 Preface of Football Days Honored and beloved by hosts of friends, you represented the highest ideals of American football, not only in life, but in his depth upon the battlefield in France. As I think of him, the sterling lines of Henry Neubault come to me as a fitting eulogy. Vida Lampatta There's the breath of its hearths in the clothes of night, tend to make and the mats to win, a bump in pits and a binding light, an hour to play in the light's man-in. And it's not for the sake of a ribbon coat, or the selfish hope of a season's fame, but his captain's hand on his shoulder smoke, play up, play up, and play the game. The sand of the desert is sun and red, red with the wreck of the square that broke, the gaddling gem and the curdled dead, and the regiment blind with dust and smoke. The river of depth has brimmed its banks, and England's far in honour of name, but the voids of the schoolboy rise 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 and mothers hear, and none of that hears it dare forget. Thus they all with a joyful mind marry their life like a torch in flame, and felling fling to the hoax behind, play up, play up, and play the game. Gritting I feign more highly than any other affidavit 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's a duplicate of the one that hangs in the trophy room of the gymnasium there. How I ought to have I gazed longingly at the names of my loyal teammates as ground upon it. Many times have I run over in my mind the part that each member paid on the memorable occasion when that banner was won. Memories clutcher about that token that are dear and sacred to me. I they see before me not only the faces of the team, but the faces of the 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 dress and rooms. I hear the endless pleading of the coaches. I see the teams run out upon the field and hear the cheering throng. The corners taunts in the air. The shrill brights 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 prophecy. For the time the whole world is forgotten, except for the issue of being fought out there before them. But we are not dressed in football suits nowadays. We are on the sidelines. We have a different part to play. Yous have compelled the chains. In spirit, however, we are still in the game. It is to serve these memories with all true lovers of football and pay a tribute to the heroes of the Gridiron who are no longer with us that have undertaken this far. Let us together retrace the days in which we lived. Days of preparation, days of victory, 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 had so nobody upheld the traditions of the American game of football and helped to place it on its presence high playing. William, that works. Prolong. They say that no man ever made a successful football player who was like an ending quantity of imagination. If this be true, in time, and again, it has been true, then there is no more fitting dedication to a book dealing with the Gridiron heroes of the Pats than to a man like Johnny Poe. For football is an abandon of body and mind to the obsession of the spirit that knows no obstacle, counts no danger, and for the time being is dulling outlets through physical pain or exhaust. It is something that makes one see the vision 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 criticising others making the team, either his own or an all-American. 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 tears can never be catched unless there is a deposit of hard work and practice. Perhaps all of this in an indistinct and indefinite way is strange why football players, the country over, understand each other. That when the game is attacked for any reason, they stand shoulder to shoulder in the sense of what they know down in the bottom of their hearts as such an influence on character building. And there is no one better fitted to tell the story of this and of the Gridiron heroes and big Bill Edwards. No, not only as a player, but far and wide as one of the best officials that ever handled the game. A square deal, an over-upping was his model, and every but one that realized it and accepted every decision unquestionably is an association with players in so many angles as giving 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 wits of blows, and the sideways hoax brings into action before one submits the eyes. Alex Moffett, the star of kickers. Etto Cohen. Heffinger. Gordon Brown. Mon Nell. Tracks and hair. Goliath. Nilsnow. And Selvin. Giants of linemen. But I must stop before I trespass upon what Bill Edwards would do better. Here's to them, all 40 years of heroes. Want to camp. End of the Prefates of Football Days. 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 Lile, New York 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. Everyone was talking football. Some of the names heard then have never been forgotten by me. There was the giant Hellfelfinger whom everyone seemed anxious to meet. I was told that he was the crack Yale guard. I looked at him and then in there I joined the hero worshippers. I also remember Lee LaClung, the Yale captain, who seemed to realize the responsibilities on his shoulders. There was an air of restraint about 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 the 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 be on his way to the field. The 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 words 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 no way directly to the YMCA gymnasium, then at the corner of 4th Avenue and 23rd Street. Athletics had for me a greater attraction than ever before and today I applied myself with increased enthusiasm to the work of the gymnasium. The following autumn I entered St. John's Military Academy at Manlius, New York, a short distance from my old home. I was only 17 years of age and weighed 217 pounds. Former Adjutant General William Verbeck then Colonel Verbeck was headmaster. 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 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 Reddington of Yale was our football coach. He was full of contagious fire. Reddington 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 the end of 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 schools in that locality but owing to our distance from the larger preparatory schools we were forced to play Syracuse, Hobart, Hamilton, Rochester, Colgate, and Casanova 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. Burt Hansen who had been a great center at Yale was one of this team. 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 stagecoach 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 University the year before when Lawrenceville scored six points and realized what they were really up against. He fascinated me by his graphic description. There was a glowing account of the playing of Gary 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 played in that notable game although Princeton rallied and won eight to six. 