worse. Haughton was getting +disgusted, and finally remarked: + +"Your ends never can cover those punts." + +Mahan then kicked one straight up over his head, and the first word ever +uttered by him on the Harvard field, was his reply to Haughton: + +"I guess almost any end can cover _that_ punt," he said. + +Donovan tells me that he used to carry in his pocket a few blank +cartridges for starting sprinters. Sitting on a bench with some friends, +on Soldiers' Field, one day he reached into his hip pocket for some +loose tobacco. Unconsciously he stuffed into the heel of his pipe a +blank cartridge that had become mixed with the tobacco. The gun club was +practicing within hearing distance of the field. As Donovan lighted his +pipe the cartridge went off. He thought he was shot. Leaping to his feet +he ran down the field, his friends after him. + +"I was surprised at my own physical condition--at my being able to stand +so well the shock of being shot," says Donovan in telling the story. "My +friends thought also that I was shot. But when I slowed up, still +bewildered, and they caught up with me, they were puzzled to see my face +covered with powder marks and a broken pipe stem sticking out of my +mouth. + +"Not until then did any of us realize what had really happened. The +cartridge had grazed my nose slightly, but outside of that I was all +right. Since then I am very careful what I put in my tobacco." + +Eddie is known as "Pooch Donovan's pet." Probably the bluest time that +Donovan ever had--in fact, he says it was the bluest--was when Eddie +Mahan had an off-day in the Stadium. That was the day when Cornell beat +Harvard. Mahan himself says it was the worst day he ever had in his +life, and he blames himself. + +"It was just as things will come sometimes," Pooch said to me. "Nobody +knows why they will come, but come they will once in a while." + +"Burr, the great Harvard captain," said Pooch, "was a natural born +leader of men. He knew a lot of football and Haughton thought the world +of him. Burr went along finely until the last week of the season. Then, +in falling on the ball, he bruised his shoulder, and would not allow +himself to go into the Yale game. It was really this display of good +judgment on his part that enabled Harvard to win. + +"Too often a team has been handicapped by the playing of a crippled +veteran. As a matter of fact, the worst kind of a substitute is often +better than a crippled player. The fact that the great captain, Burr, +stood on the side lines while his team was playing, urged his team mates +on to greater efforts. + +"In this same game the opposite side of this question was demonstrated. +Bobbie Burch, the Yale captain, who had been injured the week before the +game, was put in the game. His injury handicapped the Yale team +considerably." + +Pooch Donovan has been eight years at Harvard. He has five gold +footballs, which he prizes and wears on his watch chain. During the +eight years there have been five victories over Yale, two ties and one +defeat. Pooch has been a football player himself and the experience has +made him a better trainer. + +In 1895 he played on Temple's team of the Duquesne Athletic Club. He was +trainer and halfback, and was very fond of the game. Later on he played +in Cleveland against the Chicago Athletic Club, on whose team played +Heffelfinger, Sport Donnelly, and other famous knights of the gridiron. + +"In the morning we did everything we could to make the stay of the +visiting team pleasant," says Donovan, regarding those days, "but in the +afternoon it was different, and in the midst of the game a fellow +couldn't help wondering how men could be so nice to each other in the +morning and so rough in the afternoon." + +Pooch Donovan cannot say enough in favor of Doctor E. H. Nichols, the +doctor for the Harvard team. Pooch's judgment is endorsed by many a +Harvard man that I have talked to. + + +Keene Fitzpatrick + +When Biffy Lea was coaching at the University of Michigan in 1901, it +was my opportunity and privilege to see something of Western football. I +was at Ann Arbor assisting Lea the last week before Michigan played +Chicago. Michigan was defeated. That night at a banquet given to the +Michigan team, there arose a man to respond to a toast. + +His words were cheering to the men and roused them out of the gloom of +despair and defeat to a strong hope for the coming year. That man was +Keene Fitzpatrick. I had heard much about him, but now that I really had +come to meet him I realized what a magnetic man he was. + +He knew men and how to get the best out of them. Fitzpatrick went from +Michigan to Yale, from Yale back to Michigan, and then to Princeton, +where Princeton men hope he will always stay. + +Michigan admirers were loath to lose Fitzpatrick and their tribute to +him on leaving was as follows: + +"The University of Michigan combination was broken yesterday when Keene +Fitzpatrick announced that he had accepted Princeton's offer, to take +effect in the fall of 1910. He was trainer for Michigan for 15 years. +For five years Fitz' has been sought by every large university in the +East. + +"What was Michigan's loss, was Princeton's gain. He made men better, +not alone physically, but morally. His work has been uplifting along all +lines of university activities. In character and example he is as great +and untiring as in his teaching and precept. The final and definite +knowledge of his determination to leave Michigan is a severe blow to the +students all of whom know and appreciate his work. Next to President +Angell, no man of the University of Michigan, in the last ten years, has +exerted a more wholesome influence upon the students than has Keene +Fitzpatrick. His work brought him in close touch with the students and +his influence over them for good has been wonderful. He is a man of +ideals and clean life." + +"To 'Fitz,' as the boys called him, as much as to the great coach Yost +is due Michigan's fine record in football. His place will be hard to +fill. Fitz has aided morally in placing athletics on a high plane and in +cultivating a fine spirit of sportsmanship. He was elected an honorary +member of the class of 1913 at Princeton. The Secretary of the class +wrote him a letter in which he said: 'The senior class deeply +appreciates your successful efforts, and in behalf of the University +takes this opportunity of expressing its indebtedness to you for the +valuable results which you have accomplished.'" + +Yost had a high opinion of Fitzpatrick. + +"Fitz and I worked together for nine years," writes Yost. "We were like +brothers during that association at Michigan. There is no one person +who contributed so much to the University of Michigan as this great +trainer. His wonderful personality, his expert assistance and that great +optimism of his stood out as his leading qualifications. My association +with him is one of the pleasantest recollections of my life. He put the +men in shape, trained them and developed them. They were 'usable' all +the time. He is a trainer who has his men in the finest mental condition +possible. I don't think there was ever a trainer who kept men more fit, +physically and mentally, than Keene Fitzpatrick." + +There were in Michigan two players, brothers, who were far apart in +skill. Keene says one was of varsity calibre, but wanted his brother, +too, to make the Eleven. "Once," says Keene, "when we were going on a +trip, John, who was a better player, said, 'I will not go if Joe cannot +go,' so in order to get John, we had to take Joe." + +Fitzpatrick tells of an odd experience in football. "In 1901 Michigan +went out to Southern California and played Leland Stanford University at +Pasadena, January 1. When the Michigan team left Ann Arbor for +California in December, it was 12 deg. below zero and when they played on +New Year's it was 80 deg. at 3 P. M." + +Stanford was supposed to have a big advantage due to the climate. +Michigan won by a score of 49 to 0. Michigan used but eleven men in the +game, and it was their first scrimmage since Thanksgiving Day. A funny +thing happened en route to Pasadena. + +"Every time the train stopped," said Keene, "we hustled the men out to +give them practice running through signals and passing the ball. +Everything went well until we arrived in Ogden, Utah. We hustled the men +out as usual for a work-out, and in less than two minutes the men were +all in, lying down on the ground, gasping for breath. We could not +understand what was wrong, until some one came along and reminded us +that we were in a very high altitude and that it affected people who +were not accustomed to it. We all felt better when we received that +information." + + +Michael J. Sweeney + +There are few trainers in our prep. schools who can match the record of +Mike Sweeney. He has been an important part of the Hill School's +athletics for years. Many of the traditions of this school are grouped, +in fact, about his personality. Hill School boys are loud in their +praises of Sweeney's achievements. He always had a strong hold on the +students there. He has given many a boy words of encouragement that have +helped him on in the school, and this same boy has come back to him in +after life to get words of advice. + +Many colleges tried to sever his connection with Hill School. I know +that at one time Princeton was very anxious to get Sweeney's services. +He was happy at Hill School, however, and decided to stay. It was there +at Hill School that Sweeney turned out some star athletes. Perhaps one +of the most prominent was Tom Shevlin. Sweeney saw great possibilities +in Shevlin. He taught him the fundamentals that made Shevlin one of the +greatest ends that ever played at Yale. He typified Sweeney's ideal +football player. Shevlin never lost an opportunity to express +appreciation of what Sweeney had done for him. + +Tom gave all credit for his athletic ability to Mike Sweeney of Hill and +Mike Murphy of Yale. His last desire for Yale athletics was to bring +Sweeney to Yale and have him installed, not as a direct coach or trainer +of any team, but more as a general athletic director, connected with the +faculty, to advise and help in all branches of college sport. + +Tom Shevlin idolized Sweeney. Those who were at the banquet of the 1905 +team at Cambridge will recall the tribute that Shevlin then paid to him. +He declared that he regarded Sweeney as "the world's greatest brain on +all forms of athletics." + +Whenever Mike Sweeney puts his heart into his work he is one of the most +completely absorbed men I know. + +Sweeney possesses an uncanny insight into the workings of the games and +individuals. Oftentimes as he sits on the side lines he can foretell an +accident coming to a player. + +Mike was sitting on the Yale side lines one day, and remarked to Ed +Wylie, a former Hill School player--a Yale substitute at that time: + +"They ought to take Smith out of the game; he shows signs of weakening. +You'd better go tell the trainer to do it." + +But before Wylie could get to the trainer, several plays had been run +off and the man who had played too long received an injury, and was done +for. Sweeney's predictions generally ring true. + +It is rather remarkable, and especially fortunate that a prep. school +should have such an efficient athletic director. For thirteen years +Sweeney acted in that capacity and coached all the teams. He taught +other men to teach football. + + +Jack Moakley + +Had any one gone to Ithaca in the hope of obtaining the services of Jack +Moakley, the Cornell trainer, he would have found this popular trainer's +friends rising up and showing him the way to the station, because there +never has been a human being who could sever the relations between Jack +Moakley and Cornell. + +The record he has made with his track teams alone entitles him to a high +place, if not the highest place, on the trainer's roll of honor. To tell +of his achievements would fill an entire chapter, but as we are +confining ourselves to football, his work in this department of Cornell +sports stands on a par with any football trainer. + +Jack Moakley takes his work very seriously and no man works any harder +on the Cornell squad than does their trainer. Costello, a Cornell +captain of years ago, relates the following incident: + +"Jack Moakley had a man on his squad who had a great habit of digging up +unusual fads, generally in the matter of diet. At this particular time +he had decided to live solely on grape nuts. As he was one of the best +men on the team, Jack did not burden himself with trouble over this fad, +although at several times Moakley told him that he might improve if he +would eat some real food. However, when this man started a grape nut +campaign among the younger members of the squad he aroused Jack's ire +and upon his arrival at the field house he wiped the black board clean +of all instructions and in letters a foot high wrote: + + "They who eat beef are beefy." + "They who eat nuts are nutty." + +The resultant kidding finally made the old beefsteak popular with our +friend. + + +Johnny Mack + +It would not seem natural if one failed to see Johnny Mack on the side +lines where Yale is playing. In eleven years at New Haven Yale teams +were never criticised on account of their condition. The physical +condition of the Yale team has always been left entirely in Johnny +Mack's hands, and the hard contests that they went through in the season +of 1915 were enough to worry any trainer. Johnny Mack was always +optimistic. + +There is much humor in Johnny Mack. It is amusing to hear Johnny tell of +the experience that he and Pooch Donovan had in a Paris restaurant, and +I'm sure you can all imagine the rest. Johnny said they got along pretty +well with their French until they ordered potatoes and the waiters +brought in a peck of peas. + +It is a difficult task for a trainer to tell whether a player is fully +conscious of all that is going on in a game. Sometimes a hard tackle or +a blow on the head will upset a man. Johnny Mack tells a story that +illustrates this fact: + +"There was a quarterback working in the game one day. I thought he was +going wrong. I said to the coach: 'I think something has happened to our +quarterback.' He told me to go out and look him over. I went out and +called the captain to one side after I had permission from the Referee. +I asked him if he thought the quarterback was going right. He replied +that he thought he was, but called out some signals to him to see if he +knew them. The quarter answered the captain's questions after a fashion +and the captain was satisfied, but, just the same, he didn't look good +to me. I asked the captain to let me give him a signal; one we never +used, and one the captain did not even know. + +"Said I, 'What's this one--48-16-32-12?' + +"'That's me through the right end,' he said. + +"'Not on your life, old man,' said I, 'that's you and me to the side +lines!' + +"I remember one fall," says Johnny, "when we were very shy on big +material at Yale. The coaches told me to take a walk about the campus +and hunt up some big fellows who might possibly come out for football. +While going along the Commons at noon, the first fellow I met was a big, +fine looking man, a 210 pounder at least, with big, broad shoulders. I +stopped him and asked if he had ever played football. + +"'Yes,' he said, 'I played a little at school. I'll come out next week.' +I told him not to bother about next week, but to come out that +afternoon--that I'd meet him at the gym' at one o'clock and have some +clothes for him. He came at one o'clock and I told one of the rubbers to +have some clothes ready. When I came back at 1:30 and looked around I +couldn't recognize him. 'Where in the world is my big fellow?' I said to +Jim the rubber. + +"'Your big fellow? Why, he just passed you,' said Jim. + +"'No,' said I, 'that can't be the man; that must be some consumptive.' + +"'Just the same, that's your big fellow in his football suit,' said +Jim. 'The biggest part of him is hanging up in there on a nail.' + +"_Some_ tailors, these fellows have nowadays." + +Johnny Mack further tells of an amusing incident in Foster Sanford's +coaching. + +"At early practice in New Haven Sanford was working the linemen," says +Johnny. "He picked a green, husky looking boy out of the line of +candidates and was soon playing against him. He didn't know who Sandy +was, and believe me, Sandy was handling him pretty rough to see what he +was made of. The first thing you know the fellow was talking to himself +and, when Sandy was careless, suddenly shot over a stiff one on Sandy's +face and yelled: + +"'I'm going to have you know that no man's going to push _me_ around +this field.' + +"Sandy was happy as could be. He patted the chap on the back and roared, +'Good stuff; you're all right. You're the kind of a man I want. We can +use men like you!' + +"But Foster Sanford was not the only old-timer who could take the young +ones' hard knocks," says Johnny. "I've seen Heffelfinger come back to +Yale Field after being out of college twenty years and play with the +scrubs for fifty-five minutes without a layoff! I never saw a man with +such endurance. + +"Ted Coy was a big, good-natured fellow. He was never known to take time +out in a game in the four years he played football. In his senior year +he didn't play until the West Point game. While West Point was putting +it all over us, Coy was on the side lines, frantically running up and +down. But we had strict instructions from the doctor not to play him, no +matter what happened. + +"Suddenly Coy said: 'Johnny, let me in. I'm not going to have my team +licked by this crowd.' And in he jumped. + +"I saw him call Philbin up alongside of him and the first thing I knew I +saw Philbin and Coy running up the field like a couple of deer. In just +three plays they took the ball from our own 5-yard line to a touchdown. +After that there was a different spirit in the team. Coy was an +inspiration to his players." + +"One more story," says Johnny. + +"There were two boys at New Haven. Their first names were Jack, and both +were substitutes on the scrub. About the middle of the second half in +the Harvard game, the coach told me to go and warm up Jack. One of the +Jacks jumped up, while the other Jack sank back on the bench with +surprise and sorrow on his face. Seeing that a mistake had been made, I +said, 'Not you, but _you_, Jack,' and pointed to the other. As the right +Jack jumped up, the cloudy face turned to sunshine, as only a football +player can imagine, and the sunny smile of the first Jack turned to +deepest gloom, an affecting sight I shall never forget." + + +"Huggins of Brown" + +I know of no college trainer who seems to get more pleasure out of his +work than Huggins of Brown. There are numerous incidents that are +recorded in this book that have been the experiences of this +good-natured trainer. + +A trainer's life is not always a merry one. Many things occur that tend +to worry him, but he gets a lot of fun out of it just the same. Huggins +says: + +"Some few years ago Brown had a big lineman on its team who had never +been to New York, where we went that year to meet Carlisle. The players +put in quite a bit of time jollying him and having all sorts of fun at +his expense. We stopped at one of the big hotels, and the rooms were on +the seventh and eighth floors. In the rooms were the rope fire escapes, +common in those days, knotted every foot or so. The big lineman asked +what it was for, and the other fellows told him, but added that this +room was the only one so equipped and that he must look sharp that none +of the others helped themselves to it for their protection against fire. + +"That night, as usual, I was making my rounds after the fellows had gone +to bed. Coming into this player's room I saw that he was asleep, but +that there appeared to be some strange, unusual lump in the bed. I +immediately woke him to find out what it was. Much to my amusement, I +discovered that he had wound about fifteen feet of the rope around his +body and I had an awful job trying to assure him that the boys had been +fooling him. Nothing that I could say, however, would convince him, and +I left him to resume his slumbers with the rope still wrapped tightly +about his body." + +Huggins not only believes that Brown University is a good place to +train, but he thinks it is a good place to send his boy. He has a son +who is a freshman at Brown as I write. Huggins went to Brown in the fall +of 1896, as trainer. Here is another good Huggins story: + +"Sprackling, our All-American quarterback of a few years ago, always had +his nerve with him and, however tight the place, generally managed to +get out with a whole skin. But I recall one occasion when the wind was +taken out of his sails; he was at a loss what to say or how to act. We +were talking over prospects on the steps in front of the Brown Union one +morning just before college opened, the fall that he was captain, when a +young chap came up and said: + +"'Are you Sprackling, Captain of the Team?' + +"'That's me,' replied Sprack. + +"'Well, I'm coming out for quarterback,' the young man declared, 'and I +expect to make it. I can run the 100 in ten-one and the 220 in evens and +I'm a good quarterback. I'm going to beat you out of your job.' + +"Sprack, for once in his life, was flustered to death. When several of +the boys who were nearby and had heard the conversation, began to laugh, +he grew red in the face and quickly got up and walked away without a +word. But before I could recover myself, the promising candidate had +disappeared." + +Harry Tuthill, specialist in knees and ankles, was the first trainer +West Point ever had. When he turned up at the Academy he was none too +sure that a football was made of leather and blown up. + +He got his job at the Point through the bandaging of Ty Cobb's ankle. An +Army coach saw him do it and said: + +"Harry, if you can do that, the way you do it, come to West Point and do +it for us." + +Tuthill was none too welcome to the authorities other than the football +men. In the eyes of the superintendent every cadet was fit to do +anything that might be required of him. + +"You've got to make good with the Supe," said the coaches. + +So Harry went out and watched the dress parade and the ensuing double +time review. After the battalion was dismissed, Tuthill was introduced +to the Superintendent. + +"Well, Mr. Tuthill," said the Superintendent, "I'm glad to meet you, but +I really do not see what we need of a trainer." + +Harry shifted his feet and gathering courage blurted out: + +"Run those boys around again and then ask them to whistle." + + * * * * * + +There are many other trainers who deserve mention in this chapter, men +who are earnestly and loyally giving up their lives to the training of +the young men in our different colleges, but space will not permit to +take up any more of these interesting characters. Their tribute must be +a silent one, not only from myself but from the undergraduates and +graduates of the colleges to which they belong and upon whose shoulders +are heaped year after year honors which are due them. + + +FIRST DOCTOR IN CHARGE OF ANY TEAM + +Doctor W. M. Conant, Harvard '79, says: + +"I believe I was the first doctor associated with the Harvard team, and +so far as I know, the first doctor who was in charge of any team at any +college. At Harvard this custom has been kept up. I was requested by +Arthur Cumnock, who had been beaten the previous year by Yale, to come +out and help him win a game. This I consented to do provided I had +absolute control of the medical end of the team, which consisted not +only of taking care of the men who were injured, but also of their diet. +This has since been taken up by the trainer. + +"The late George Stewart and the late George Adams were the coaches in +charge that year, and my recollections of some of the difficulties that +arose because of new methods are very enjoyable--even at this late day. +So far as I know this was the first season men were played in the same +position opposite one another. In other words, there was an attempt to +form a second eleven--which is now a well recognized condition. + +"I had a house built under the grandstand where every man from our team +was stripped, rubbed dry and put into a new suit of clothes, also given +a certain amount of hot drink as seemed necessary. This was a thing +which had never been done before, and in my opinion had a large +influence in deciding the game in Harvard's favor; as the men went out +upon