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 Dessault 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 a 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 Rudder the Lawrenceville captain with the directness he 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 Rudder's remark that he was being outplayed. He took off his nose guard threw it on the ground and left the field. Rudder 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 Cadwallader being moved out of the position of tackle. This was the same Cadwallader who subsequently went to Yale and made a great name for himself on the grid iron 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 Rudder 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 in Rush. About this time I began to realize that Billy McGibbon had given me a correct line on Charlie Dassault and Billy Dibble. These two players worked wonderfully well together and were an effective scoring machine with the assistance of Doc McNider 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 McNeuter does not however concealed Doc McNider from his old schoolboy friends. The same is true of the slightly changed names of Gary Cochran, Turk Rider, Charlie Dassault and Billy Dibble. Charlie Dassault after graduation went to Yale and continued his wonderful spectacular career on the grid iron. 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 Gary 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 football history as a center rush. I cannot praise the work of these men too highly. They are thoroughbreds in every sense of the word. It was one of the old traditions of Lawrenceville football game every year with Pennington Seminary. What man is there who attended either school who does not recall the spirit of these old-time contests? The Hill School was another of our football rivals. The trip to Pottstown, Pennsylvania 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 28-0, 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 headmaster. 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 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 top 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 25 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 school boy 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 the school boys. We beat Andover. This wonderful start of the Lawrenceville team was a goading spur to its opponents. Johnny Barnes and 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, Hein and Porter. Together they worked out a touchdown but Lawrenceville rallied and for the rest of the game their team was masterly. Back gear was later a Princeton varsity player Charlie Dassault and Billy Dible each scored touchdowns making three all together for their school. Thus Lawrenceville with a score of twenty to six 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 Dible the new captain to bring about another championship. We were to play and over a return game there. Captain Dible was left with the three of last year's team as a foundation to build on. Dible'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, Freshman and Hill School games. There appeared at Lawrenceville a new coach with Sister Street and George. He was none other than the famous Princeton half back Douglas Ward whose record is an honored man in the classroom as well as on the football field was well known to all of us and it stood out among college athletes as a wonderful example. He was very modest. I recall that someone 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 into the train he removed them and dozed off to sleep. Turk Ryder and some of the other fund makers tied the shoestrings together and hung them out the window where they blew away against the window pane. When we arrived in Jersey City it was a big treat for us to see our train put aboard the ferry boat of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 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 satisfaction was seeing my brother and cousin who were at the time attending Andover Academy. The hospitality that was accorded to 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 Hillibrand who besides being a football player was Andover's star pitcher. He played with friends and side partners on the Princeton team and often spoke of our first meeting when we played against each other. Hillibrand 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 8 minutes he scored a touchdown. Cad Walleter booted the ball over the goal and the score was 6 to 0. The Lawrenceville backfield made up of Powell, Dave Davis, Cap Cafer and Dibble worked wonderfully well. Cafer did some excellent punting against his remarkable opponent Barker who seemed to be as expert as he. The efficient work of Hillibrand and of Chadwell the colored inrush stands out preeminently. The latter player developed into one of the best inrushes 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 in athletic history at Yale as a matter of record. A few minutes later the Andover crowd were aroused by Goodwin making the longest run of the game. 55 yards, scoring Andover's first touchdown 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 in on the Yale team and Emerson who had he gone to college would have been a wonder made a touchdown. Andover searched Cadwalader with his sure foot made the score 12 to 6. Enthusiasm was at its height. Andover routers were calling upon their team to tie the score. A touchdown and goal would mean a tie. The Andover team seemed to answer the call for soon Goodwin scored a touchdown making the score 12 to 10. In Butterfield, Andover's right half back 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. With 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 and 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 Hillibrand. Without one word of comment he walked over to where I was sitting and said, Edwards what was the score 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 Hillibrand 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 Rider wrote the well-known Lawrenceville verse which we sang again and again. Cap kicked and 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 massive 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 torchlight procession and coming to welcome us. 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 Rider 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 20-0 many of us realized that we had played our last game for Lawrenceville. George Cadwallader was shortly afterward elected captain for the coming year. It was at this time that Lawrenceville was overjoyed to learn that Gary Cochran a sophomore at Princeton had been elected captain of the Princeton varsity. This were called former Lawrenceville boys Pop Warren and Doggie Trenchard who had played at Lawrenceville, gone to Princeton and 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 football, George Mattis Howard Richards, Jack Desaw Cliff Bucknam John DeWitt Bummy Ritter Dana Kafer John Dana Charlie Dudley Heff Herring Charlie Raymond Bigelow, The Waller Brothers and others. End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 of Football Days by William Edwards Chapter 2 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 newness of things and his freedom is very attractive. 