the field in the second half almost as fresh as when they started +the first half. + +"I remember that I had not seen a victory over Yale since I was +graduated from college in 1879. Some of the suggestions that I made +about the time men should be played were laughed at. The standpoint I +took was that a man should not be allowed by the coach to play until he +was deemed fit. The physician in charge was also a matter of serious +discussion. Many of these points are now so well established that to the +present generation it is hardly possible to make them realize that from +1890 to 1895 it was necessary to make a fight to establish certain +well-known methods. + +"What would the present football man think of being played for one and +one-half hours whether he was in shape or not? The present football man +does not appreciate what some of the older college graduates went +through in order to bring about the present reasonable methods adopted +in handling the game." + +[Illustration: HOW IT HURTS TO LOSE] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NIGHTMARES + + +There are few players who never experienced defeat in football. At such +a time sadness reigns. Men who are big in mind and body have broken down +and cried bitterly. How often in our experience have we seen men taken +out of the game leaving it as though their hearts would break, only to +go to the side lines, and there through dimmed eyes view the inevitable +defeat, realizing that they were no longer a factor in the struggle. +Such an experience came to Frank Morse in that savage Penn-Princeton +game of years ago at Trenton. He had given of his best; he played a +wonderful game, but through an injury he had to be removed to the side +lines. Let this great hero of the past tell us something about the pangs +of defeat as he summons them to mind in his San Francisco office after +an interval of twenty-two years. + +"The average American university football player takes his defeats too +seriously--in the light of my retrospect--much too seriously," writes +Morse. "As my memory harks back to the blubbering bunch of stalwart +young manhood that rent the close air of the dressing-room with its +dismal howls after each of the five defeats in which I participated, I +am convinced that this is not what the world expects of strong men in +the hour of adversity. + +"A stiff upper lip is what the world admires, and it will extend the +hand of sympathy and help to the man who can wear it. This should be +taught by football coaches to their men as a part of the lessons of life +that football generally is credited with teaching. + +"Alex Moffat, than whom no more loyal and enthusiastic Princetonian ever +lived, to my mind, had the right idea. During one of those periods of +abysmal depths of despondency into which a losing team is plunged, he +rushed into the room, waving his arms over his head in his +characteristic manner, and in his high-pitched voice yelled: + +"'Here, boys, get down to work; cut out this crying and get to cussing.' + +"Doubtless much of this was due to the strain and the high tension to +which the men were subjected, but much of it was mere lack of effort at +restraint. + +"Johnny Poe, as stout-hearted a man as ever has, or ever will stand on a +football field, once said to me: + +"'This sob stuff gives me a pain in the neck but, like sea-sickness, +when the rest of the crowd start business, it's hard to keep out of it. +Besides, I don't suppose there's any use getting the reputation of +being exclusive and too stuck up to do what the rest of the gang do.' + +"Of the defeats in which I participated, probably none was more +disheartening than the one suffered at the hands of the University of +Pennsylvania in 1892 at the Manheim cricket grounds near Philadelphia. I +shall always believe that the better Princeton team would have won with +comparative ease had it not been for the wind. In no game in which I +ever played was the wind so largely the deciding factor in the result. +The flags on the poles along the stands stood out stiffly as they +snapped in the half gale. + +"Pennsylvania won the toss and elected to have the wind at their backs. +For forty-five minutes every effort made against the Red and Blue was +more than nullified by the blustering god AEolus. When Pennsylvania +kicked, it was the rule and not the exception for the ball to go sailing +for from one-half to three quarters the length of the field. On the +other hand, I can see in my mind's eye to-day, as clearly as I did +during the game, a punt by Sheppard Homans, the Princeton fullback, +which started over the battling lines into Pennsylvania territory, +slowed up, hung for an instant in the air and then was swept back to a +point approximating the line from where it started. + +"It was the most helpless and exasperating feeling that I ever +experienced. The football player who can conceive of a game in which +under no circumstances was it permissible to kick, but instead provided +a penalty, can perhaps appreciate the circumstances. + +"In the second half, when we changed goals, the flags hung limply +against their staffs, but we had spent ourselves in the unequal contest +during the first half." + +Nightmares, even those of football, do not always beget sympathy. Upon +occasion a deal of fun is poked at the victim, and this holds true even +in the family circle. + +Tom Shevlin was noted as the father of a great many good stories, but it +was proverbial that he refrained from telling one upon himself. However, +in at least one instance he deviated from habit to the extent of +relating an incident concerning his father and the father of Charlie +Rafferty, captain of the Yale 1903 eleven. Tom at the time was a +sophomore, and Shevlin, senior, who idolized his son, made it a practice +of attending all important contests in which he participated, came on +from Minneapolis in his private car to witness the spectacle of Tom's +single-handed defeat of "The Princetons." As it chanced the Shevlin car +was put upon a siding adjoining that on which the car of Gill Rafferty +lay. Rafferty, as a matter of fact, was making his laborious way down +the steps as Mr. Shevlin emerged from his car. Mr. Rafferty looked up, +blinked in the November sunlight and then nodded cheerfully. "Well, +Shevlin," he said, "I suppose by to-night we'll be known simply as the +fathers of two great Yale favorites." Shevlin nodded and said "he +fancied such would be the case." A few hours later, in the gloom of the +twilight, after Yale had been defeated, the elder Shevlin was finding +his somber way to the steps of his car and met Rafferty face to face. +Shevlin nodded and was about to pass on without speaking, when Rafferty +placed his hand upon his shoulder. "Well, Shevlin," he said solemnly, "I +see we are still old man Shevlin and old man Rafferty." + + +W. C. Rhodes + +One has only to hear Jim Rodgers tell the story of Billy Rhodes to +realize how deeply the iron of football disaster sinks into the soul. + +"Rhodes was captain of the losing team in the fall of '90, when Yale's +Eleven was beaten by Harvard's," Rodgers tells us. "Arthur Cumnock was +the Harvard captain, and the score was 12 to 6. Two remarkable runs for +touchdowns made by Dudley Dean and Jim Lee decided the contest. + +"For twenty years afterwards, back to Springfield, New Haven or +Cambridge, wherever the Yale-Harvard games were played, came with the +regularity of their occurrence, Billy Rhodes. + +"He was to be seen the night before, and the morning of the game. He +always had his tickets for the side line and wore the badge as an +ex-Yale captain. But the game itself Billy Rhodes never saw. + +"If at Springfield, he was to be found in the Massasoit House, walking +the floor until the result of the game was known. If at New Haven, he +was not at the Yale Field. He walked around the field and out into the +woods. If the game was at Cambridge, he was not at Holmes Field, or +later, at Soldiers' Field. + +"When the game was over he would join in the celebration of victory, or +sink into the misery of defeat, as the case might be. But he never could +witness a game. The sting of defeat had left its permanent wound." + + +A YALE NIGHTMARE + +Those who saw the Army defeat Yale at West Point in 1904 must realize +what a blow it was to the Blue. The first score came as a result of a +blocked kick by West Point, which was recovered by Erwin, who picked up +the ball and dashed across the line for a touchdown. The Army scored the +second time when Torney cut loose and ran 105 yards for a touchdown. + +Sam Morse, captain of the Yale 1906 team, who played right halfback in +this game, tells how the nightmare of defeat may come upon us at any +time, even in the early season, and incidentally how it may have its +compensations. + +"An instance of the psychology of football is to be found in the fall +of 1904, when Jim Hogan was captain of the Yale team," says Morse. "I +had the pleasure of playing back of him on the defensive in almost every +game of that year, and I got to depend so much on those bull-like +charges of his that I fear that if I had been obliged to play back of +some one else my playing would have been of inferior quality. + +"Yale had a fine team that year, defeating both Harvard and Princeton +with something to spare. The only eleven that scored on us was West +Point, and they beat us. It is a strange thing that the Cadets always +seem to give Yale a close game, as in that year even though beaten by +both Harvard and Princeton by safe scores, and even though Yale beat +Harvard and Princeton handily, the Army played us to a standstill. + +"After the game, as is so often the case when men have played themselves +out, there was a good deal of sobbing and a good many real tears were +shed. Every man who has played football will appreciate that there are +times when it is a very common matter for even a big husky man to weep. +We were all in the West Point dressing-room when Jim Hogan arose. He +felt what we all took to be a disgrace more keenly than any of us. There +was no shake in his voice, however, or any tears in his eyes when he +bellowed at us to stop blubbering. + +"'Don't feel sorry for yourselves. I hope this thing will hurt us all +enough so that we will profit by it. It isn't a matter to cry over--it's +a matter to analyze closely and to take into yourself and to digest, and +finally to prevent its happening again.' + +"He drove it home as only Jim Hogan could. At the close Ralph Bloomer +jumped to his feet and cried: + +"'Jim, old man, we are with you, and you are right about it, and we will +wipe this thing out in a way which will satisfy you and all the rest of +the college.' + +"The whole team followed him. Right then and there that aggregation +became a Yale football team in the proper sense, and one of the greatest +Yale football teams that ever played. It was the game followed by Jim's +speech that made the eleven men a unit for victory. + +"If Jim had been allowed to live a few more years the quality of +leadership that he possessed would have made of him a very prominent and +powerful man. His memory is one of the dearest things to all of us who +were team mates or friends of his, but I hardly ever think of him +without picturing him that particular day in the dressing-room at West +Point, when in five minutes he made of eleven men a really great +football team." + +Even Eddie Mahan is not immune to the haunting memory of defeat, and +perhaps because of the very fact that disaster came into his +brilliant gridiron career only once, and then in his senior year, it +hit him hard. The manner of its telling by this great player is +sufficient proof of that. Here is Eddie's story: + +[Illustration: + +Hunkin Tilley Bailey Snyder Jewett Gillies Miller Lalley +Shiverick Anderson Menler Barrett Cool Shelton Collins +Eckley Schock Schlicter Zander + +CORNELL'S GREAT TEAM--1915] + +"I enjoyed my football days at Harvard so well that I would like to go +back each fall and play football for the rest of my life. I wish to +goodness I could go back and play just one game over--that is the +Cornell game of 1915. My freshman team won all its games, and during the +three years that I played for the Harvard Varsity I never figured in a +losing game except that one. Cornell beat Harvard 10 to 0. The score of +that game will haunt me all my life long. This game has been a nightmare +to me ever since. Every time I think of football that game is one of the +first things that comes to mind. I fumbled a lot. I don't know why, but +I couldn't seem to hold onto the ball. + +"We blocked four kicks, but Cornell recovered every one. We sort of felt +that there was more than the Cornell team playing against us--a goal +from the field and a touchdown. Shiverick, of Cornell, stands out in my +recollection of that game. He was a good kicker. Once he had to kick out +from behind the goal post down in his own territory. Watson and I were +both laying for a line buck; playing up close. Shiverick kicked one over +my head, out of bounds at his own 45-yard line. + +"I felt like a burglar after this game, because I felt that I had lost +it. I was feeling pretty blue until the Monday after the game, when the +coaches picked eleven men as the Varsity team, and just as soon as they +sent these eleven men to a section of the field to get acquainted with +each other--that was the beginning of team work. From the way those +fellows went at it that day, and from the spirit they showed, we felt +that no team could ever lick us again, neither Princeton nor Yale. The +Cornell game acted like a tonic on the whole crowd. Instead of +disheartening the team it instilled in us determination. We said: + +"'We know what it is to be licked, and we'll be damned if we'll be +licked again.'" + +Jack de Saulles' football ambitions were realized when he made the Yale +team at quarterback, the position which his brother Charlie, before him, +had occupied. His spectacular runs, his able generalship, his ability to +handle punts, coupled with that characteristic de Saulles' grit, made +him a famous player. + +Let this game little quarterback tell his own story: + +"Billy Bull and I have often discussed the fact that when an attempt for +a goal from the field failed, one of the players of the opposing side +always touched the ball back of the goal line (thereby making it dead), +and brought it out to the 25-yard line to kick. Of course, the ball is +never dead until it is touched down. It was in the fall of 1902 when we +were playing West Point. In the latter part of the second half of that +game, with the score 6 to 6, Charlie Daly attempted a field goal, which +was unsuccessful. What Billy Bull and I had discussed many times came +into my mind like a flash. I picked the ball up and walked out with it +as if it had been touched back of the goal. When I passed the 25-yard +line, walking along casually, Bucky Vail, who was the referee, yelled to +me to stop. I walked over to him unconcerned and said: 'Bucky, old boy! +this ball is not dead, because I did not touch it down. And I am going +down the field with it.' By that time the West Point men had taken their +positions in order to receive the kick from the 25-yard line. While I +was still walking down the field, in order to pass all the West Point +men, before making my dash for a certain touchdown, it struck Bucky Vail +that I was right, and he yelled out at the top of his voice. 'The ball +is not dead. It is free.' Whereupon the West Point men started after me. +An Army man tackled me on their 25-yard line, after I had taken the ball +down the field for nearly a touchdown. I have often turned over in my +bed at night since that time, cursing the action of Referee Vail. If he +had not interfered with my play I would have walked down the field for a +touchdown and victory for Yale. The final score remained 6 to 6. + +"I have often thought of the painful hours I would have suffered had I +missed the two open field chances in the disastrous game at Cambridge in +the fall of 1902, when Yale was beaten 23 to 0. On two different +occasions in that game a Harvard runner with interference had passed the +whole Yale team. I was the only Yale man between the Harvard man and a +touchdown. The supreme satisfaction I had in nailing both of those +runners is one of the most pleasant recollections of my football career. + +"When I was a little shaver, back in 1889, I lived at South Bethlehem, +Pa. Paul Dashiell and Mathew McClung, who were then playing football at +Lehigh University, took an interest in me. Paul Dashiell took me to the +first football game I ever saw. Dibby McClung gave me one of the old +practice balls of the Lehigh team. This was the first football I ever +had in my hands. For weeks afterwards that football was my nightly +companion in bed. These two Lehigh stars have always been my football +heroes, and it was a happy day for me when I played quarterback on the +Yale team and these two men acted as officials that day." + +[Illustration: ONE SCENE NEVER PHOTOGRAPHED IN FOOTBALL] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MEN WHO COACHED + + +The picture on the opposite page will recall to mind many a serious +moment in the career of men who coached; when something had gone wrong; +when some player had not come up to expectation; when a combination of +poor judgment and ill luck was threatening to throw away the results of +a season's work. Such scenes are never photographed, but they are +preserved no less indelibly in the minds of all who have played this +role. + +Where is the old football player, who, gazing at this picture, will not +be carried back to those days that will never come again; hours when you +listened perhaps guiltily to the stinging words of the coach; moments +when spurred on by the thunder and lightning of his wrath you could +hardly wait to get out upon the field to grapple with your opponents. At +such times, all that was worth while seemed to surge up within you, +fiercely demanding a chance, while if you were a coach you yearned to +get into the game, only to realize as the team trotted out on the field +that yours was no longer a playing part. All you could expect +henceforth would be to walk nervously up and down the side line with +chills and thrills alternating along your spine. + +There were no coaches in the old days. Football history relates that in +the beginning fellows who wanted fun and exercise would chip in and buy +a leather cover for a beef bladder. It was necessary to have a supply of +these bladders on hand, for stout kicks frequently burst them. + +In those days the ball was tossed up in the air and all hands rushed for +it. There was no organization then, very few rules, and the football +players developed themselves. + +To-day the old-time player stands on the side lines and hears the coach +yelling: + +"Play hard! Fall on the ball! Tackle low! Start quick! Charge hard and +fast!" + +As far as the fundamentals go, the game seems to him much the same, but +when he begins to recollect he sees how far it has really progressed. He +recalls how the football coach became a reality and how a teacher of +football appeared upon the gridiron. + +Better coaching systems were installed as football progressed. Rules +were expanded, trainers crept in, intercollegiate games were scheduled +and competition and keen rivalry developed everywhere. In fact, the +desire to win has become so firmly established in the minds of college +men that we now have a finished product in our great American game of +football--wonderfully attractive, but very expensive. + +Competition has grown to such an extent that our coaching systems of +to-day resemble, in a way, the plans for national preparedness--costly, +but apparently necessary. All this means that the American football man, +like the American captain of industry, or the American pioneer in any +field of activity, is never content to stand still. His motto is, "Ever +Onward." + +It is not always the star player that makes the greatest coach. The +mediocre man is quite likely to have absorbed as much football teaching +ability as the star; and when his opportunity comes to coach, he +sometimes gets more out of the men than the man with the big reputation. + +Personality counts in coaching. In addition to a coach's keen sense of +football, there must be a strong personality around which the players +may rally. All this inspires confidence. + +It is a joy for a coach to work with good material--the real foundation +of success. The rules of to-day, however, give what, under old +standards, was the weaker team a much broader opportunity for victory +over physically larger and stronger opponents. + +But there are days nevertheless when every coach gets discouraged; times +when there is no response from the men he is coaching--when their +slowness of mind and body seem to justify the despair of Charlie Daly +who said to his team: + +"You fellows are made of crockery from the neck down and ivory from the +neck up." + +Football is fickle. To-day you may be a hero. After the last game you +may be carried off on the shoulders of enthusiastic admirers and dined +and wined by hosts of friends; but across the field there is a grim +faced coach who may already be scheming out a play for next year which +will snatch you back from the "Hall of Fame" and make your friends +describe you sadly as a "back-number." + +Haughton arrived at Harvard at the psychological moment. Harvard had +passed through many distressing years playing for the football +supremacy. He found something to build upon, because, although the game +at Cambridge was in the doldrums, there had been keen and capable +coaching in the past. + +Prominent among those who have worked hard for Harvard and whose work +has been more than welcome, are Arthur Cumnock, that brilliant end rush, +George Stewart, Doctor William A. Brooks, a former Harvard captain, +Lewis, Upton, John Cranston, Deland, Hallowell, Thatcher, Forbes, +Waters, Newell, Dibblee, Bill Reid, Mike Farley, Josh Crane, Charlie +Daly, Pot Graves, Leo Leary, and others well versed in the game of +football. + +Haughton had had some experience not only in coaching at Cambridge but +coaching at Cornell, and the Harvard football authorities realized that +of all the Harvard graduates Haughton would probably be the best man to +turn the tide in Harvard football. + +Percy, who played tackle on a winning Crimson eleven, and Sam Felton +will be well remembered as the fastest punters of their day. + +The first Harvard team coached by Haughton defeated Yale. It was in 1908 +when Haughton used a spectacular method, when he rushed Vic Kennard into +the Crimson backfield after Ver Wiebe had brought the ball up the field +where Haughton's craft sent Vic Kennard in to make the winning three +points and Kennard himself will tell the story of that game. The next +year Percy Haughton's team could not defeat the great Ted Coy, who +kicked two goals from the field. + +The performance of the Harvard 1908 team was the more remarkable because +Burr, who was the captain and the great punter at that time, had been +injured and the team was without his services. How well I remember him +on the side lines keenly following the play, but brilliant in his +self-denial. + +There have been times when victories did not come to Harvard with the +regularity that they have under the Haughton regime, but the scales go +up and down year by year, game by game, and from defeats we learn much. + +Let us read what this premier coach says upon reflection: + +"Surely the game of football brings out the best there is in one. Aside +from the mental and physical exercise, the game develops that +inestimable quality of doing one's best under pressure. What better +training for the game of life than the acid test of a championship game. +Such a test comes not alone to the player but to the coach as well. + +"What truer and finer friends can one have than those whom we have met +through the medium of football! And finally as the years tend to narrow +this precious list, through death, what greater privilege than to +associate with the fellow whose muscles are lithe and whose mind is +clean. Such a man was Francis H. Burr, captain of the Harvard team in +1908. Words fail me to express my sincere regard for that gallant +leader. His spirit still lives at Cambridge; his type we miss. + +"I am proud of the men who worked shoulder to shoulder in bringing about +Harvard victories. The list is a long one. I shall always cherish the +hearty co-operation of these men who gave their best for Harvard." + +It was Al Sharpe, that great Cornell coach, who, in the fall of 1915 +found it possible to break through the Harvard line of victories, and +hanging on the walls in the trophy room at Cornell University is a much +prized souvenir of Cornell's visit to Cambridge. That was the only +defeat on the Harvard schedule. But sometimes defeats have to come to +insure victory, and perhaps in that defeat by Cornell lay the reason for +the overwhelming score against Yale. + +[Illustration: + +Whitney Dadmun Harte L. Curtis Dougherty Harris +Haughton Taylor McKintock Weatherhead R. Curtis Cowen Blanchard +King Parson Gilman Mahan Watson Wallace Soucy +Boles Robinson Coolidge Horneen Rollins + +HARVARD, 1915] + +Slowly, but surely, Al Sharpe has won his way into the front ranks of +football coaches. Working steadfastly year after year he has built up +and established a system that has set Cornell's football machinery upon +a firm foundation. + + +Glenn Warner + +Glenn Warner has contributed a great deal to football, both as a player +and coach. + +Warner was one of the greatest linemen that ever played on the Cornell +team. After leaving college he began his coaching career in 1895 at the +University of Georgia. His success there was remarkable. It attracted so +much attention that he was called back to Cornell in 1897 and 1898. In +1899 Warner moved again and began his historic work at the Carlisle +Indian School, turning out a team year after year that gave the big +colleges a close battle and sometimes beat them. + +There never was a team that attracted so much attention as the Carlisle +Indians. They were popular everywhere and drew large crowds, not only on +account of their being Redmen, but on account of their adaptability to +the game. Warner, as their coach, wrought wonders with them, and really +all the colleges at one time or another had their scalps taken by the +Indians. They were the champion travelers of the game. Their games were +generally all away from home, and yet the long trips did not seem to +hamper them in their play. They got enjoyment out of traveling. + +Going from Princeton to New York one Friday night some years ago, I was +told by the conductor that the Carlisle football team was in the last +car. I went back and talked with Warner. The Indian team were amusing +themselves in one end of the car, and thus passing the time away by +entering into a game they were accustomed to play on trips. One of the +Carlisle players would stand in the center of the aisle and some fifteen +or so men would group about him, in and about and on top of the seats. +This central figure would bend over and close his eyes. Then some one +from the crowd would reach over and spank the crouching Indian a +terrific blow, hastily drawing back his hand. Then the Indian who had +received the blow would straighten up and try, by the expression of +guilt on the face of the one who had delivered the blow, to find his +man. Their faces were a study, yet nearly every time the right man was +detected. + +Who is there in football who will ever forget the Indian team, their red +blankets and all that was typical of them; the yells that the crowds +gave as the Indians appeared. They seemed always to be fit. They were +full of spirit and anxious to clash with their opponents. + +[Illustration: THE GREATEST INDIAN OF THEM ALL] + +I recall an incident in a Princeton-Carlisle game, when the game was +being fiercely waged. Miller, the great Indian halfback, had scored a +touchdown, after a long run. It was not long after this that a Princeton +player was injured. Maybe the play was being slowed up a little. Anyway, +time was taken out. One of the Indians seemed to sense the situation. +The Princeton players were lying on the ground while the Carlisle men +were prancing about eager to resume the fray, when one of the Indians +remarked: + +"White man play for wind. Indian play football." + +In 1915 Warner went to the University of Pittsburgh. Here he has already +begun to duplicate former successes. Cruikshank, Peck, and Wagner are +three of Pittsburgh's many stars. Probably the greatest football player +that Warner ever developed at the Carlisle Indian School was Jim Thorpe, +whose picture appears on the opposite page. Unhappy the end, and not +infrequently the back, who had to face this versatile player. Thorpe was +a raider. + + +Billy Bull + +Billy Bull of Yale is one of the old heroes who has kept in very close +touch with the game. He has been a valuable coach at Yale and the Elis' +kicking game is left entirely in his hands. He is an enthusiastic +believer in the game. Immediately after leaving New Haven in 1889 he +started to coach and since that time he has not missed a year. Years ago +he inaugurated a routine system of coaching for the various styles of +kicks. "My object," he said recently, "has been to turn out consistent +rather than wonderful kickers. As a player I was early impressed with +the value of kicking, not only in a general way but also in a particular +way, such as the punt in an offensive way. For more than twenty-five +years I have talked it up. For a long time I talked it to deaf ears, +especially at Yale. I talked it when I coached at West Point for ten +years and was generally set down as a harmless crank on the subject, but +I have lived to see the time when every one agrees on the great value of +this offensive kick. + +"When I entered Yale I was an absolute greenhorn, but the greenhorn had +a chance then, for he was able to play in actual scrimmage every day; +now the squads are so big that opportunities for playing the game for +long daily periods are entirely wanting. + +"To-day it is a case of a heap big talk, a coach for every position, +more talk, lots of system, blackboard exercises and mighty little actual +play. + +"I have often wondered if things were not being overdone as far as +coaching goes in the preparatory schools at the present time. The +superabundance of coaches and the demand for victory combine to force +the boy. + +"If there is any forcing to do, the college is the place for it, when +the boy is older and better able to stand the strain. In recent years I +have seen not a few brokendown boys enter college. Boys are coming to +college now who needs must be told everything, and if there is not a +large body of coaches about to tell them, they mutiny. They seem to +forget, or not to know, that most is up to the man himself. + +"When a boy comes to college with the idea that all that is necessary is +for him to be told, constantly told how to do this and that, and he will +deliver in the last ditch, I cannot help thinking that something is +wrong. + +"I have in mind right now a player in the line, who came to college +after four years of school football. Ever since his entry he has +complained that no one has told him anything. Now this particular player +spends ten months of each year loafing, and expects in his two months of +football to do a man's job in a big game. + +"No amount of blackboard and other talk is going to make a player do a +man's job and whip his opponent. No man can play a tackle job properly +if he does not realize the kind of a proposition he is up against twelve +months in the year and act accordingly. He has got to do his own +thinking, and see to it himself that he has the necessary strength and +toughness, to play the game, as one must to win." + + +Sanford the Unique + +George Foster Sanford is unique in football. He made splendid teams when +he coached at Columbia, while his subsequent record with the Rutgers +Eleven attracted wide attention. + +In the _Columbia Alumni News_ of October, 1915, Albert W. Putnam, a +former player, reviews seven years of Morningside football, and pays the +following tribute to Foster Sanford: + +"Sanford coached the teams of 1899, 1900 and 1901. He coached them ably, +conscientiously and thoroughly, and in my opinion was the best football +coach in the country." + +"During my three years' experience as coach at Columbia," says Sanford, +"we beat all the big teams except Harvard. I was fortunate enough to +develop such men as Weekes, Morley, Wright, and Berrien, players whose +records will always stand high in the Hall of Football Fame at Columbia. +I was particularly well satisfied with the work I got out of Slocovitch, +a former Yale player, whom the Yale coaches had never seemed to handle +properly. I did not allow him to play over one day a week. This was +because I had discovered that he was very heavily muscled; that if he +played continuously he would become muscle bound. My treatment proved to +fit the case exactly and Slocovitch became a star end for Columbia. We +defeated Yale the first year; the next year at New Haven the contest was +a strenuous one, and the game attracted unusual attention. It was in my +own home town, and I had to stand for a lot of good natured kidding, but +those who were there will remember how scared the Yale coaches got +during the last part of the game, when Columbia made terrific advances. +How Columbia's team fought Gordon Brown's Eleven almost to a standstill +that day is something that the Yale coaches of that time will long +remember." + +An old Yale player, Bob Loree, whose father is a Trustee of Rutgers, +induced Sanford to lend the college his assistance. Apparently this +connection was an unmixed blessing. "Mr. L. F. Loree, Bob's father," +says Sandy, "has frankly admitted that in his opinion Sanford's gift to +the college (for he works without remuneration) has brought a spirit and +a betterment of conditions which is worth fully as much as donations of +thousands of dollars. + +"From the first day I went there," continues Sandy, "I started to build +up football for Rutgers and to rely on Rutgers men for my assistants. It +was there that I met the best football man I ever coached, John T. +Toohey. This remarkable tackle weighed 220 pounds. The life he led and +the example he set will always have a lasting influence upon Rutgers +men. For sad to relate, Toohey was killed in the railroad yards at +Oneonta, where he was yard master. Toohey was a great leader, possessing +a wonderful personality, and winning the immediate respect of every one +who knew him." + +Twenty-five years have passed since I saw Sanford that morning in the +Fifth Avenue Hotel. Since then I have followed his football career with +enthusiasm. Boyhood heroes live long in mind. He is what might be called +a major surgeon in football, for it is a matter of record that he has +been called back to Yale, not when the patient was merely sick, but in a +serious condition. Usually the operation has been performed with such +skill that the patient has rallied with disconcerting suddenness. + +Talking to the Yale teams between the halves, giving instructions, which +have turned dubious prospects into flaming victories, is a service which +Sanford has rendered Yale more than once. Victory, as it happens, is the +principal characteristic of Sanford's work. Long is the list of players +whom Sanford has developed. + +"In my coaching experience," Sandy tells us, "I doubt if I ever coached +a man where my hard work counted for more at Yale than the case of +Charlie Chadwick in 1897. For many years there has been a saying that a +one man defense is as good as an eleven men defense, providing you can +get one man who can do it. + +"Of course this never worked out literally, but the case of Charlie +Chadwick is probably the best explanation of its value. Besides being +overdeveloped, he was temperamental. At times he would show great form +and at other times his playing was hopeless. This year I was asked to +come to New Haven and began coaching the linemen. Chadwick looked good +to me, in spite of much criticism that was made by the coaches. In their +opinion they thought he was not to be relied upon, so I decided to stake +my reputation, and began in my own way, feeling sure that I could get +results, in preparing him for the Harvard and Princeton games. + +[Illustration: LEARNING THE CHARGE] + +"I started out purposely annoying Chadwick in every possible way, going +with him wherever he went. I went with him to his room evenings and did +not leave until he had become so bored that he fell asleep, or that he +got mad and told me to get out. I planned it that Chadwick approach the +coaches whenever he saw them together and say: 'I wish you would let me +play on this team. If you will I will play the game of my life. I will +play like hell.' After he had made this speech two or three times, they +were very positive that he was more than temperamental. I kept steadily +at my plan, however, and felt sure it would work out. + +"The line was finally turned over to me and I had opportunity to slip +Chadwick in for two or three plays at left guard. He played like a +demon; he was literally a one man defense, but he received no credit. I +immediately removed him from the game and criticised him severely and +told him to follow up the play and in case I needed him he would be +handy. I realized what a great player he was proving to be, and my great +problem then was how I was to convince the coaches that Chadwick should +start the game. I tried it out a few times, but saw it was useless +trying to convince them, so I decided to concentrate on Jim Rodgers, the +Captain. Jim consented. My plan was to tell no one except Marshall, the +man whose place Chadwick was to take. The lineup was called out in the +dressing room before the game. Chadwick's name was not included. I had +arranged with Julian Curtis, who was in close touch with the cheer +leaders, that when I gave the signal, the Yale crowd would be instructed +to stand and yell nothing but 'Chadwick, Chadwick, Chadwick.' The Yale +team ran out upon the field. I stayed behind with Chadwick and came in +through the gate holding him by the arm. Before going on the side lines +I stopped him and said: 'Look here, Chadwick. It doesn't look as though +you're going to play, but if I put you in that lineup how will you +play?' Like a shot from a cannon he roared: 'I'll play like hell.' + +"You could have heard him a mile. 'Well then, give me your sweater and +warm up,' I said, and as I gave the signal to Julian Curtis, he passed +the word on to the cheer leaders and the sight of Chadwick running up +and down those side lines will never be forgotten. It is estimated that +he leaped five yards at a stride, and with the students cheering, +'Chadwick, Chadwick, Chadwick,' he was sent out into the lineup--and the +rest, well, you'd better ask the men who played on the Harvard team that +day. It was a stream of men going on and off the field and they were +headed for right guard position on the Harvard side. Harvard could not +beat Chadwick, so the game ended in a tie." + +Jim Rodgers, captain of that team, also has something to say of +Chadwick. + +"In the Harvard-Yale game," Rodgers writes, "Charlie Chadwick played the +game of his life. He used up about six men who played against him that +day, but he never could put out Bill Edwards the day we played +Princeton. I played against Chadwick on the Scrub, and the first charge +he made against me I went clean back to fullback. It was just as though +an automobile had hit me. I played against Heffelfinger and a lot of +them. I could hold those fellows. Gee! but I was sore. I said to myself, +you won't do that again, and the next time I was set back just as far. + +"One feature of this Yale-Princeton game impressed me tremendously, that +of Bill Edwards' stand, against what I considered a superman, Charles +Chadwick. Before the game I had confidently expected Big Bill to resign +after about five minutes' play, knowing, as I did, how Chadwick was +going. In this, however, Edwards was a great disappointment, as he stuck +the game out and was stronger at the end, than at the start or half way +through. Had he weakened at all, Ad Kelly's great offensive work would +have been doomed to failure. Edwards finished up the game against +Chadwick with a face that resembled a raw beefsteak. To my mind he was +the worst punished man I have ever seen. He stood by his guns to the +finish, and ever since then my hat has been off to him." + +One of the most interesting characters in Southern football is W. R. +Tichenor, a thorough enthusiast in the game and known wherever there is +a football in the South. His father was president of the Alabama +Polytechnic. He was a fine player and weighed about 120 pounds. He is +the emergency football man of the South. Whenever there is a football +dispute Tichenor settles it. Whenever a coach is taken sick, Tichenor is +called upon to take his place. Whenever an emergency official is needed, +Tich comes to the rescue. He tells the following story: + +"Every boy who has been to Auburn in the last twenty years knows Bob +Frazier. Many of them, however, may not recognize that name, as he has +been called Bob 'Sponsor' for so long that few of them know his real +name. Bob is as black as the inside of a coal mine and has rubbed and +worked for the various teams at Auburn 'since the memory of man +runneth not to the contrary.' + +[Illustration: BILLY BULL ADVISING WITH CAPTAIN TALBOT] + +"Just after the Christmas holidays one year in the middle nineties, Bob, +with the view of making a touch, called at Bill Williams' room one +night. + +"After asking Bill if he had had a good Christmas, 'Sponsor' remarked: +'You know, Mr. Williams, us Auburn niggers went down and played dem +Tuskegee niggers a game of football during Christmas.' + +"'Who did you have on the team, Bob?' inquired Bill. + +"'Oh--we had a lot of dese niggers roun' town yere. They was me, an' +Crooksie, an' Homer, an' Bear, an' Cockeye, an' a lot of dese yer town +niggers.' + +"'How did you come out?' asked Bill. + +"'Oh, dem Tuskegee niggers give us a good lickin'.' + +"'What position did you play?' + +"'Me?' said Bob, 'I was de cap'en. I played all roun'. I played center. +Den I played quarterback. Den I played halfback.' + +"'What system of signals did you use and who called them?' was Bill's +next inquiry. + +"'Ain't I tole you, Mr. Williams, I was de cap'en. I called the signals. +Dem niggers of mine couldn't learn no signals, so we jus' played lack we +had some. I'd give some numbers to fool the Tuskegee niggers. But dem +numbers didn't mean nothin'. I'd say, "two, four, six, eight, ten--tek +dat ball, Homer, an' go roun' the end." Dat's de only sort of signals +dem niggers could learn and sometimes dey missed dem. Dat's de reason we +got beat and dem Tuskegee niggers got all my money. Mr. Williams, I'm +jus' as nickless as a ha'nt. Can't you lem' me two bits til' Sadday +night, please suh? Honest to God, I'll pay you back den, shore.'" + + +Listening to Yost + +"Hurry Up" Yost is one of the most interesting and enthusiastic football +coaches in the country. The title of "Hurry Up" has been given him on +account of the "pep" he puts into his men and the speed at which they +work. Whether in a restaurant or a crowded street, hotel lobby or on a +railroad train, Yost will proceed to demonstrate this or that play and +carefully explain many of the things well worth while in football. He is +always in deadly earnest. Out of the football season, during business +hours, he is ever ready to talk the game. Yost's football experience as +a player began at the University of West Virginia, where he played +tackle. Lafayette beat them that year 6 to 0. Shortly after this Yost +entered Lafayette. His early experience in football there was under the +famous football expert and writer, Parke Davis. + +Yost and Rinehart wear a broad smile as they tell of the way Parke +Davis used to entertain teams off the field. He always kept them in the +finest of humor. Parke Davis, they say, is a born entertainer, and many +an evening in the club house did he keep their minds off football by a +wonderful demonstration of sleight-of-hand with the cards. + +"If Parke Davis had taken his coat off and stuck to coaching he would +have been one of the greatest leaders in that line in the country +to-day," says Yost. "He was more or a less a bug on football. You know +that to be good in anything one must be crazy about it. Davis was +certainly a bug on football and so am I. Everybody knows that. + +"I shall never forget Davis after Lafayette had beaten Cornell 6 to 0, +in 1895, at Ithaca. That night in the course of the celebration Parke +uncovered everything he had in the way of entertainment and gave an +exhibition of his famous dance, so aptly named the 'dance du venture,' +by that enthusiastic Lafayette alumnus, John Clarke. + +"I have been at Michigan fifteen seasons. My 1901 team is perhaps the +most remarkable in the history of football in many ways. It scored 550 +points to opponents' nothing, and journeyed 3500 miles. We played +Stanford on New Year's day, using no substitutes. On this great team +were Neil Snow, and the remarkable quarterback Boss Weeks. Willie +Heston, who was playing his first year at Michigan, was another star on +this team. A picture of Michigan's great team appears on the opposite +page. + +"Boss Weeks' two teams scored more than 1200 points. If that team had +been in front of the Chinese Wall and got the signal to go, not a man +would have hesitated. Every man that played under Boss Weeks idolized +him, and when word was brought to the university that he had died, every +Michigan man felt that its university had lost one of its greatest men. + +"I am perhaps more of a boy's man to-day than I ever was. There is a +great satisfaction in feeling that you have an influence in the lives of +the men under you. Coaching is a sacred job. There's no question about +it. + +"There is a wonderful athletic spirit at Michigan, and when we have mass +meetings in the Hill Auditorium 6000 men turn out. At such a time one +feels the great power behind an athletic team. Some of the great +Michigan football players within my recollection were Jimmy Baird, Jack +McLain, Neil Snow, Boss Weeks, Tom Hammond, Willie Heston, Herrnstein, +grand old Germany Schultz, Benbrook, Stan Wells, Dan McGugin, Dave +Allerdice, Hugh White and others I might mention on down to John +Maulbetsch." + +Reggie Brown is probably one of the most famous of the Harvard coaches. +His work in Harvard football is to find out what the other teams are +doing. He is on hand at Yale Field every Saturday when the Yale team +plays. He is unique in his scouting work, in that he carries his +findings in his head. His memory is his mental note book. + +[Illustration: + +Craft McGugin Gregory Yost Graver Baird Fitzpatrick +Wilson Snow White Shorts Heston +Sweeley Weeks Redden Redner Herrnstein + +MICHIGAN'S FAMOUS 1901 TEAM] + +In talking with Harvard men I have found that the general impression is +that the work of this coach is one of Harvard's biggest assets. + +Jimmy Knox of Harvard is one of Haughton's most valued scouts. Every +fall Princeton is his haven of scouting. He does it most successfully +and in a truly sportsmanlike way. + +One day en route to Princeton I met Knox on the train and sat with him +as far as Princeton Junction. When we arrived at Princeton, a friend of +mine called me aside and said: + +"Who is that loyal Princeton man who seems never to miss a game?" + +"He is not a Princeton man," I replied. "He is Knox the Harvard scout. +He will be with Haughton to-morrow at Cambridge with his dope book." + +"From questions asked me I am quite sure that there is an utter +misconception of the work of the scouts for the big league teams," says +Jimmy. "I have frequently been asked how I get in to see the practice of +our opponents, how I manage to get their signals, how I anticipate what +they are going to do, what is the value of scouting anyway. From five +years' experience, I can say that I have never seen our opponents +except in public games. I have never unconsciously noted a signal even +for a kick, much less made a deliberate attempt to learn the opponents' +signals or code. What little I know of their ultimate plans is merely by +applying common sense to their problem, based on the material and +methods which they command. As to the value of scouting, volumes might +be written, but suffice it to say that it is the principal means of +standardizing the game. If the big teams of the country played +throughout the season in seclusion, the final games would be a +hodge-podge of varying systems which would curtail the interest of the +spectator and all but block the development of the game. + +"The reports of the scouts give the various coaching corps a fixed +objective so that the