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 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 Gary Cochran, captain of the football team went about the college with Johnny Poe looking over the undergraduates and watching the incoming train for football possibilities. If a fellow looked as though he might have good material to work upon he was asked to report to the varsity field the next day. All athletic interests are focused on the gridiron. The young undergraduate team fills himself with facts about the individuals who are trying to win a place. He starts out to be a loyal router, 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 canon between the freshman and sophomore classes. All those who have witnessed this site 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 other freshmen or sophomores. Eddie Holt, Burt Wheeler, Arthur Poe Doc Hillibrand, Bummy Booth and I were in the front ranks of the class of 1900 stationed back of Witherspoon Hall ready to rush upon the sophomores who were huddled together guarding the canon. Cochran and his coterie of coaches ran out as we were approaching the canon 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 that 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 to 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. There was a reunion of friends from Lawrenceville and other schools. There was Doc Hillibrand against whom I had played in the Andover game the year before. Eddie Holt loomed up and I recall 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 Lou Palmer, Bummy Booth, Arthur Poe, Burt 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 preparatory school. The vigorous program prepared especially for me convinced me that McMasters and the team 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 his company but only Jack and I survived. On these trips I would lose anywhere from five to six pounds. He would take me out for a walk and his 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. I had some lead 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 Lee, one of Princeton's greatest tackles, was slowly but surely making a wonderful tackle out of Doc Hillibrand. Burt Wheeler was making rapid strides to attain the position of halfback. They were the only two freshmen who had made the team that year. I was one of those that failed. We were soon in shape for the first tryout of the season. Preliminary training was over and the team was ready for its first game. We won the Rutgers game 44-0 and after we defeated the Navy we went to play Lafayette at Easton. I had as my opponent in the Lafayette game, Reinhardt. I shall never forget this game. I was playing left guard alongside Jarvie Gear who was a substitute for built church who had been injured in practice the week before and could not play. Just before the first half was over, Lafayette fainted on a kick and instead of Bray that star Lafayette fullback boosting the ball, Barclay shot through the line between Gear and myself for 30 yards. There was my downfall. Reinhardt had taken care of me beautifully and finally Net Pose 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 called Cochrane during intermission when he said Hope, 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 fault 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 Cochrane 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 hope to square myself later and make the team. I knew what it was to be humiliated, taken out of the 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 Reinhardt and his great teammates. 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 Beecham, the popular son of Cornell who afterwards coached him at this 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 Fennell, Talsig and Freeborn. With these stars assisting Cornell could do nothing with Princeton's great team and the score 37-0 tells the tale. I was not playing in this game but recall the following incident. Joe Beecham 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 nearer. Since then Joe has told me that this was his sister. Maybe it was but as Joe was rushing onward with Dan Reed and Tom Fennell interfering wonderfully for him and urged on by his fond admirer in the grandstand, his progress was rudely halted by the huge former Edwin Krautus 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 Krautus spilled the player ball and all. This was the time, the place and the girl and it meant that Edwin Krautus had made the Princeton varsity team. I realized it at the moment and although I knew 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 Beecham had been laid low. As for the girl, she subsided abruptly and is said to have remarked as Krautus smashed the Cornell machine. Well I never did like a fat man anyway. One day in a practice game against the scrub this year, Gary Cochran who was standing on the sidelines 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 in treating 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 Edwin Krautus 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 linemen were not opening up the scrub 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 Krautus around the legs trying to carry him back into the play. Church was very angry at my doing this and told Krautus to hit me if I did it again. But Edwin was a good natured clean player. In fact, I doubt 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 on 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 mix-up and the scrub and varsity had an open fight. I 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 render, 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. Billy Bernard, aided by superb interference of Fred Smith, was able to make himself the hero of that game by a 45 yard run. Bill Church, the great tackle, broke through the Harvard line and blocked Brown's kick and the ever watchful inrush, 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 sidelines, urging further touchdowns. A happy crowd of Princetonians winded 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 6-0 in favor of Yale was the score at the end of the first five minutes. Jim Rogers had blocked Johnny Baird's punt and Bass, the alert inrush 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, overtrained 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 kickoff, Johnny 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 in-running of Bill Bernard and the great part all the other men on the team contributed towards Princeton's success, and the score grew and grew by touchdown after touchdown until someone 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 an excellent 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. Yell 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 caliber. William Baird, Ad Kelly, Bernard, all made touchdowns and the two successful freshmen who had made the team, Hilla Brand and Wheeler, both registered touchdowns against Yell. As the Yell 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, Rogers 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 the goals were bestowed upon the victors. Gary Cochran and his oil teammates were the lions of the day and hour. End of chapter 2 Chapter 3 Of Football Days This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Eugene Smith Football Days by William Edwards Chapter 3 Elbow to Elbow I wonder where my shoes are. Who's got my trousers on? I wonder if the tailor mended my jersey. What's become of my headgear? I wonder if the cobbler has put new cleats on my shoes. Somebody must have my stockings on these are too small. What's 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 is 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 a remark Don't you fellas 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. 