various teams come to their final game with what +might be considered a uniform examination to pass. The result is a +steady, logical development of the game from the inside and the maximum +interest for the spectator. It is unfortunate that the public has +misconstrued scouting to mean spying, for there is nothing underhanded +in the scouting department of football as any big team coach will +testify." + +Knox tells of an interesting experience of his Freshman year. + +"I never hear the question debated as to whether character is born in a +man or developed as time goes on," says he, "without recalling my first +meeting with Marshall Newell, probably the best loved man that ever +graduated from Harvard. In the middle '90's it was considered beneath +the dignity of a former Varsity player to coach any but Varsity +candidates. Marshall Newell was an exception. Without solicitation he +came over to the Freshman field many times and gave us youngsters the +benefit of his advice. On his first trip he went into the lineup and +gave us an example of how the game could be played by a master. When the +practice was over, Ma Newell came up to me and said: 'I guess I was a +little rough, my boy, but I just wanted to test your grit. You had +better come over to the Varsity field to-morrow with two or three of the +other fellows that I am going to speak to. I'll watch you and help you +after you get there.' And he did. He was loved because he was big enough +to disregard convention, to sympathize with the less proficient and to +make an inferior feel as if he were on a plane of equality. The highest +type of manhood was born with Marshall Newell and developed through +every hour of a too short life. + +"Only those who played football in the old days and have carefully +followed it since appreciate the difference in the two types of game. I +frequently wonder if the old type of game did not develop more in a man +than the modern. As a freshman I was playing halfback on the second +Varsity one afternoon when a sudden blow knocked me unconscious while +the play was at one end of the field. When I regained consciousness the +play was at the other end of the field, not a soul was near me or +thinking of me. I had hardly got within ear-shot of the scrimmage when I +heard Lewis, one of the Varsity coaches, call out, 'Come on, get in +here, they can't kill fellows like you.' I went into the scrimmage and +played the rest of the afternoon. It was a simple incident, but I +learned two lessons of life from it: first, you can expect mighty little +sympathy when you are down; second, you are not out if you will only go +back and stick to it." + +Dartmouth holds a unique position in college football. There are many +men who were responsible for Dartmouth's success, men who have stood by +year after year and worked out the football policy there. + +It is my experience that Dartmouth men universally call Ed Hall the +father of Dartmouth football. He has served faithfully on the Rules +Committee as well as an official in the game. + +Myron E. Witham, that great player and captain of the Dartmouth team +which was victorious over Harvard the day that Harvard opened the +Stadium, says: "If one goes back to Hanover and visits the trophy room +he will see hanging there the winning football which Dartmouth men glory +over as they recall that wonderful victory over Harvard. Ed Hall is the +man who is often called upon to speak to the men between the halves. +His talks have a telling effect. Hall's name is traditional at our +college." + +There are many football enthusiasts who recall that wonderful backfield +that Dartmouth had, McCornack, Eckstrom, McAndrews and Crolius. These +men got away wonderfully fast and hit the line like one man. They played +every game without a substitute for two years. + +Fred Crolius, who takes great delight in recalling the old days, has the +following to say about one who coached: + +"One man, whose influence more than any other one thing, succeeded in +laying a foundation for Dartmouth's wonderful results, but whose name is +seldom mentioned in that connection is Doctor Wurtenberg, who was +brought up in the early Yale football school. He had the keenest sense +of fundamental football and the greatest intensity of spirit in +transmitting his hard earned knowledge. Four critical years he worked +with us filling every one with his enthusiasm and those four years +Dartmouth football gained such headway that nothing could stop its +growth." + +Enough space cannot be given to pay proper tribute to Walter McCornack, +Dartmouth '97. + +Myron Witham relates a humorous incident that happened in practice when +McCornack was coach at Dartmouth. "Mac's serious and exacting demeanor +on the practice field occasionally relaxed to enjoy a humorous +situation. He chose to give a personal demonstration of my position and +duty as quarterback in a particular formation around the end. He took my +place and giving the proper signal, the team or rather ten-elevenths of +the team went through with the play, leaving Mac behind standing in his +tracks. Mac naturally was at a loss to locate the quarter, during the +execution of the play and madly yelled, 'Where in the devil is that +quarterback?' But immediately joined with the squad in the joke upon +himself." + +McCornack coached Dartmouth in the falls of 1901 and 1902. He brought +the team up from nothing to a two years' defeat of Brown and two years' +scoring on Harvard. The game with Harvard in the fall of 1902 resulted +in a score of 16 to 6, Dartmouth out-rushing Harvard at least 3 to 1. + +McCornack then resigned, but left a wealth of material and a scientific +game at Dartmouth, which was as good as any in the country. This was the +beginning of Dartmouth's success in modern football, and for it +McCornack has been named the father of modern football at Dartmouth. + +The greatest compliment ever paid McCornack, in so far as athletics were +concerned, was by President William Jewett Tucker of Dartmouth, who told +an alumnus of the institution: + +"The discipline that McCornack maintained on the football field at +Dartmouth was to the advantage of the general discipline of the +institution." + +For ten years after McCornack had stopped coaching at Dartmouth, the +captain of the Dartmouth team would wear his sweater in a Harvard game +as an emblem to go by. The sweater is now worn out, and no one knows +where it is. + +If Eddie Holt's record at Princeton told of nothing else than the making +of a great guard, this would be enough to establish Holt's ability as a +guard coach. Eddie and Sam Craig played alongside of each other in the +Yale defeat of '97. Holt says: + +"The story of the making of Sam Craig is the old story of the stone the +builders rejected, which is now the head stone of the corner. Sam never +forgot the '97 defeat and I never have myself. After this game Sam gave +up football, although he was eligible to play. Two years later, after +Princeton had been defeated by Cornell, something had to be done to +strengthen the Princeton line. Sam Craig was at the Seminary. I +remembered him," said Holt, "and went over to his room and told him that +he was needed. I shall never forget how his face lit up as he felt there +was an opportunity to serve Princeton and a chance to play on a winning +team; a chance to come back. He responded to my hurry call, eager to +make good. Coaching him was the finest thing I ever did in football. +Good old Sam, I can see him now, standing on the side lines telling me +that he guessed he was no good. You can never imagine how happy I was to +see him improve day by day after I had taken a hold of him. The great +game he played against Yale in '99 will always be one of my happiest +recollections in football. My joy was supreme; the joy that comes to a +coach as he sees his man make good--Sam sure did." + +It is very doubtful whether the inside story of Harvard's victory over +Yale in 1908 has ever been told. Those who remember this game know that +the way for victory was paved by Ver Wiebe and Vic Kennard. Harry +Kersburg, a Harvard coach, writes of that incident: + +"The summer of 1907 and 1908, Kennard worked for several hours each day +perfecting his kicking. This fact was known to only one of the coaches. +In 1906 and 1907, Kennard played as a substitute but was most +unfortunate in being smashed up in nearly every game in which he played. +On account of this record, he was given little or no attention at the +beginning of the 1908 season, even though the one coach who had great +confidence in Kennard's ability as a kicker rooted hard for him at every +coaches' meeting. About the middle of the season, Dave Campbell came on +from the West and with the one lone coach became interested in Kennard. +On the day of the Springfield Training School game, most of the Harvard +coaches went down to New Haven, leaving the team in charge of Campbell +and Kennard's other rooter. The psychological moment had arrived. Just +as soon as the Harvard team had rolled up a tidy little score, Kennard +was sent into the game and instructions were given to the quarterback +that he was to signal for a drop kick every time the Harvard team was +within forty yards of the opponent's goal--no matter what the angle +might be. The game ended with Kennard having kicked four goals from the +field out of six tries. Nearly all of them were kicked from an average +distance of thirty yards and at very difficult angles. At the next +coaches' meeting serious consideration was given to what Kennard had +done and from that time on he came into his own. + +"Now for Rex Ver Wiebe. For two years he had plugged away at a line +position on the second team. In his senior year he was advanced to the +Varsity squad. With all his hard work it seemed impossible for him to +develop into anything but a mediocre lineman. The line coaches, with +much regret, had about given up all hope. One afternoon, two weeks +before the Yale game, one of the line coaches was standing on the side +lines talking with Pooch Donovan about Ver Wiebe. Pooch said little, but +kept a close watch on Ver Wiebe for the next two or three days. At the +end of that time he came out with the statement that if Ver Wiebe could +be taught how to start, he would rapidly develop into one of the best +halfbacks on the squad. Pooch's advice was followed and in the Yale +game, Ver Wiebe's rushes outside tackle were one of the features of the +game and were directly responsible for the ball being brought down the +field to such a position that it was possible to substitute Kennard, who +kicked a goal from the field and won the first victory for Harvard +against Yale in many years. + +"It is a strange coincidence that the first of Harvard's string of +victories against Yale was won by two men who a few weeks before the +game were in the so-called football discard." + +No greater honor can be accorded a football man than the invitation to +come back to his Alma Mater and take charge of the football situation. +Such a man has been selected after he has served efficiently at other +institutions, for it takes long experience to become a great coach and +there are very few men who have given up all their time to consecutive +coaching. + +Successful coaches, as a rule, are men who have a genius for it, and +whose strong personalities bring out the natural ability of the men +under them. Successful football is the result of a good system, plus +good material. + +Of the men who coach to-day, the experience of John H. Rush, popularly +known as Speedy Rush, stands out as unique. Rush never played football, +for he preferred track athletics, but he understood the theory of the +game. At the University School in Cleveland where Rush taught for +many years, he took charge of the football team, and although coaching +mere boys, his results were marvelous, and in 1915, when the Princeton +coaching system was in a slough of despond, it was decided to give Rush +an opportunity to show what he could do at Princeton. + +[Illustration: + +Metcalf Peterson Mumford Monroe Elmer Stover Donnell Norton Dwyer Weed +Bullwinkle McCabe Franklin Schulte Thorpe Moffat Simmonds +DeGraff Buermeyer Cochran Fairfield Todd Thompson +Calder Aimee Noble Gallagher Wadleton + +COLUMBIA BACK IN THE GAME, 1915] + +Rush makes no boasts. He is a silent worker, and football people at +large were unanimous in their praise of his work at Princeton in the +fall of 1915. Whatever the future holds in store for this coach, +Princeton men at least are sure that an efficient policy has been +established which will be followed out year after year, and that the +loyal support of the Alumni is behind Rush. + +There was never a time in Yale's history when so much general discussion +and care entered into the selection of its football coach as in 1915. +From the long list of Yale football graduates the honor was bestowed +upon Tad Jones, a man whose remarkable playing record at Yale is well +known. Football records tell of his wonderful runs. His personality +enables him to get close to the men, and he was wonderfully successful +at Exeter, coaching his old school. Tad Jones represents one of the +highest types of college athletes. + +In 1915 when the college authorities decided Columbia might re-enter the +football arena, after a lapse of ten years, it was a wonderful victory +for the loyal Columbia football supporters. A most thorough and +exhaustive search was then made for the proper man to teach Columbia the +new football. The man who won the Committee's unanimous vote was Thomas +N. Metcalf, who played football at Oberlin, Ohio. Metcalf earned +recognition in his first year. He realized that Columbia's re-entrance +into football must be gradual, and his schedule was arranged +accordingly. He developed Miller, a quarterback who stood on a par with +the best quarterbacks in 1915. Columbia had great confidence in Metcalf, +and the pick of the old men, notably Tom Thorp, one of the gamest +players any team ever had, volunteered their aid. + +One of the most prominent football coaches which Pennsylvania boasts of +to-day, is Bob Folwell. Always a brilliant player, full of spirit and +endowed with a great power of leadership, he was a huge success as a +coach at Lafayette. His team beat Princeton. At Washington and +Jefferson, he beat Yale twice. His ability as a coach was watched +carefully not only by the graduates of Penn, but by the football world +as a whole. + +In 1916 this hard-working, energetic up-to-date coach assumed control of +the football situation on Franklin Field. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +UMPIRE AND REFEREE + + +There is a group of individuals connected with football to whom the +football public pays little attention, until at a most inopportune time +in the game, a whistle is blown, or a horn is tooted and you see a +presumptuous individual stepping off a damaging five yard penalty +against your favorite team. At such a time you arise in your wrath and +demand: "Who is that guy anyway? Where did he come from? Why did he give +that penalty?" Other muffled tributes are paid him. + +In calmer moments you realize that the officials are the caretakers of +football. They see to it that the game is preserved to us year after +year. + +An official is generally a man who has served his time as a player. +Those days over, he enters the arena as Umpire, Referee or Linesman. + +One who has a keen desire to succeed in this line of work ought to train +himself properly for the season's work. In anticipation of the +afternoon's work, he must get his proper sleep; no night cafes or late +hours should be his before a big contest. + +The workings of football minds towards an official are most narrow and +critical at times. The really wise official will remain away from both +teams until just before the game, lest some one accuse him of being too +familiar with the other side. He can offer no opinion upon the game +before the contest. + +Each college has its preferred list of officials. Much time is given to +the selection of officials for the different games. Before a man can be +chosen for any game it must be shown that he has had no ancestors at +either of the colleges in whose game he will act and that he is always +unprejudiced. At the same time the fact that a man has been approved as +a football official by three of four big colleges is about as fine a +football diploma as any one would wish. + +For the larger games an official receives one hundred dollars and +expenses. This seems a lot of money for an afternoon's work just for +sport's sake, but there are many officials on the discarded list to-day +who would gladly return all the money they ever received, if they could +but regain their former popularity and prestige in the game. Certainly +an official is not an over-paid man. + +The wise official arrives at the field only a scant half hour before the +game. Generally the head coach sends for you, and as he takes you to a +secluded spot he describes in his most serious way an important play he +will use in the game. He tells you that it is within the rules, but for +some curious reason, anxiously asks your opinion. He informs you that +the _opposing_ team has a certain play which is clearly illegal and +wants you to watch for it constantly. He furthermore warns you solemnly +that the other team is going to try to put one of his best players out +of the game and beseeches you to anticipate this cowardly action, and +you smile inwardly. Football seriousness is oftentimes amusing. Some of +our best Umpires always have a little talk with the team before the +game. + +I often remember the old days when Paul Dashiell, the famous Umpire, +used to come into our dressing room. Standing in the center of the room, +he would make an appeal to us in his earnest, inimitable way, not to +play off-side. He would explain just how he interpreted holding and the +use of arms in the game. He would urge us to be thoroughbreds and to +play the game fair; to make it a clean game, so that it might be +unnecessary to inflict penalties. "Football," he would say, "is a game +for the players, not for the officials." Then he would depart, leaving +behind him a very clear conviction with us that he meant business. If we +broke the rules our team would unquestionably suffer. + +Some of my most pleasant football recollections are those gained as an +official in the game. I count it a rare privilege to have worked in many +games year after year where I came in close contact with the players on +different college teams; there to catch their spirit and to see the +working out of victories and defeats at close range. + +Here it is that one comes in close touch with the great power of +leadership, that "do or die" spirit, which makes a player ready to go in +a little harder with each play. Knocked over, he comes up with a grin +and sets his jaw a little stiffer for next time. + +As an official you are often thrilled as you see a man making a great +play; you long to pat him on the back and say, "Well done!" If you see +an undiscovered fumbled ball you yearn to yell out--"Here it is!" But +all this you realize cannot be done unless one momentarily forgets +himself like John Bell. + +"My recollection is that I acted as an official in but one game," says +he. "I was too intense a partisan. Nevertheless, I was pressed into +service in a Lehigh-Penn game in the late '80's. I recall that Duncan +Spaeth, now Professor of English at Princeton and coach of the Princeton +crew, was playing on Pennsylvania's team. He made a long run with the +ball; was thrown about the 20-yard line; rose, pushed on and was thrown +again between the 5- and 10-yard line. Refusing to be downed, he +continued to roll over a number of times, with several Lehigh players +hanging on to him, until finally he was stopped, within about a foot of +the goal line. Forgetting his official duties, in the excitement of +the moment, it is alleged that the referee (myself) jumped up and down +excitedly, calling out: 'Roll over, Spaethy, just _once_ more!' And +Spaethy did. A touchdown resulted. But the Referee's fate after the game +was like that of St. Stephen--he was stoned." + +[Illustration: CLOSE TO A THRILLER + +Erwin of Pennsylvania Scoring Against Cornell.] + +In the old days one official used to handle the entire game. A man would +even officiate in a game where his own college was a contestant. This +was true in the case of Walter Camp, Tracy Harris, and other heroes of +the past. Later the number of officials was increased. Such a list +records Wyllys Terry, Alex Moffat, Pa Corbin, Ray Tompkins, S. V. +Coffin, Appleton and other men who protected the game in the early +stages. + +Within my recollection, for many years the two most prominent, as well +as most efficient officials, whose names were always coupled, were +McClung, Referee, and Dashiell, Umpire. No two better officials ever +worked together and there is as much necessity for team work in +officiating as there is in playing. Both graduated from Lehigh, and the +prominent position that they took in football was a source of great +satisfaction to their university. + +Officials come and go. These men have had their day, but no two ever +contributed better work. The game of Football was safe in their hands. + +Paul Dashiell and Walter Camp are the only two survivors of the +original Rules Committee. + + +Dashiell's Reminiscences + +"As an official, the first big game I umpired was in 1894 between Yale +and Princeton, following this with nine consecutive years of umpiring +the match," writes Dashiell. "After Harvard and Yale resumed relations, +I umpired their games for six years running. I officiated in practically +all the Harvard-Penn' games and Penn'-Cornell games during those years, +as well as many of the minor games, having had practically every +Saturday taken each fall during those twelve years, so I saw about all +the football there was. When I look back on those years and what they +taught me I feel that I'd not be without them for the world. They showed +so much human nature, so many hundreds of plucky things, mingled with a +lot of mean ones; such a show of manhood under pressure. I learned to +know so many wonderful chaps and some of my most valued friendships were +formed at those times. I liked the responsibility, too; although I knew +that from one game to another I was walking on ice so thin that one bad +mistake, however unintended, would break it. + +"The rules were so incomplete that common sense was needed and, +frequently, interpretation was simply by mutual consent. Bitterness of +feeling between the big colleges made my duties all the harder. But it +was an untold satisfaction when I could feel that I had done well, and +as I said, the responsibility had its fascination and, in the main, was +a great satisfaction. + +"And then came the inevitable, a foul seen only by me, which called for +an immediate penalty. This led to scathing criticism and accusations of +unfairness by many that did not understand the incident, altogether +leaving a sting that will go down with me to my grave in spite of my +happy recollections of the game. I had always taken a great pride in the +job, and in what the confidence of the big universities from one year to +another meant. I knew a little better than anybody else how +conscientiously I had tried to be fair and to use sense and judgment, +and the end of it all hurt a lot. + +"One friendship was made in these years that has been worth more than +words can tell. I refer to that of Matthew McClung. To be known as a +co-official with McClung was a privilege that only those who knew him +can appreciate. I had known him before at Lehigh in his undergraduate +days, and had played on the same teams with him. In after years we were +officials together in a great many of the big games where feeling ran +high and manliness and fairness, as well as judgment, were often put to +a pretty severe test at short notice. Never was there a squarer +sportsman, or a fairer, more conscientious and efficient official; nor a +truer, more gallant type of real man than he. His early death took out +of the game a man of the kind we can ill afford to lose and no tribute +that I could pay him would be high enough. + +"One night after a Yale-Harvard game at Cambridge, I was boarding the +midnight train for New York. The porter had my bag, and as we entered +the car, he confided in me, in an almost awestruck tone, that: 'Dad dere +gentlemin in de smokin' compartment am John L. Sullivan.' + +"I crept into my berth, but next morning, in the washroom, I recognized +John L. as the only man left. He emerged from his basin and asked: + +"'Were you at that football game yesterday?' and then 'Who won?' + +"I told him, and by way of making conversation, asked him if he was +interested in all those outdoor games. But his voice dropped to the +sepulchral and confidential, as he said: + +"'There's murder in that game!' + +"I answered: 'Well! How about the fighting game?' + +"He came back with: 'Sparring! It doesn't compare in roughness, or +danger, with football. In sparring you know what you are doing. You know +what your opponent is trying to do, and he's right there in front of +you, and, there's only one! But in football! Say, there's twenty-two +people trying to do you!' + +"There being only twenty-one other than the player concerned, I could +not but infer that he meant to indicate the umpire as the +twenty-second." + + +My Personal Experiences + +In my experience as an official I recall the fact that I began +officiating as a Referee, and had been engaged and notified in the +regular way to referee the Penn'-Harvard game on Franklin Field in 1905. +When I arrived at the field, McClung was the other official. He had +never umpired but had always acted as a Referee. In my opinion a man +should be either Referee or Umpire. Each position requires a different +kind of experience and I do not believe officials can successfully +interchange these positions. Those who have officiated can appreciate +the predicament I was in, especially just at that time when there was so +much talk of football reform, by means of changing the rules, changing +the style of the game, stopping mass plays. However, I consented; for +appreciating that McClung was sincere in his statement that he would do +nothing but referee, I was forced to accept the Umpire's task. + +It was a game full of intense rivalry. The desire to win was carrying +the men beyond the bounds of an ordinarily spirited contest, and the +Umpire's job proved a most severe task. It was in this game that either +four or five men were disqualified. + +I continued several years after this in the capacity of Umpire. One +unfortunate experience as Umpire came as a result of a penalty inflicted +upon Wauseka, an Indian player who had tackled too vigorously a Penn' +player who was out of bounds. Much wrangling ensued and a policeman was +called upon the field. It was the quickest way to keep the game from +getting out of hand. + +Washington and Jefferson played the Indians at Pittsburgh some years +ago. I acted as Umpire. The game was played in a driving rain storm and +a muddier field I never saw. The players, as well as the officials, were +covered with mud. In fact my sweater was saturated, the players having +used it as a sort of towel to dry their hands. A kicked ball had been +fumbled on the goal line and there was a battle royal on the part of the +players to get the coveted ball. I dived into the scramble of wriggling, +mud-covered players to detect the man who might have the ball. The +stockings and jerseys of the players were so covered with mud that you +could not tell them apart. As I was forcing my way down into the mass of +players I heard a man shouting for dear life: "I'm an Indian! I'm an +Indian! It's my ball!" + +When I finally got hold of the fellow with the ball I could not for the +life of me tell whether he was an Indian or not. However, I held up the +decision until some one got a bucket and sponge and the player's face +was mopped off, whereupon I saw that he was an Indian all right. He had +scored a touchdown for his team. + +An official in the game is subject to all sorts of criticisms and abuse. +Sometimes they are humorous and others have a sting which is not readily +forgotten. + +I admit, on account of my size, there were times in a game when I would +get in a player's way; sometimes in the spectators' way. During a +Yale-Harvard game, in which I was acting as an official, the play came +close to the side line, and I had taken my position directly between the +players and the spectators, when some kind friend from the bleachers +yelled out: + +"Get off the field, how do you expect us to see the game?" + +I shall never forget one poor little fellow who had recovered a fumbled +ball, while on top of him was a wriggling mass of players trying to get +the ball. As I slowly, but surely, forced my way down through the pile +of players I finally landed on top of him. I shall never forget how he +grunted and yelled, "Six or seven of you fellows get off of me." + +It was in the same game that some man from the bleachers called out as I +was running up the field: "Here comes the Beef Trust." + +There was a coach of a Southern college who tried to put over a new one +on me, when I caught him coaching from the side lines in a game with +Pennsylvania on Franklin Field. I first warned him, and when he +persisted in the offense, I put him behind the ropes, on a bench, +besides imposing the regular penalty. It was not long after this, that I +discovered he had left the bench. I found him again on the side line, +wearing a heavy ulster and change of hat to disguise himself, but this +quick change artist promptly got the gate. + +I knew a player who had an opportunity to get back at an official, but +there was no rule to meet the situation. A penalty had been imposed, +because the player had used improper language. A heated argument +followed, and I am afraid the Umpire was guilty of a like offense, when +the player exclaimed: + +"Well! Well! Why don't you penalize yourself?" + +He surely was right. I should have been penalized. + +One sometimes unconsciously fails to deal out a kindness for a courtesy +done. That was my experience in a Harvard-Yale game at Cambridge one +year. On the morning before the game, while I was at the Hotel Touraine, +I was making an earnest effort to get, what seemed almost impossible, a +seat for a friend of mine. I had finally purchased one for ten dollars, +and so made known the fact to two or three of my friends in the +corridor. About this time a tall, athletic, chap, who had heard that I +wanted an extra ticket, volunteered to get me one at the regular price, +which he succeeded in doing. I had no difficulty in returning my +speculator's ticket. I thanked the fellow cordially for getting me the +ticket. I did not see him again until late that afternoon when the game +was nearly over. Some rough work in one of the scrimmages compelled me +to withdraw one of the Harvard players from the game. As I walked with +him to the side lines, I glanced at his face, only to recognize my +friend--the ticket producer. The umpire's task then became harder than +ever, as I gave him a seat on the side line. That player was Vic +Kennard. + +Evarts Wrenn, one of our foremost officials a few years ago, has had +some interesting experiences of his own. + +"While umpiring a game between Michigan and Ohio State, at Columbus," he +says, "Heston, Michigan's fullback, carrying the ball, broke through the +line, was tackled and thrown; recovered his feet, started again, was +tackled and thrown again, threw off his tacklers only to be thrown +again. Again he broke away. All this time I was backing up in front of +the play. As Heston broke away from the last tacklers, I backed suddenly +into the outstretched arms of the Ohio State fullback, who, it appears, +had been backing up step by step with me. Heston ran thirty yards for a +touchdown. You can imagine how unpopular I was with the home team, and +how ridiculous my plight appeared. + +"Another instance occurred in a Chicago-Cornell game at Marshall +Field," Wrenn goes on to say. "You know it always seems good to an +official to get through a game without having to make any disagreeable +decisions. I was congratulating myself on having got through this game +so fortunately. As I was hurrying off the field, I was stopped by the +little Cornell trainer, who had been very much in evidence on the side +lines during the game. He called to me. + +"'Mr. Wrenn' (and I straightened, chucking out my chest and getting my +hand ready for congratulations). 'That was the ---- ---- piece of +umpiring I ever saw in my life.' I cannot describe my feelings. I was +standing there with my mouth open when he had got yards away." + +Dan Hurley, who was captain of the 1904 Harvard team, writes me, as +follows: + +"Football rules are changed from year to year. The causes of these +changes are usually new points which have arisen the year previous +during football games. A good many rules are interpreted according to +the judgment of each individual official. I remember two points that +arose in the Harvard-Penn' game in 1904, at Soldiers' Field. In this +year there was great rivalry between the players representing Harvard +and Pennsylvania. The contest was sharp and bitterly fought all the way +through. Both teams had complained frequently to Edwards, the Umpire. +Finally he caught two men red-handed, so to speak. There was no +argument. Both men admitted it. It so happened that both men were very +valuable to their respective teams. The loss of either man would be +greatly felt. Both captains cornered Edwards and both agreed that he was +perfectly right in his contention that both men should have to leave the +field, but--and it was this that caused the new rule to be enforced the +next year. Both captains suggested that they were perfectly willing for +both men to remain in the game despite the penalty, and with eager faces +both captains watched Edwards' face as he pondered whether he should or +should not permit them to remain in the game. He did, however, allow +both to play. Of course, this ruling was establishing a dangerous +precedent; therefore, the next year the Rules Committee incorporated a +new rule to the effect that two captains of opposing teams could not by +mutual agreement permit a player who ought to be removed for committing +a foul to remain in the game." + +Bill Crowell of Swarthmore, later a coach at Lafayette, is another +official who has had curious experiences. + +"In a Lehigh-Indian game a few years ago at South Bethlehem, in which I +was acting as referee," he says, "in the early part of the game Lehigh +held Carlisle for four downs inside of the three-yard line, and when on +the last try, Powell, the Indian back, failed to take it over, contrary +to the opinion of Warner, their coach. I called out, 'Lehigh's ball,' +and moved behind the Lehigh team which was forming to take the ball out +of danger. Just before the ball was snapped, and everything was quiet in +the stands, Warner called across the field: + +"'Hey! Crowell! you're the best defensive man Lehigh's got.'" + +Phil Draper, famous in Williams football, and without doubt one of the +greatest halfbacks that ever played, also served his time as an +official. He says: + +"From my experience as an official, I believe that most of their +troubles come from the coaches. If things are not going as well with +their team as they ought to go, they have a tendency to blame it on the +officials in order to protect themselves." + +"There was, in my playing days, as now, the usual controversy in +reference to the officials of the game," says Wyllys Terry, "and the +same controversies arose in those days in regard to the decisions which +were given. My sympathies have always been with the officials in the +game in all decisions that they have rendered. It is impossible for them +to see everything, but when they come to make a decision they are the +only ones that are on the spot and simply have to decide on what they +see at the moment. + +"It is a difficult position. Thousands say you are right, thousands say +you are wrong--but my belief has always been that nine times out of ten +the official's decision is correct. It was my misfortune to officiate +in but one large game; that between Harvard and Princeton in the fall of +'87. This was the year that there was a great outcry regarding the +rules, particularly in reference to tackling. It was decided that a +tackle below the waist was a foul and the penalty was disqualification. +I was appointed Umpire in the Harvard-Princeton game of that year. +Before the game I called the teams together and told them what the +representatives of the three colleges had agreed upon. They had +authorized me to carry the rules out in strict accordance with their +instructions and I proposed to do so. In the early part of the game +there was a scrimmage on one side of the field and after the mass had +been cleared away, I heard somebody call for me. On looking around I +found that the call came from Holden, Captain of the Harvard team. He +called my attention to the fact that he was still being tackled and that +the man had both his arms around his knee, with his head resting on it. +He demanded, under the agreed interpretation of the rules, that the +tackle be decided a foul, and that the man be disqualified and sent from +the field. The question of intent was not allowed me, for I had to +decide on the facts as they presented themselves. The result was that +Cowan, one of the most powerful, and one of the best linemen that ever +stood on a football field, was disqualified. The Captain of the +Princeton team remarked at the time, 'I would rather have any three men +disqualified than Cowan.' As the game up to that time had been very +close, and the Princeton sympathizers were sure of victory, I believe I +was the most cordially hated ex-football player that ever existed. +Shortly after this the Harvard men had the Princeton team near their +goal line and in possession of the ball. Two linemen used their hands, +which on the offense is illegal, and made a hole through which the +Harvard halfback passed and crossed the line for a touchdown amid +tremendous cheers from the Harvard contingent. This touchdown was not +allowed by the Umpire. Again I was the most hated football man that +lived, so far as Harvard was concerned. The result was I had no friends +on either side of the field. + +"After the game, in talking it over with Walter Camp, he assured me that +the decisions had been correct, but that he was very glad he had not had +to make them. In spite of these decisions, I was asked to umpire in a +number of big games the next year: but that one experience had been +enough for me. I never appeared again in that or any other official +capacity. I have been trying for the last thirty-two years to get back +the friends which, before that game, I had in both Princeton and Harvard +circles, with only a fair amount of success." + +I have always considered it a great privilege to have been associated +as an official in the game with Pa Corbin. I know of no man that ever +worked as earnestly and intelligently to carry out his official duties, +and year after year he has kept up his interest in the game, not only as +a coach, but as a thoroughly competent official. + +As a favorite with all colleges his services were eagerly sought. He +recollects the following:-- + +"The experience that made as much of an impression upon me as any, was +the game with Penn-Lafayette which came just after the experience of the +year before which developed so much rough play. The man agreed upon for +Umpire, did not appear, and after waiting a while the two captains came +to me and asked if I would umpire in addition to acting as referee. I +accused them of conspiracy to put me entirely out of business, but they +insisted and I reluctantly acquiesced. I told both teams that I would be +so busy that I would have no time for arguments or even investigation +and any move that seemed to me like roughness would be penalized to the +full extent of the rules regardless of whom he was or of how many. The +result was that it was one of the most decent games and in fact almost +gentlemanly that I have ever experienced." + +Joe Pendleton has been an official for twenty years. He is an alert, +conscientious officer in the game. I have worked many times with Joe +and he is a very interesting partner in the official end of the game. + +In the fall of 1915 Joe had a very severe illness and his absence from +the football field was deeply regretted. + +Joe always wore his old Bowdoin sweater and when out upon the field, the +big B on the chest of Joe's white sweater almost covered him up. + +"A few years ago I had occasion to remove a player from a game for a +foul play," says Joe, "and in a second the quarterback was telling me of +my mistake. 'Why, you can't put that man out,' he said, and when I +questioned him as to where he got such a mistaken idea, his reply was: + +"'Why, he is our captain!' + +"In another game after the umpire had disqualified a player for kicking +an opponent, the offending player appealed to me, basing his claim on +the ground that he had not kicked the man until after the whistle had +been blown and the play was over. Another man on the same team claimed +exemption from a penalty on the ground that he had slugged his opponent +while out of bounds. He actually believed that we could not penalize for +fouls off the playing field. + +"The funniest appeal I ever had made to me was made by a player years +ago who asked that time be taken out in order that he might change a +perfectly good jersey for one of a different color. It seems he had lost +his jersey and had borrowed one from a player on the home team. When I +asked him why he wanted to change his jersey he replied: + +"'Because my own team are kicking the stuffing out of me and I must get +a different colored jersey. At times my team mates take me for an +opponent.' + +"In a game where it was necessary to caution the players against talking +too much to their opponents one particularly curious incident occurred. + +"One team, in order to give one of the larger college elevens a stiff +practice game, had put in the field two or three ringers. The big +college team men were rather suspicious that their opponents were not +entirely made up of bona fide students. A big tackle on the larger team +made the following remark to a supposed ringer: + +"'I'll bet you five to one you cannot name the president of your +college.' The answer came back, 'Well, old boy, perhaps I can't, but +perhaps I can show you how to play tackle and that's all I'm here for.'" + +The Princeton-Yale game of 1915 was one of the most bitterly contested +in the history of football. Princeton was a strong favorite, but Yale +forced the fighting and had their opponents on the defensive almost from +the beginning. Princeton's chances were materially hurt by a number of +severe penalties which cost her considerably in excess of one hundred +yards. Each of the officials had a hand in the infliction of the +penalties, but the Referee, who happened to be Nate Tufts of Brown, had, +of course, to enforce them all by marking off the distance given to Yale +and putting the ball in the proper place. + +In the evening after the game, a number of football officials and others +were dining in New York; in the party was a Princeton graduate, who was +introduced to Mr. Tufts, the Referee of the game of the afternoon. At +the introduction the Princeton man remarked that when he was a boy he +had read of Jesse James, the McCoy brothers, and other noted bandits and +train robbers, but that he took off his hat to Mr. Tufts as the king of +them all. + +Okeson, a star player of Lehigh and prominent official, recalls this +game: + +"In 1908 I umpired in a memorable game which took place at New Haven +between Yale and Princeton, which resulted in a victory for Yale, 12-10. +This was before any rule was inserted calling for the Referee to notify +the teams to appear on the field at the beginning of the second half. At +that time a ten-minute intermission was allowed between the halves. The +first half closed with the score 10-0 in favor of Princeton. At the end +of about seven minutes Mike Thompson, who was Referee, following the +custom that had grown up, although no rule required it, left the field +to notify the teams to return. When he came back I asked him if he had +found them, for on the old Yale Field it was something of a job to +locate the teams once they had passed through the gates. Mike said that +they were in the Field House on the other side of the baseball field and +that he had called in to them. The Princeton players appeared in a +minute or two, but no sign of Yale. Finally, getting suspicious, Mike +asked Bill Roper, who was head coach at Princeton that year, if the Yale +team had been in the Field House. The answer was 'No,' and we suddenly +woke up to the fact that although time for the intermission had ended +three or four minutes before, the Yale team was not notified, and +furthermore, no one knew where they were except that they were somewhere +under the stands. There were many gates and to leave by one to search +meant running a chance that the Yale team might appear almost +immediately through another and then the game be further delayed by the +absence of the Referee. This being the case, Mike had no choice but to +do as he did, namely, send messengers through all gates. One of these +messengers met the Yale team coming along under the stands. The coaches +had decided that time must be up, although none of them had kept a +record of it, and had started back finally without any notice. Eight +minutes over the legal ten had been taken before they appeared on the +field and Bill Roper was raging. As Yale won in the second half it was +only natural that we officials were greatly censored by Princeton, and +Yale did not escape criticism. Yet the whole thing came from the fact +that a custom had grown up of depending on the Referee to find and bring +the teams back to the field instead of each team either staying on the +field, or failing that, taking the responsibility on themselves of +getting back in time. Yale simply followed the usual custom and 'Mike' +was misled due to being told that both teams had gone to the Field House +by one of those ready volunteers who furnish information whether they +know anything about the subject in hand or not." + +[Illustration: CRASH OF CONFLICT + +When Charge Meets Charge.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CRASH OF CONFLICT + + +The start of a football game is most exciting; not alone for the +players, but for the spectators as well. Every one is keyed up in +anticipation of the contest. The referee's whistle blows; the ball is +kicked off--the game has begun. + +Opponents now meet face to face on the field of battle. What happens on +the gridiron is plainly seen by the spectators, but it is not possible +for them to hear the conversations which take place. There is much good +natured joshing between the players, which brings out the humorous as +well as the serious side of the contest. In a game, and during the hard +days of practice, many remarks are made which, if overheard, would give +the spectators an insight into the personal, human side of the sport. + +It behooves every team to make the most of the first five minutes of +play. Every coach in the country will tell his team to get the charge on +their opponents from the start. A good start usually means a good +ending. + +From the side lines we see the men put their shoulders to their work, +charging and pushing their opponents aside to make a hole in the line, +through which the man with the ball may gain his distance; or we may see +a man on the defensive, full of grim determination to meet the oncoming +charges of his opponent. As we glance at the accompanying picture of a +Yale-West Point game, we will observe the earnest effort that is being +made in the great game of football--the crash of conflict. + +One particularly amusing story is told about a former Lehigh player in a +Princeton game several years ago. + +"After the match had been in progress twenty minutes or more," says a +Princeton man who played, "we began to show a large number of bruises on +our faces. This was especially the case with House Janeway, whose +opponent, at tackle, was a big husky Lehigh player. Janeway finally +became suspicious of the big husky, whose arms often struck him during +the scrimmage. + +"'What have you got on your arm?' shouted Janeway at his adversary. + +"'Never you mind. I'm playing my game,' was the big tackle's retort. + +"Janeway insisted that the game be stopped temporarily for an +inspection. The Lehigh tackle demurred. Hector Cowan, whose face had +suffered, backed up Janeway's demand. + +"'Have you anything on your arm?' demanded the referee of the Lehigh +player. + +"'My sleeve,' was the curt reply. + +"'Well, turn up your sleeve then.' + +"The big tackle was forced to comply with the official's request, and +disclosed a silver bracelet. + +"'Either take that off or go out of the game,' was the referee's orders. + +"'But I promised a girl friend that I would wear it through the match,' +protested Lehigh's tackle. 'I can't take it off. Don't you +understand--it was _wished_ on!' + +"'Well! I "wish" it off,' the referee replied. 'This is no society +affair.' + +"The big tackle objected to this, declaring he would sooner quit the +game than be disloyal to the girl. + +"'Then you will quit,' was the command of the umpire, and the big tackle +left the field, a substitute taking his place." + +Lueder, a Cornell tackle, one of the best in his day, mentions a +personal affair that occurred in the Penn game in 1900, between Blondy +Wallace and himself. + +Blondy's friends when they read this will think he had an off day in his +general football courtesy. Lueder states: + +"When I was trying to take advantage of my opponent, I was outwitted and +was told to play on the square. I took Wallace's advice and never played +a nicer game of football in my life. Just this little reprimand, from an +older player, taught me a lot of football." + +In the Yale-Brown game, back in 1898, Richardson, that wonderful Brown +quarterback, received the ball on a double pass from Dave Fultz and ran +65-yards before he was downed by Charlie de Saulles, the Yale +quarterback, on Yale's 5-yard line. When Richardson got up, he turned to +de Saulles and said: + +"You fool, why did you tackle me? I lost a chance to be a hero." + +Yale, by the way, won that game by a score of 18 to 14. + +Yost relates a humorous experience he had at Michigan in 1901, which was +his most successful season at that University. + +"Buffalo University came to Michigan with a much-heralded team. They +were coached by a Dartmouth man and had not been scored upon. Buffalo +papers referred to Michigan as the Woolly Westerners, and the Buffalo +enthusiasts placed bets that Michigan would not score. The time +regulation of the game, two halves, was thirty-five minutes, without +intermission. At the end of the first half the score was 65 to 0. During +this time many substitutions had been made, some nineteen or twenty men, +so that every player Buffalo brought with them had at one time or +another participated in the game. + +"The Buffalo coach came to me and said: + +"'Yost, we will have to cut this next half short.' + +"'Why?' I asked. Of course, I did not realize that every available man +he had with him was used up, but I felt rather liberal at that stage of +the game and said: + +"'Let them rest fifteen or twenty minutes for the intermission, and then +use them over again; use them as often as you like. I don't care.' + +"About fifteen minutes after the second half had started, I discovered +on Michigan's side of the field, covered up in a blanket, a big fellow +named Simpson, one of the Buffalo players. I was naturally curious, and +said: + +"'Simpson, what are you doing over here? You are on the wrong side.' + +"'Don't say anything,' came the quick response, 'I know where I am at. +The coach has put me in three times already and I'm not going in there +again. Enough is enough for any one. _I've had mine._' + +"The score was then 120 to 0, in favor of Michigan, and the Buffalo team +quit fifteen minutes before the game should have ended. + +"It may be interesting to note that from this experience of Buffalo with +Michigan the expression, 'I've got you Buffaloed,' is said to have +originated, and to-day Michigan players use it as a fighting word." + +Yost smiled triumphantly as he related the following: + +"The day we played the Michigan Agricultural College we, of course, were +at our best. The M. A. C. was taken on as a preliminary game, which was +to be two twenty-minute halves. + +"At the beginning of the second half the score was 118 to 0, in favor of +Michigan. + +"At this time, a big husky tackle, after a very severe scrimmage had +taken place, stood up, took off his head gear, threw it across the field +and started for the side line, passing near where I was standing, when I +yelled at him: + +"'The game is not over yet. Go back.' + +"'Oh,' he said, 'we came down here to get some experience. I've had all +I want. Let the other fellows stay, if they want to; me for the dressing +room.' + +"And when this fellow quit, all the other M. A. C. players stopped, and +the game ended right there. There were but four minutes left to play." + +Somebody circulated a rumor that Yost had made the statement that +Michigan would beat Iowa one year 80 to 0. Of course, this rumor came +out in the papers on the day of the game, but Yost says: + +"I never really said any such thing. However, we did beat them 107 to 0, +whereupon some fellow from Iowa sent me a telegram, after the game, +which read: 'Ain't it awful. Box their remains and send them home.'" + +In Tom Shevlin's year at Yale, 1902, Mike Sweeney, his old trainer and +coach at Hill School, was in New Haven watching practice for about four +days before the first game. Practice that day was a sort of survival of +the fittest, for they were weeding out the backs, who were doing the +catching. About five backs were knocked out. A couple had been carried +off, with twisted knees, and still the coaches were trying for more +speed and diving tackles. + +Tom had just obliterated a 150-pound halfback, who had lost the ball, +the use of his legs and his Varsity aspirations altogether. Stopped by +Sweeney, on his way back up the field, Tom remarked: + +"Mike, this isn't football. It's war." + +A Brown man tells the following interesting story: + +"In a game that we were playing with some small college back in 1906 out +on Andrews Field, Brown had been continually hammering one tackle for +big gains. The ball was in the middle of the field and time had been +taken out for some reason or other. Huggins and Robby were standing on +the side lines, and just as play was about to be resumed, Robby noticed +that the end on the opposing team was playing out about fifteen feet +from his tackle, and was standing near us, when Robby said to him: + +"'What's the idea? Why don't you get in there where you belong?' + +"The end's reply was: + +"'I'm wise. Do you think I'm a fool? I don't want to be killed.'" + +During a scrub game, the year that Brown had the team that trimmed Yale +21 to 0, Huggins says: + +"Goldberg, a big guard who, at that time, was playing on the second +eleven, kept holding Brent Smith's foot. Brent was a tackle; one of the +best, by the way, that we ever had here at Brown. Smith complained to +the coaches, who told him not to bother, but to get back into the game +and play football. This he did, but before he settled down to business, +he said to Goldberg: + +"'If you hold my foot again, I'll kick you in the face.' + +"About two plays had been run off, when Smith once more shouted: + +"'He's holding me.' Robby went in back of him and said: + +"'Why didn't you kick him?' + +"'Kick him!' replied Brent. 'He held _both_ my feet!'" + +Hardwick recalls another incident that has its share of humor, which +occurred in the Yale bowl on the day of its christening. + +"Yale was far behind--some thirty points--playing rather raggedly. They +had possession of the ball on Harvard's 1-yard line and were attempting +a strong rushing attack in anticipation of a touchdown. They were +meeting with little or no success in penetrating Pennock and Trumbull, +backed by Bradlee. And on the third down they were one yard farther away +from the goal than at the start. They attempted another plunge on +tackle, and were using that uncertain form of offense, the direct pass. +The center was a trifle mixed and passed to the wrong man, with the +result that Yale recovered the ball on Harvard's 25-yard line. Wilson, +then a quarter for Yale, turned to his center and asked him sharply: + +"'Why don't you keep track of the signals?' + +"In a flash, the center rush turned and replied: + +"'How do you expect me to keep track of signals, when I can hardly keep +track of the touchdowns.'" + +Brown University was playing the Carlisle Indians some ten years ago at +the Polo Grounds at New York City. Bemus Pierce, the Indian captain, +called time just as a play was about to be run off, and the Brown team +continued in line, while Hawley Pierce, his brother, a tackle on the +Indian team, complained, in an audible voice, that some one on the Brown +team had been slugging him. Bemus walked over to the Brown line with his +brother, saying to him: + +"Pick out the man who did it." + +Hawley Pierce looked the Brunonians over, but could not decide which +player had been guilty of the rough work. By this time, the two minutes +were up, and the officials ordered play resumed. Bemus shouted to +Hawley: + +"Now keep your eyes open and find out who it was. Show him to me, and +after the game I'll take care of him properly." + +It is interesting to note that Bemus only weighed 230 pounds and his +little brother tipped the scale at 210 pounds. + +In 1900 Brown played the University of Chicago, at Chicago. During the +second half, Bates, the Brown captain, was injured and was taken from +the game, and Sheehan, a big tackle, was made temporary captain. At that +time the score was 6 to 6. Sheehan called the team together and +addressed them in this manner: + +"Look here, boys, we've got thirteen minutes to play. Get in and play +like hell. Every one of you make a touchdown. We can beat 'em with +ease." + +For many years the last statement was one of Brown's battle-cries. +Brown, by the way, won that game by a score of 12 to 6. + +A former Brown man says that in a Harvard game some few years ago, Brown +had been steadily plowing through the Crimson's left guard. Goldberg, of +the Brown team, had been opening up big holes and Jake High, Brown's +fullback, had been going through for eight and ten yards at a time. +Goldberg, who was a big, stout fellow, not only was taking care of the +Harvard guard, but was going through and making an endeavor to clean up +the secondary defense. High, occasionally, when he had the ball, instead +of looking where he was going, would run blindly into Goldberg and the +play would stop dead. Finally, after one of these experiences, Jake +cried out: + +[Illustration: AINSWORTH, YALE'S TERROR IN AN UPHILL GAME] + +"Goldberg, if you would only keep out of my way, I would make the +All-American." + +In the same game, High, on a line plunge, got through, dodged the +secondary defense and was finally brought down by Harvard's backfield +man, O'Flaherty. Jake always ran with his mouth wide open, and +O'Flaherty, who made a high tackle, was unfortunate enough to stick his +finger in High's mouth. He let out a yell as Jake came down on it: + +"What are you biting my finger for?" High as quickly responded: + +"What are you sticking it in my mouth for?" + +Huggins of Brown says: "The year that we beat Pennsylvania so badly out +on Andrews Field, Brown had the ball on Penn's 2-yard line. Time was +called for some reason, and we noticed that the backfield men were +clustered about Crowther, our quarterback. We afterwards learned that +all four of the backfield wanted to carry the ball over. Crowther +reached down and plucked three blades of grass and the halfbacks and the +fullback each drew one with the understanding that the one drawing the +shortest blade could carry the ball. Much to their astonishment, they +found that all the pieces of grass were of the same length. Crowther, +who made the All-American that year, shouted: + +"You all lose. I'll take it myself," and over the line he went with the +ball tucked away under his arm. + +"Johnny Poe was behind the door when fear went by," says Garry Cochran. +"Every one knows of his wonderful courage. I remember that in the +Harvard '96 game, at Cambridge, near the end of the first half, two of +our best men (Ad Kelly and Sport Armstrong) were seriously hurt, which +disorganized the team. The men were desperate and near the breaking +point. Johnny, with his true Princeton spirit, sent this message to each +man on the team: + +"'If you won't be beat, you can't be beat.'" + +"This message brought about a miracle. It put iron in each man's soul, +and never from that moment did Harvard gain a yard, and for four +succeeding years--'If you won't be beat, you can't be beat,' was +Princeton's battle-cry. + +"The good that Johnny did for Princeton teams was never heralded abroad. +His work was noiseless, but always to the point. + +"I remember the Indian game in '96. The score in the first half was 6 to +0, in favor of the Indians. I believe they had beaten Harvard and Penn, +and tied Yale. There wasn't a word said in the club house when the team +came off the field, but each man was digging in his locker for a special +pair of shoes, which we had prepared for Yale. Naturally I was very +bitter and refused to speak to any one. Then I heard the quiet, +confident voice talking to Johnny Baird, who had his locker next to +mine. I can't remember all he said, but this is the gist of his +conversation: + +"'Johnny, you're backing up the center. Why can't you make that line +into a fighting unit? Tell 'em their grandfathers licked a hundred +better Indians than these fellows are, and it's up to them to show they +haven't back-bred.' + +"Johnny Baird carried out these orders, and the score, 22 to 6, favoring +Princeton, showed the result. + +"Once more Johnny Poe's brains lifted Princeton out of a hole. I could +mention many cases where Johnny has helped Princetonians, but they are +personal and could not be published. + +"I can only say, that when I lost Johnny Poe, I lost one who can never +be replaced, and I feel like a traitor because I was not beside him when +he fell." + + * * * * * + +Rinehart tells how he tried to get even with Sam Boyle. + +"I went into professional football, after leaving Lafayette," says +Rinehart. "I joined the Greensburg Athletic Club team at Greensburg, +Pennsylvania, solely for the purpose of getting back at Sam Boyle, +formerly of the University of Penn. He was playing on the Pittsburgh +Athletic Club." + +When I asked Rinehart why he wanted to get square with Sam Boyle, he +said: + +"For the reason that Sam, during the Penn-Lafayette contest in '97, had +acted in a very unsportsmanlike manner and kept telling his associates +to kill the Lafayette men and not to forget what Lafayette did to them +last year, and a lot more, but possibly it was fortunate for Sam that he +did not play in our Greensburg-Pittsburgh Athletic Club game. I was +ready to square myself for Lafayette." + +A lot of good football stories have been going the rounds, some old, +some new, but none of them better than the one Barkie Donald, afterward +a member of the Harvard Advisory Football Committee, tells on himself, +in a game that Harvard played against the Carlisle Indians in 1896. + +It was the first time Harvard and Carlisle had met--Harvard winning--4 +to 0--and Donald played tackle against Bemus Pierce. + +Donald, none too gentle a player, for he had to fight every day against +Bert Waters, then a coach, knew how to use his arms against the Indian, +and also when charging, how to do a little execution with his elbows and +the open hand, just as the play was coming off. He was playing +legitimately under the old game. He roughed it with the big Indian and +caught him hard several times, but finally Bemus Pierce had something to +say. + +"Mr. Donald," he said, quietly, "you have been hitting me and if you do +it again, I shall hit you." But Donald did not heed the warning, and in +the next play he bowled at Bemus harder than ever for extra measure. +Still the big Indian did not retaliate. + +"But I thought I was hit by a sledge hammer in the next scrimmage," said +Donald after the game. "I remember charging, but that was all. I was +down and out, but when I came to I somehow wabbled to my feet and went +back against the Indian. I was so dazed I could just see the big fellow +moving about and as we sparred off for the next play he said in a matter +of fact tone: + +"'Mr. Donald, you hit me, one, two, three times, I hit you only +one--we're square.' + +"And you bet we were square," Donald always adds as he tells the story. + +Tacks Hardwick, in common with most football players, thinks the world +of Eddie Mahan. + +"I have played football and baseball with Eddie," he says, "and am +naturally an ardent admirer of his ability, his keen wit and his +thorough sportsmanship. One of Eddie's greatest assets is his +temperament. He seldom gets nervous. I have seen him with the bases +full, and with three balls on the batter, turn about in the box with a +smile on his face, wave the outfield back, and then groove the ball +waist high. Nothing worried him. His ability to avoid tacklers in the +broken field had always puzzled me. I had studied the usual methods +quite carefully. Change of pace, reversing the field, spinning when +tackled, etc.,--most of the tricks I had given thought to, but +apparently Eddie relied little on these. He used them all instinctively, +but favored none. + +"Charlie Brickley had a favorite trick of allowing his arm to be tackled +flat against his leg, then, at the very moment his opponent thought he +had him, Charlie would wrench up his arm and break the grip. + +"Percy Wendell used to bowl over the tackler by running very low. I +relied almost exclusively on a straight arm, and 'riding a man.' This +means that when a tackler comes with such force that a straight arm is +not sufficient to hold him off, and you know he will break through, you +put your hand on the top of his head, throw your hips sharply away, and +vault as you would over a fence rail, using his head as a support. If he +is coming hard, his head has sufficient power to give you quite a boost, +and you can 'ride him' a considerable distance--often four or five +yards. When his momentum dies, drop off and leave him. Well, Eddie +didn't use any of these. Finally I asked him how he figured on getting +by the tackler, and what the trick was he used so effectively. + +"'It's a cinch,' Eddie replied. 'All I do is poke my foot out at him, +give it to him; he goes to grab it, and I take it away!' + +[Illustration: TWO TO ONE HE GETS AWAY + +Brickley Being Tackled by Wilson and Avery.] + +"Leo Leary had been giving the ends a talk on being 'cagey.' 'Cagey' +play is foxy--such as never getting in the same position on every play, +moving about, doing the unexpected. If you wish to put your tackle out, +play outside him, and draw him out, and then at the last moment hop in +close to your own tackle, and then charge your opponent. The reverse is +true as well. The unexpected and unusual make up 'cagey' play. Much +emphasis had been laid on this, and we were all thoroughly impressed, +especially Weatherhead, that year a substitute. + +"Weatherhead's appearance and actions on the field were well adapted to +cagey play. Opponents could learn nothing by analyzing his expression. +It seldom varied. His walk had a sort of tip-toe roll to it, much +similar to the conventional stage villain, inspecting a room before +robbing a safe. In the course of the afternoon game, Weatherhead put his +coaching in practice. + +"We had a habit--practically every team has--of shouting 'Signal' +whenever a player did not understand the orders of the quarterback. Mal +Logan had just snapped out his signals, when Al Weatherhead left his +position. Casting furtive glances at the opponents, and tip-toeing along +like an Indian scout at his best, the very personification of +'caginess,' Weatherhead approached Logan. Logan, thinking Al had +discovered some important weak spot in the defense, leaned forward +attentively. Weatherhead rolled up, and carefully shielding his mouth +with his hand, asked in a stage whisper 'Signal.' + +"A piece of thoughtfulness that expressed the spirit of the man who did +it, and also the whole team, took place at the Algonquin Hotel at New +London, on the eve of the Harvard-Yale game in 1914. The Algonquin is +fundamentally a summer hotel, although it is open all the year. The +Harvard team had their headquarters there, and naturally the place was +packed with the squad and the numerous followers. Eddie Mahan and I +roomed together, and in the room adjoining were Watson and Swigert, two +substitute quarterbacks. Folding doors separated the rooms, and these +had been flung open. In the night, it turned cold, and the summer +bedding was insufficient. Swigert couldn't sleep, he was so chilled, so +he got up, and went in search of blankets. He examined all the closets +on that floor, without success; then he explored the floors above and +below, and finally went down to the night clerk, and demanded some +blankets of him. After considerable delay, he obtained two thin +blankets, and thoroughly chilled from his walk in his bare feet, +returned to the room. Passing our door, he spied Eddie curled up and +shivering, about half asleep. I was asleep, but a cold, uncomfortable +sleep that is no real rest. He walked in, and placing one blanket over +Eddie and one over me, went back to his own bed colder than ever. + +"I am a firm believer in rough, rugged, aggressive, bruising football," +says Hardwick. "The rougher, the better, if, and only if, it is +legitimate and clean football. I am glad to say that clean football has +been prevalent in my experience. Only on the rarest occasions have I +felt any unclean actions have been intentional and premeditated. We have +made it a point to play fierce, hard and clean football, and have nearly +always received the same treatment. + +"In my freshman year, however, I felt that I had been wronged, and +foolishly I took it to heart. Since that time I have changed my mind as +I have had an opportunity to know the player personally and my own +observation and the general high reputation he has for sportsmanship +have thoroughly convinced me of my mistake. The particular play in +question was in the Yale 1915 game. We started a wide end run, and I was +attempting to take out the end. I dived at his knees but aimed too far +in front, falling at his feet. He leaped in the air to avoid me, and +came down on the small of my back, gouging me quite severely with his +heel cleats. I felt that it was unnecessary and foolishly resented it." + +One of the most famous games in football was the Harvard-Yale encounter +at Springfield in '94. Bob Emmons was captain of the Harvard team and +Frank Hinkey captain of Yale. This game was so severely fought that it +was decided best to discontinue football relations between these two +universities and no game took place until three years later. + +Jim Rodgers, who was a substitute at Yale that year, relates some +interesting incidents of that game: + +"In those old strenuous days, they put so much fear of God in you, it +scared you so you couldn't play. When we went up to Springfield, we were +all over-trained. Instead of putting us up at a regular hotel, they put +us up at the Christian Workers, that Stagg was interested in. The +bedrooms looked like cells, with a little iron bed and one lamp in each +room," says Jim. "You know after one is defeated he recalls these facts +as terrible experiences. None of us slept at all well that night, and my +knees were so stiff I could hardly walk. Yale relied much on Fred +Murphy. Harvard had coached Hallowell to get Murphy excited. Murphy was +quick tempered. If you got his goat, he was pretty liable to use his +hands, and Harvard was anxious to have him put out of the game. +Hallowell went to his task with earnestness. He got Murphy to the point +of rage, but Murphy had been up against Bill Odlin, who used to coach at +Andover, and Bill used to give you hell if you slugged when the umpire +was looking. But when his back was turned you could do anything. + +"Murphy stood about all he could and when he saw the officials were in +a conference he gave Hallowell a back-hander, and dropped him like a +brick. His nose was flattened right over his cheek-bone. Fortunately +that happened on the Yale side of the field. If it had happened on the +Harvard side, there would have been a riot. There was some noise when +that blow was delivered; the whole crowd in the stand stood aghast and +held its breath. So Harvard laid for Murphy and in about two plays they +got him. How they got him we never knew, but suddenly it was apparent +that Murphy was gone. The trainer finally helped Murphy up and the +captain of the team told him in which direction his goal was. He would +break through just as fine and fast as before, but the moment his head +got down to a certain angle, he would go down in a heap. He was game to +the core, however, and he kept on going. + +"It was in this game that Wrightington, the halfback, was injured, +though this never came out in the newspapers. Wrightington caught a punt +and started back up the field. In those days you could wriggle and +squirm all you wanted to and you could pile on a thousand strong, if you +liked. Frank Hinkey was at the other end of the field playing wide, and +ready if Wrightington should take a dodge. Murphy caught Wrightington +and he started to wriggle. It was at this time that Louis Hinkey came +charging down the field on a dead run. In trying to prevent +Wrightington from advancing any further with the ball, Louis Hinkey's +knee hit Wrightington and came down with a crash on his collar-bone and +neck. Wrightington gave one moan, rolled over and fainted dead away. +Frank Hinkey was not within fifteen yards of the play, and Louis did it +with no evil intention. Frank thought that Wrightington had been killed +and he came over and took Louis Hinkey by the hand, appreciating the +severe criticism which was bound to be heaped upon his brother Louis. +There was a furor. It was on everybody's tongue that Frank Hinkey had +purposely broken Wrightington's collar-bone. Frank knew who did it, but +the 'Silent Hinkey' never revealed the real truth. He protected his +brother. + +"Yale took issue on the point, and as a result the athletic relationship +was suspended. + +"It was in this game that Bronc Armstrong established the world's brief +record for staying in the game. He was on the field for twenty +seconds--then was ruled out. I think Frank Hinkey is the greatest end +that was ever on a field. To my mind he never did a dirty thing, but he +tackled hard. When Frank Hinkey tackled a man, he left him there. In +later years when I was coaching, an old Harvard player who was visiting +me, came out to Yale Field. He had never seen Hinkey play football, but +he had read much about him. I pointed out several of the men to him, +such as Heffelfinger, and others of about his type, all of whom measured +up to his ideas, and finally said: + +[Illustration: SNAPPING THE BALL WITH LEWIS] + +[Illustration: "TWO INSEPARABLES" + +Frank Hinkey and the Ball.] + +"'Where is that fellow Hinkey?' And when I pointed Hinkey out to him, he +said: + +"'Great guns, Harvard complaining about that little shrimp, I'm ashamed +of Harvard.' + +"Hinkey was a wonderful leader. Every man that ever played under him +worshipped him. He had his team so buffaloed that they obeyed every +order, down to the most minute detail. + +"When Hinkey entered Yale, there were two corking end rushes in college, +Crosby and Josh Hartwell. After about two weeks of practice, there was +no longer a question as to whether Hinkey was going to make the team. It +was a question of which one of the old players was going to lose his +job. They called him 'consumptive Hinkey.'" + +Every football player, great though he himself was in his prime, has his +gridiron idol. The man, usually some years his elder, whose exploits as +a boy he has followed. Joe Beacham's paragon was and is Frank Hinkey and +the depth of esteem in which the former Cornell star held Hinkey is well +exemplified in the following incident, which occurred on the Black +Diamond Express, Eastbound, as it was passing through Tonawanda, New +York. Beacham had been dozing, but awoke in time to catch a glimpse of +the signboard as the train flashed by. Leaning slightly forward he +tapped a drummer upon the shoulder. The salesman turned around. "Take +off your hat," came the command. "Why?" the salesman began. "Take off +your hat," repeated Beacham. The man did so. "Thank you; now put it on," +came the command. The drummer summing up courage, faced Beacham and +said, "Now will you kindly tell me why you asked me to do this?" Joe +smiled with the satisfied feeling of an act well performed and said: "I +told you to lift your hat because we are passing through the town where +Frank Hinkey was born." + +Later, in the smoking room, Joe heard the drummer discussing the +incident with a crowd of fellow salesmen, and he said, concluding, "What +I'd like to know is who in hell is Frank Hinkey?" + +And late that evening when the train arrived in New York Joe Beacham and +the traveling man had become the best of friends. In parting, Joe said: +"If there's anything I haven't told you, I'll write you about it." + +Sandy Hunt, a famous Cornell guard and captain, says: + +"Here is one on Bill Hollenback, the last year he played for +Pennsylvania against Cornell. Bill went into the game, thoroughly fit, +but Mike Murphy, then training the team, was worried lest he be injured. +In an early scrimmage Bill's ear was nearly ripped off. Blood flowed and +Mike left the side lines to aid. Mike was waved away by Bill. 'It's +nothing but a scratch, Mike, let me get back in the game.' Play was +resumed. Following a scrimmage, Mike saw Bill rolling on the ground in +agony. 'His ankle is gone,' quoth Mike, as he ran out to the field. +Leaning over Bill, Mike said: 'Is it your ankle, or knee, Bill?' Bill, +writhing in agony, gasped: + +"'No; somebody stepped on my corn.'" + +Hardwick has this to tell of the days when he coached Annapolis: + +"One afternoon at Annapolis, the Varsity were playing a practice game +and were not playing to form, or better, possibly, they were not playing +as the coaches had reason to hope. There was an indifference in their +play and a lack of snap and drive in their work that roused Head Coach +Ingram's fighting blood. Incidentally, Ingram is a fighter from his feet +up, every inch, as broad-minded as he is broad-shouldered, and a keen +student of football. The constant letting up of play, and the lack of +fight, annoyed him more and more. At last, a Varsity player sat down and +called for water. Immediately, the cry was taken up by his team mates. +This was more than Ingram could stand. Out he dashed from the side +lines, right into the group of players, shaking his fist and shrieking: + +"'Water! Water! What you need is fire, not water!'" + +Fred Crolius tells a good story about Foster Sanford when he was +coaching at West Point. One of the most interesting institutions to +coach is West Point. Even in football field practice the same military +spirit is in control, most of the coaches being officers. Only when a +unique character like Sandy appears is the monotony shattered. Sandy is +often humorous in his most serious moments. One afternoon not many weeks +before the Navy game Sandy, as Crolius tells it, was paying particular +attention to Moss, a guard whom Sanford tried to teach to play low. Moss +was very tall and had never appreciated the necessity of bending his +knees and straightening his back. Sanford disgusted with Moss as he saw +him standing nearly erect in a scrimmage, and Sandy's voice would ring +out, "Stop the play, Lieutenant Smith. Give Mr. Moss a side line badge. +Moss, if you want to watch this game, put on a badge, then everybody +will know you've got a right to watch it." In the silence of the parade +ground those few words sounded like a trumpet for a cavalry charge, but +Sandy accomplished his purpose and made a guard of Moss. + +The day Princeton played Yale at New Haven in 1899, I had a brother on +each side of the field; one was Princeton Class, 1895, and the other was +an undergraduate at Yale, Class of 1901. + +My brother, Dick, told me that his friends at Yale would joke him as to +whether he would root for Yale or Princeton on November 25th of that +year. I did not worry, for I had an idea. A friend of his told me the +following story a week after the game: + +"You had been injured in a mass play and were left alone, for the +moment, laid out upon the ground. No one seemed to see you as the play +continued. But Dick was watching your every move, and when he saw you +were injured he voluntarily arose from his seat and rushed down the +aisle to a place opposite to where you were and was about to go out on +the field, when the Princeton trainer rushed out upon the field and +stood you on your feet, and as Dick came back, he took his seat in the +Yale grandstand. Yale men knew then where his interest in the game lay." + +After Arthur Poe had kicked his goal from the field, Princeton men lost +themselves completely and rushed out upon the field. In the midst of the +excitement, I remember my brother, George, coming out and +enthusiastically congratulating me. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LEST WE FORGET + + +Marshall Newell + +There is no hero of the past whose name has been handed down in +Harvard's football traditions as that of Marshall Newell. He left many +lasting impressions upon the men who came in contact with him. The men +that played under his coaching idolized him, and this extended even +beyond the confines of Harvard University. This is borne out in the +following tribute which is paid Newell by Herbert Reed, that was on the +Cornell scrub when Newell was their coach. + +"It is poignantly difficult, even to-day, years after what was to so +many of us a very real tragedy," says Reed, "to accept the fact that +Marshall Newell is dead. The ache is still as keen as on that Christmas +morning when the brief news dispatches told us that he had been killed +in a snowstorm on a railroad track at Springfield. It requires no great +summoning of the imagination to picture this fine figure of a man, in +heart and body so like his beloved Berkshire oaks, bending forward, head +down, and driving into the storm in the path of the everyday duty +that led to his death. It was, as the world goes, a short life, but a +fruitful one--a life given over simply and without questioning to +whatever work or whatever play was at hand. + +[Illustration: MARSHALL NEWELL] + +"To the vast crowds of lovers of football who journeyed to Springfield +to see this superman of sport in action in defense of his Alma Mater he +will always remain as the personification of sportsmanship combined with +the hard, clean, honest effort that marks your true football player. To +a great many others who enjoyed the privilege of adventuring afield with +him, the memory will be that of a man strong enough to be gentle, of +magnetic personality, and yet withal, with a certain reserve that is +found only in men whose character is growing steadily under the urge of +quiet introspection. Yet, for a man so self-contained, he had much to +give to those about him, whether these were men already enjoying place +and power or merely boys just on the horizon of a real man's life. It +was not so much the mere joy and exuberance of living, as the wonder and +appreciation of living that were the springs of Marshall Newell's being. + +"It was this that made him the richest poor man it was ever my fortune +to know. + +"The world about him was to Newell rich in expression of things +beautiful, things mysterious, things that struck in great measure awe +and reverence into his soul. A man with so much light within could not +fail to shine upon others. He had no heart for the city or the life of +the city, and for him, too, the quest of money had no attraction. Even +before he went to school at Phillips Exeter, the character of this +sturdy boy had begun to develop in the surroundings he loved throughout +his life. Is it any wonder, then, that from the moment he arrived at +school he became a favorite with his associates, indeed, at a very early +stage, something of an idol to the other boys? He expressed an ideal in +his very presence--an ideal that was instantly recognizable as true and +just--an ideal unspoken, but an ideal lived. Just what that ideal was +may perhaps be best understood if I quote a word or two from that little +diary of his, never intended for other eyes but privileged now, a +quotation that has its own little, delicate touch of humor in +conjunction with the finer phrases: + +"'There is a fine selection from Carmen to whistle on a load of logs +when driving over frozen ground; every jolt gives a delightful emphasis +to the notes, and the musician is carried along by the dictatorial +leader as it were. What a strength there is in the air! It may be rough +at times, but it is true and does not lie. What would the world be if +all were open and frank as the day or the sunshine?' + +"I want to record certain impressions made upon a certain freshman at +Cornell, whither Newell went to coach the football team after his +graduation from Harvard. Those impressions are as fresh to-day as they +were in that scarlet and gold autumn years ago. + +"Here was a man built like the bole of a tree, alight with fire, +determination, love of sport, and hunger for the task in hand. He was no +easy taskmaster, but always a just one. Many a young man of that period +will remember, as I do, the grinding day's work when everything seemed +to go wrong, when mere discouragement was gradually giving way to actual +despair, when, somewhat clogged with mud and dust and blood, he felt a +sudden slap on the back, and heard a cheery voice saying, 'Good work +to-day. Keep it up.' Playing hard football himself, Newell demanded hard +football of his pupils. I wish, indeed, that some of the players of +to-day who groan over a few minutes' session with the soft tackling +dummy of these times could see that hard, sole leather tackling dummy +swung from a joist that went clear through it and armed with a shield +that hit one over the head when he did not get properly down to his +work, that Newell used. + +"It was grinding work this, but through it one learned. + +"That ancient and battered dummy is stowed away, a forgotten relic of +the old days, in the gymnasium at Cornell. There are not a few of us +who, when returning to Ithaca, hunt it up to do it reverence. + +"Let him for a moment transfer his allegiance to the scrub eleven, and +in that moment the Varsity team knew that it was in a real football +game. They were hard days indeed on Percy Field, but good days. I have +seen Newell play single-handed against one side of the Varsity line, +tear up the interference like a whirlwind, and bring down his man. Many +of us have played in our small way on the scrub when for purposes of +illustration Newell occupied some point in the Varsity line. We knew +then what would be on top of us the instant the ball was snapped. Yet +when the heap was at its thickest Newell would still be in the middle of +it or at the bottom, as the case might be, still working, and still +coaching. Both in his coaching at Harvard and at Cornell he developed +men whose names will not be forgotten while the game endures, and some +of these developments were in the nature of eleventh-hour triumphs for +skill and forceful, yet none the less sympathetic, personality. + +"After all, despite his remarkable work as a gridiron player and tutor, +I like best to think of him as Newell, the man; I like best to recall +those long Sunday afternoons when he walked through the woodland paths +in the two big gorges, or over the fields at Ithaca in company much of +the time with--not the captain of the team, not the star halfback, not +the great forward, but some young fellow fresh from school who was still +down in the ruck of the squad. More than once he called at now one, now +another fraternity house and hailed us: 'Where is that young freshman +that is out for my team? I would like to have him take a little walk +with me.' And these walks, incidentally, had little or nothing to do +with football. They were great opportunities for the little freshman who +wanted to get closer to the character of the man himself. No flower, no +bit of moss, no striking patch of foliage escaped his notice, for he +loved them all, and loved to talk about them. One felt, returning from +one of these impromptu rambles, that he had been spending valuable time +in that most wonderful church of all, the great outdoors, and spending +it with no casual interpreter. Memories of those days in the sharp +practice on the field grow dim, but these others I know will always +endure. + +"This I know because no month passes, indeed it is almost safe to say, +hardly a week, year in and year out, in which they are not insistently +resurgent. + +"Marshall Newell was born in Clifton, N. J., on April 2, 1871. His early +life was spent largely on his father's farm in Great Barrington, Mass., +that farm and countryside which seemed to mean so much to him in later +years. He entered Phillips Exeter Academy in the fall of 1887, and was +graduated in 1890. Almost at once he achieved, utterly without effort, a +popularity rare in its quality. Because of his relation with his +schoolmates and his unostentatious way of looking after the welfare of +others, he soon came to be known as Ma Newell, and this affectionate +sobriquet not only clung to him through all the years at Exeter and +Harvard, but followed him after graduation whithersoever he went. While +at school he took up athletics ardently as he always took up everything. +Thus he came up to Harvard with an athletic reputation ready made. + +"It was not long before the class of '94 began to feel that subtler +influence of character that distinguished all his days. He was a member +of the victorious football eleven of 1890, and of the winning crew of +1891, both in his freshman year. He also played on the freshman football +team and on the university team of '91, '92, '93, and rowed on the +Varsity crews of '92 and '93. In the meantime he was gaining not only +the respect and friendship of his classmates, but those of the +instructors as well. Socially, and despite the fact that he was little +endowed with this world's goods, he enjoyed a remarkable popularity. He +was a member of the Institute of 1770, Dickey, Hasty Pudding, and +Signet. In addition, he was the unanimous choice of his class for Second +Marshal on Class Day. Many other honors he might have had if he had +cared to seek them. He accepted only those that were literally forced +upon him. + +"In the course of his college career he returned each summer to his home +in Great Barrington and quietly resumed his work on the farm. + +"After graduation he was a remarkably successful football coach at +Cornell University, and was also a vast help in preparing Harvard +elevens. His annual appearance in the fall at Cambridge was always the +means of putting fresh heart and confidence in the Crimson players. + +"He turned to railroading in the fall of 1896, acting as Assistant +Superintendent of the Springfield Division of the Boston and Albany +Railroad. Here, as at college, he made a profound personal impression on +his associates. The end came on the evening of December 24th, in 1897. + +"In a memorial from his classmates and friends, the following +significant paragraph appears: 'Marshall Newell belonged to the whole +University. He cannot be claimed by any clique or class. Let us, his +classmates, simply express our gratitude that we have had the privilege +of knowing him and of observing his simple, grand life. We rejoice in +memories of his comradeship; we deeply mourn our loss. To those whose +affliction has been even greater than our own, we extend our sympathy.' +This memorial was signed by Bertram Gordon Waters, Lincoln Davis, and +George C. Lee, Jr., for the class, men who knew him well. + +"Harvard men, I feel sure, will forgive me if I like to believe that +Newell belonged not merely to the whole Harvard University, but to every +group of men that came under his influence, whether the football squad +at Cornell or the humble track walkers of the Boston and Albany. + +"Remains, I think, little more for me to say, and this can best be said +in Newell's own words, selections from that diary of which I have +already spoken, and which set the stamp on the character of the man for +all time. This, for instance: + +"'It is amusing to notice the expression in the faces of the horses on +the street as you walk along; how much they resemble people, not in +feature, but in spirit. Some are cross and snap at the men who pass; +others asleep; and some will almost thank you for speaking to them or +patting their noses.' And this, in more serious vein: 'Happened to think +how there was a resemblance in water and our spirits, or rather in their +sources. Some people are like springs, always bubbling over with +freshness and life; others are wells and have to be pumped; while some +are only reservoirs whose spirits are pumped in and there stagnate +unless drawn off immediately. Most people are like the wells, but the +pump handle is not always visible or may be broken off. Many of the +springs are known only to their shady nooks and velvet marshes, but, +once found, the path is soon worn to them, which constantly widens and +deepens. It may be used only by animals, but it is a blessing and +comfort if only to the flowers and grasses that grow on its edge.' + +"Serious as the man was, there are glints and gleams of quiet humor +throughout this remarkable human document. One night in May he wrote, +'Stars and moon are bright this evening; frogs are singing in the +meadow, and the fire-flies are twinkling over the grass by the spring. +Tree toads have been singing to-day. Set two hens to-night, nailed them +in. If you want to see determination, look in a setting hen's eye. +Robins have been carrying food to their nests in the pine trees, and the +barn swallows fighting for feathers in the air; the big barn is filled +with their conversation.' + +"In the city he missed, as he wrote, 'the light upon the hills.' Again, +'The stars are the eyes of the sky. The sun sets like a god bowing his +head. Pine needles catch the light that has streamed through them for a +hundred years. The wind drives the clouds one day as if they were waves +of crested brown.' Where indeed in the crowded city streets was he to +listen 'to the language of the leaves,' and how indeed, 'Feel the colors +of the West.' + +"Is it not possible that something more even than the example and +influence of his character was lost to the world in his death? What +possibilities were there not in store for a man who could feel and write +like this: 'Grand thunderstorm this evening. Vibrations shook the house +and the flashes of lightning were continuous for a short time. It is +authority and majesty personified, and one instinctively bows in its +presence, not with a feeling of dread, but of admiration and respect.' + +"It was in the thunder and shock and blaze of just such a storm that I +stood not long ago among his own Berkshire Hills, hoping thus to prepare +myself by pilgrimage for this halting but earnest tribute to a +great-hearted gentleman, who, in his quiet way, meant so much to so many +of his fellow humans." + + +Walter B. Street + +W. L. Sawtelle of Williams, who knew this great player in his playing +days, writes as follows: + +"No Williams contemporary of Walter Bullard Street can forget two +outstanding facts of his college career: his immaculate personal +character and his undisputed title to first rank among the football men +whom Williams has developed. He was idolized because of his athletic +prowess; he was loved because he was every inch a man. His personality +lifted his game from the level of an intercollegiate contest to the +plane of a man's expression of loyalty to his college, and his supremacy +on the football field gave a new dignity to the undergraduate's ideals +of true manhood. + +"His name is indelibly written in the athletic annals of Williams, and +his influence, apparently cut off by his early death, is still a vital +force among those who cheered his memorable gains on the gridiron and +who admired him for his virile character." + + +W. D. Osgood + +Gone from among us is that great old-time hero, Win Osgood. In this +chapter of thoroughbreds, let us read the tribute George Woodruff pays +him: + +"When my thoughts turn to the scores of fine, manly football players I +have known intimately, Win Osgood claims, if not first place, at least a +unique place, among my memories. As a player he has never been surpassed +in his specialty of making long and brilliant runs, not only around, but +through the ranks of his opponents. After one of his seventy- or +eighty-yard runs his path was always marked by a zig-zag line of +opposing tacklers just collecting their wits and slowly starting to get +up from the ground. None of them was ever hurt, but they seemed +temporarily stunned as though, when they struck Osgood's mighty legs, +they received an electric shock. + +"While at Cornell in 1892, Osgood made, by his own prowess, two to three +touchdowns against each of the strong Yale, Harvard and Princeton +elevens, and in the Harvard-Pennsylvania game at Philadelphia in 1894, +he thrilled the spectators with his runs more than I have ever seen any +man do in any other one game. + +"But I would belittle my own sense of Osgood's real worth if I confined +myself to expatiating on his brilliant physical achievements. His moral +worth and gentle bravery were to me the chief points in him that arouse +true admiration. When I, as coach of Penn's football team, discovered +that Osgood had quietly matriculated at Pennsylvania, without letting +anybody know of his intention, I naturally cultivated his friendship, in +order to get from him his value as a player; but I found he was of even +more value as a moral force among the players and students. In this way +he helped me as much as by his play, because, to my mind, a football +team is good or bad according to whether the bad elements or the good, +both of which are in every set of men, predominate. + +"In the winter of 1896, Osgood nearly persuaded me to go with him on his +expedition to help the Cubans, and I have often regretted not having +been with him through that experience. He went as a Major of Artillery +to be sure, but not for the title, nor the adventure only, but I am sure +from love of freedom and overwhelming sympathy for the oppressed. He +said to me: + +"'The Cubans may not be very lovely, but they are human, and their cause +is lovely.' + +"When Osgood, with almost foolhardy bravery, sat his horse directing his +dilapidated artillery fire in Cuba, and thus conspicuous, made himself +even more marked by wearing a white sombrero, he was not playing the +part of a fool; he was following his natural impulse to exert a moral +force on his comrades who could understand little but liberty and +bravery. + +"When the Angel of Death gave him the accolade of nobility by touching +his brow in the form of a Mauser bullet, Win Osgood simply welcomed his +friend by gently breathing 'Well,' a word typical of the man, and even +in death, it is reported, continued to sit erect upon his horse." + + +Gordon Brown + +There are many young men who lost a true friend when Gordon Brown died. +He was their ideal. After his college days were over, he became very +much interested in settlement work on the East Side in New York. He +devoted much of his time after business to this great work which still +stands as a monument to him. He was as loyal to it as he was to football +when he played at Yale. Gordon Brown's career at Yale was a remarkable +one. He was captain of the greatest football team Yale ever had. +Whenever the 1900 team is mentioned it is spoken of as Gordon Brown's +team. The spirit of this great thoroughbred still lives at Yale, still +lives at Groton School where he spent six years. He was captain there +and leader in all the activities in the school. He was one of the +highest type college men I have ever known. He typified all the best +there was in Yale. He was strong mentally, as well as physically. + +It was my pleasure to have played against him in two Yale-Princeton +games, '98 and '99. I have never known a finer sportsman than he. He +played the game hard, and he played it fair. He had nothing to say to +his opponents in the game. He was there for business. Always urging his +fellow players on to better work. Every one who knew this gallant leader +had absolute confidence in him. All admired and loved him. There was no +one at Yale who was more universally liked and acknowledged as a leader +in all the relations of the University than was Gordon Brown. The +influence of such a man cannot but live as a guide and inspiration for +all that is best at Yale University. + +Gordon Brown's name will live in song and story. There were with him +Yale men not less efficient in the football sense, as witnesses the +following: + +A Yale Song verse from the _Yale Daily News_, November 16th, 1900: + + Jimmy Wear and Gordon Brown, + Fincke and Stillman gaining ground; + Olcott in the center stands + With Perry Hale as a battering ram-- + No hope for Princeton; + + +James J. Hogan + +The boys who were at Exeter when that big raw-boned fellow, Jim Hogan, +entered there will tell of the noble fight he made to get an education. +He worked with his hands early and late to make enough money to pay his +way. His effort was a splendid one. He was never idle, and was an honor +man for the greater part of his stay at school. He found time to go out +for football, however, and turned out to be one of the greatest players +that ever went to Exeter. Jim Hogan was one of the highest type of +Exeter men, held up as an example of what an Exeter boy should be. His +spirit still lives in the school. In speaking of Hogan recently, +Professor Ford of Exeter, said: + +"Whenever Hogan played football his hands were always moving in the +football line. It was almost like that in the classroom, always on the +edge of his seat fighting for every bit of information that he could get +and determined to master any particularly difficult subject. It was +interesting and almost amusing at times to watch him. One could not help +respecting such earnestness. He possessed great powers of leadership and +there was never any question as to his sincerity and perfect +earnestness. He was not selfish, but always trying to help his fellow +students accomplish something. His influence among the boys was +thoroughly good, and he held positions of honor and trust from the time +of his admission." + +Jim was hungry for an education--eager to forge ahead. His whole college +career was an earnest endeavor. He never knew what it was to lose +heart. "Letting go" had no part in his life. + +Jim was a physical marvel. His 206 pounds of bone and muscle counted for +much in the Yale rush line. Members of the faculty considered him the +highest type of Yale man, and it is said that President Hadley of Yale +once referred to 1905 as "Hogan's Class." + +As a football player, Jim had few equals. He was captain of the Yale +team in his senior year and was picked by the experts as an +"All-American Tackle." + +Jim Hogan at his place in the Yale rush line was a sight worth seeing. +With his jersey sleeves rolled up above his elbows and a smile on his +face, he would break into the opposing line, smash up the interference +and throw the backs for a loss. + +I can see him rushing the ball, scoring touchdowns, making holes in the +line, doing everything that a great player could do, and urging on his +team mates: + +"Harder, Yale; hard, harder, Yale." + +He was a hard, strong, cheerful player; that is, he was cheerful as long +as the other men fought fair. + +Great was Jim Hogan. To work with him shoulder to shoulder was my +privilege. To know him, was to love, honor and respect him. + +Jim spent his last hours in New Haven, and later in a humble home on the +hillside in Torrington, Conn., surrounded by loving friends, and the +individual pictures of that strong Gordon Brown team hanging on the wall +above him, a loving coterie of friends said good-bye. Many a boy now out +of college realizes that he owes a great deal to the brotherly spirit of +Jim Hogan. + +[Illustration: McCLUNG, REFEREE SHEVLIN HOGAN] + + +Thomas J. Shevlin + +There is a college tradition which embodies the thought that a man can +never do as much for the university as the university has done for him. + +But in that great athletic victory of 1915, when Yale defeated Princeton +at New Haven, I believe Tom Shevlin came nearer upsetting that tradition +than any one I know of. He contributed as much as any human being +possibly could to the university that brought him forth. + +Tom Shevlin's undergraduate life at New Haven was not all strewn with +roses, but he was glad always to go back when requested and put his +shoulder to the wheel. The request came usually at a time when Yale's +football was in the slough of despond. He was known as Yale's emergency +coach. + +Tom Shevlin had nerve. He must have been full of it to tackle the great +job which was put before him in the fall of 1915. Willingly did he +respond and great was the reward. + +When I saw him in New York, on his way to New Haven, I told him what a +great honor I thought it was for Yale to single him out from all her +coaches at this critical time to come back and try to put the Yale team +in shape. It did not seem either to enthuse or worry him very much. He +said: + +"I just got a telegram from Mike Sweeney to wait and see him in New York +before going to New Haven. I suppose he wants to advise me not to go and +tackle the job, but I'm going just the same. Yale can't be much worse +off for my going than she is to-day." + +The result of Shevlin's coaching is well known to all, and I shall +always remember him after the game with that contented happy look upon +his face as I congratulated him while he stood on a bench in front of +the Yale stand, watching the Yale undergraduates carry their victorious +team off the field. Walter Camp stood in the distance and Shevlin yelled +to him: + +"Well, how about it, Walter?" + +This victory will go down in Yale's football history as an almost +miraculous event. Here was a team beaten many times by small colleges, +humiliated and frowned upon not only by Yale, but by the entire college +world. They presented themselves in the Yale bowl ready to make their +last stand. + +As for Princeton it seemed only a question as to how large her score +would be. Men had gone to cheer for Princeton who for many years had +looked forward to a decisive victory over Yale. The game was already +bottled up before it started; but when Yale's future football history +is written, when captain and coaches talk to the team before the game +next year, when mass meetings are called to arouse college spirit, at +banquets where victorious teams are the heroes of the occasion, some one +will stand forth and tell the story of the great fighting spirit that +Captain Wilson and his gallant team exhibited in the Yale bowl that +November day. + +Although Tom Shevlin, the man that made it possible, is now dead, his +memory at Yale is sacred and will live long. Many will recall his +wonderful playing, his power of leadership, his Yale captaincy, his +devotion to Yale at a time when he was most needed. If, in the last game +against Harvard, the team that fought so wonderfully well against +Princeton could not do the impossible and defeat the great Haughton +machine, it was not Shevlin's fault. It simply could not be done. It +lessens in not the slightest degree the tribute that we pay to Tom +Shevlin. + + +Francis H. Burr + +Ham Fish was a great Harvard player in his day. When his playing days +were over Walter Camp paid him the high tribute of placing him on the +All Time, All-American team at tackle. Fish played at Harvard in 1907 +and 1908, and was captain of the team in 1909. I know of no Harvard man +who is in a better position to pay a tribute to Francis Burr, whose +spirit still lives at Cambridge, than Ham Fish. They were team mates, +and when in 1908 Burr remained on the side lines on account of injuries, +Ham Fish was the acting Harvard captain. Fish tells us the following +regarding Burr: + +"Francis Burr was of gigantic frame, standing six feet three and agile +as a young mountain lion. He weighed 200 pounds. The incoming class of +1905 was signalized by having this man who came from Andover. He stood +out above his fellows, not only in athletic prowess but in all around +manly qualities, both mental and moral. Burr had no trouble in making a +place on the Varsity team at Guard. He was a punter of exceeding worth. +In the year of 1908 he was captain of the Harvard team and wrought the +most inestimable service to Harvard athletics by securing Percy Haughton +as Head Coach. Hooks Burr was primarily responsible for Haughton and the +abundance of subsequent victories. Just when Burr's abilities as player +and captain were most needed he dislocated his collar bone in practice. +I shall never forget the night before the Yale game how Burr, who had +partially recovered, and was very anxious to play, reluctantly and +unselfishly yielded to the coaches who insisted that he should not incur +the risk of a more serious break. Harvard won that day, the first time +in seven years and a large share of the credit should go to the injured +leader. We were all happy over the result but none of us were as happy +as he. + +"Stricken with pneumonia while attending the Harvard Law School in 1910 +he died, leaving a legacy full of encouragement and inspiration to all +Harvard men. He exemplified in his life the Golden Rule,--'Do unto +others as you would have them do unto you.' Of him it can be truly said, +his life was gentle as a whole, and the elements so mixed in him that +'nature might stand up and say to all the world,--"He was a man."'" + + +Neil Snow + +The University of Michigan never graduated a man who was more +universally loved than Neil Snow. What he did and the way he did it has +become a tradition at Michigan. He was idolized by every one who knew +him. As a player and captain he set a wonderful example for his men to +pattern after. He was a powerful player; possessing such determination +and fortitude that he would go through a stone wall if he had to. He was +their great all-around athlete; good in football, baseball and track. He +had the unique record of winning his Michigan M twelve times during his +college course at Ann Arbor. + +He played his last game of football at Pasadena, California. Neil was +very fond of exercise. He believed in exercise, and when word was sent +out that Neil Snow had gone, it was found that he had just finished +playing in a game of racquets in Detroit, and before the flush and zest +were entirely gone, the last struggle and participation in athletic +contests for Neil Snow were over. + +It was my experience to have been at Ann Arbor in 1900, when Biffy Lee +coached the Michigan team. It was at this time that I met Neil Snow, who +was captain of the team, and when I grew to know him, I soon realized +how his great, quiet, modest, though wonderful personality, made +everybody idolize him. Modesty was his most noticeable characteristic. +He was always the last to talk of his own athletic achievements. He +believed in action, more than in words. After his playing days were over +he made a great name for himself as an official in the big games. The +larger colleges in the East had come to realize with what great +efficiency Neil Snow acted as an official and his services were eagerly +sought. + +Neil Snow loved athletics. He often referred to his college experiences. +His example was one held up as ideal among the men who knew him. + +When Billy Bannard died Johnny Poe wrote to Mrs. Bannard a letter, a +portion of which follows: + + I greatly enjoy thinking of those glorious days in the fall of '95, + '96 and '97, when I was coaching at Princeton and saw so much of + Billy, and if I live to a ripe old age I do not think I shall + forget how he and Ad Kelly came on in the Yale game of '95, and + with the score of 16-0 against us started in by steadily rushing + the ball up to and over the Yale goal, and after the kick-off, once + more started on the march for another touchdown. + + It was a superb exhibition of nerve in the face of almost certain + defeat and showed a spirit that would not be downed, and I have + often thought of this game in different far-off parts of the world. + + While Yale finally won 20-10 still Billy showed the same spirit + that Farragut showed when told that the river was filled with + torpedoes and that it would be suicidal to proceed. He replied, + "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!" + + I love to think of Billy's famous fifty yard run for a touchdown + through the Harvard team in '96 at Cambridge, when the score had + been a tie, and how he with Ad Kelly and Johnny Baird went through + the Yale team in that '96 game and ran the score up to 24, + representing five touchdowns. Never before had a Yale team been + driven like chaff before the wind, as that blue team was driven. + +Billy Bannard and Ad Kelly's names were always coupled in their playing +days at Princeton. These two halfbacks were great team mates. When Bill +Bannard died Ad Kelly lost one of his best friends. + +In Ad Kelly's recollections, we read: + +"Whenever I think of my playing days I always recall the +Harvard-Princeton game of 1896, and with it comes a tribute to one of us +who has passed to the great beyond; one with whom I played side by side +for three years, Bill Bannard. I always thought that in this particular +game he never received the credit due him. In my opinion his run on +that memorable day was the best I have ever seen. His running and +dodging and his excellent judgment had no superior in the football +annals of our day. + +"In speaking of great individual plays that have won close games, his +name should go down with Charlie Daly, Clint Wyckoff, Arthur Poe, Snake +Ames and Dudley Dean, for with Reiter's splendid interference in putting +out the Harvard left end, Billy Bannard's touchdown gave Princeton the +confidence to carry her to victory that day and to the ultimate +championship two weeks later." + + +Harry Hooper + +When Henry Hooper, one of Dartmouth's greatest players, was taken away, +every man who knew Hooper felt it a great personal loss. Those who had +seen him play at Exeter and there formed his acquaintance and later at +Dartmouth saw him develop into the mighty center rush of the 1903 +Dartmouth team, idolized him. + +C. E. Bolser of Dartmouth, who knew him well, says: + +"Harry Hooper was a great center on a great team. The success of this +eleven was due to its good fellowship and team work. The central figure +was the idol of his fellow players. Such was Hooper. Shortly after the +football season that year he was operated upon for appendicitis and it +soon became evident that he could not recover. He was told of his +plight. + +"He bravely faced the inevitable and expressed the wish that if he +really had to go he might have with him at the last his comrades of the +football field. These team mates rallied at his request. They surrounded +him; they talked the old days over, and supported by those with whom he +had fought for the glory of his college this real hero passed into the +Great Beyond, and deep down in the traditions of Dartmouth and Exeter +the name of Harry Hooper is indelibly written." + +The game of football is growing old. The ranks of its heroes are being +slowly but surely thinned. The players are retiring from the game of +life; some old and some young. The list might go on indefinitely. There +are many names that deserve mention. But this cannot be. The list of +thoroughbreds is a long one. Yours must be a silent tribute. + +Doctor Andrew J. McCosh, Ned Peace, Gus Holly, Dudley Riggs, Harry +Brown, Symmes, Bill Black, Pringle Jones, Jerry McCauley, Jim Rhodes, +Bill Swartz, Frank Peters, George Stillman, H. Schoellkopf, Wilson of +the Navy and Byrne of the Army, Eddie Ward, Albert Rosengarten, McClung, +Dudley and Matthews. + +Richard Harding Davis and Matthew McClung were two Lehigh men whose +position in the football world was most prominent. The esteem in which +they are held by their Alma Mater is enduring. I had talked with Dick +Davis when this book was in its infancy. He was very much interested and +asked that I write him a letter outlining what I would like to have him +send me. Just before he died I received this letter from him. I regret +he did not live to tell the story he had in mind. + +[Illustration: (Handwritten Letter) + +RICHARD HARDING DAVIS +MOUNT KISCO +NEW YORK + +April 2nd + +My Dear Edwards, + +Yes, indeed. As soon as I finish something I am at work on, I'll "think +back", and write you some memoirs. + +With all good wishes + +Richard Harding Davis] + +His interest in football had been a keen one. He was one of the leaders +at Lehigh, who first organized that University's football team. He was a +truly remarkable player. What he did in football is well known to men of +his day. He loved the game; he wrote about the game; he did much to help +the game. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +ALOHA + + +"Hail and Farewell," crowded by the Hawaiians into one pregnant word! +Would that this message might mean as much in as little compass. I can +promise only brevity and all that brevity means in so vast a matter as +football to a man who would love nothing better than to talk on forever. + +We know that football has really progressed and improved, and that the +boys of to-day are putting football on a higher plane than it has ever +been on before. We are a progressive, sporting public. + +Gone are the old Fifth Avenue horse buses, that used to carry the men to +the field of battle; gone, too, are the Fifth Avenue Hotel and the +Hoffman House, with their recollections of great victories fittingly +celebrated. The old water bucket and sponge, with which Trainer Jim +Robinson used to rush upon the field to freshen up a tired player, are +now things of the past. To-day we have the spectacle of Pooch Donovan +giving the Harvard players water from individual sanitary drinking cups! + +The old block game is no more. Heavy mass play has been opened up. +To-day there is something for the public to _see_; something interesting +to watch at every point; something significant in every move. As a +result, greatly increased multitudes witness the game. No longer do +football enthusiasts stand behind ropes on the side lines. The +popularity of the game has made it necessary to build huge _stadia_ for +the sport, to take the place of the old wooden stands. + +College games, for the most part, nowadays are played on college +grounds. Accordingly the sport has been withdrawn from the miscellaneous +multitude and confined to the field where it really belongs and the +spirit of the game is now just what it should be--exclusively +collegiate. + +Best of all, the modern style of play has made the game more than ever a +heroic see-saw, with one side uppermost for a time only to jar the very +ground with the shock of its fall. + +Yet, victorious or defeated, the spirit through it all is one of +splendid and overflowing college enthusiasm. While there is abounding +joy in an unforeseen or hard won victory there is also much that is +inspirational in the sturdy, courageous, devoted support of +college-mates in the hour of defeat. + +Isaac H. Bromley, Yale '53, once summed up eloquently the spirit of +college life and sport in the following words: + +"These contests and these triumphs are not all there is of college life, +but they are a not unimportant part of it. The best education, the most +useful training, come not from the classroom and from books, but from +the attrition of mind on mind, from the wholesome emulation engendered +by a common aim and purpose, from the whetting of wits by good-natured +rivalry, the inspiration of youthful enthusiasms, the blending together +of all of us in undying love for our common Mother. + +"As to the future: We may not expect this unbroken round of victories to +go on forever; we shall need sometimes, more than the inspiration of +victory, the discipline of defeat. And it will come some day. Our +champions will not last forever. Some time Stagg must make his last home +run, and Camp his final touchdown. Some day Bob Cook will 'hear the dip +of the golden oars' and 'pass from sight with the boatman pale.' + +"It would be too much to think that all their successors will equally +succeed. It might be monotonous. But of one thing we may be +assured--that whatever happens, we shall never fail to extend the meed +of praise to the victors. We shall be hereafter, as in the past we have +always been, as stout in adversity as we have been merry in sunshine." + + * * * * * + + "Then strip, lads, and to it + Though sharp be the weather; + And if, by mischance you should happen to fall + There are worse things in life + Than a tumble on heather + And life is itself, but a game, of football." + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: + +Many words in this text were inconsistently hyphenated or spelled, so I +have normalized them. The majority are football terms that originally +appeared inconsistently as "full-back," "fullback," and "full back," +for example.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Football Days, by William H. 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