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's your name? Back came the reply the football practice for the day. Catch them is my name. Falling on the ball is one of the fundamentals in football. It's the groundwork that every player must learn. Frank Hinky, that great Yale captain and player was an artist in performing this fundamental. Playing so wonderfully well the end-brush 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 100 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 has seen a 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 a 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 at Princeton tackling the dummy 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 clubhouse to get my uniform which I wanted to wear and coaching I asked King Fitzpatrick the trainer where my suit was he said 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 I got 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 taking 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 job 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 a while on the bench in the dressing room it may be that in removing your clothes you favored and injured knee looked at a sprained ankle or helped some fellow offer this jersey what's finer after a 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 Ballier standing on the end of a bench while Jack McMaster 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's easy to believe that Ballier must have been the great center rush whom the heroes of years ago tell about Harry Brown that great Princeton N. Rush is on the other end of the bench being taken care of by Bill Bus a jovial old colored attendant who was for so many years a rubber at Princeton I know men who never enthuse about 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 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 today 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 someday 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 maybe 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 in 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 he has learned 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 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 you 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 teamwork on the field is made much easier if there is teamwork off the field I never hear the expression team mates used but I recall a certain Princeton team the captain of which they were the 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 clubhouse after dinner and there did not seem to be much warmth in him Gary 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 person from what he had seemed to be in a short time the fellow who was unconsciously retarded good fellowship among the members of the team was no longer a silent negative individual but was soon urging us on to get together spirit it would 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 this 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 nature 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 where at the Yale training table Kil called for some chocolate and Johnny Mack the trainer yelled back what do you think this is anyway a hospital that started something for a while in the way of jolying Daly recalls another incident that happened often at Yale one year it's about Bill Goble who certainly could put the food away after disposing of about 12 plates of ice cream when she 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 tonight then there comes the good nature 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 fund 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 admires 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 one two three oh what a gush 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's the pulse of the team the scrub team at Princeton during my last year was captain by pop jones who was a martyr to the game he was thoroughly reliable and the spirit he instilled into his teammates 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 their varsity improved 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 where 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 their 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 to 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, wise sewed on the front of their jerseys the scrub players took the Yale players names 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 teammates never forgot those men and the events that helped to make victory possible in of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 of Football Days this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Football Days by William Edwards Chapter 4 Mistakes in the Game many a football player who reads this book will admit that there arises in all of us a 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 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 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 long fellow 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 to the management 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 above 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 and 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 but 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 today than a decade or so ago I wish I could impress this lesson indelibly upon the mind of every enthusiast that athletics should go hand in hand with college duties after all it is the same spirit of teamwork instilled into him on the football field that should inspire him in the classroom whereas 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 it was not so much what Yale did as what Princeton did not do that haunts me one day in practice in 1897 sports 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 clubhouse after a long serious illness he got well but never strong enough to play again I took his place nearly all of the star players of the 96 Princeton championship team were in the lineup last year in my first year on the varsity our team was heralded as a 3-1 winner we had beaten Dartmouth 30-0 and won a great 57-0 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 caliber of some of the men we were facing Cochran and I have often recalled together that silent reunion with our old teammates of Lawrenceville there in front of us on the Yale team were Charlie Desailles 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 this was not the time nor place for exchange of amenities as someone has once remarked the town was full of strangers the fact that Dudley was wearing one Lawrenceville stocking we urged Desailles to play harder my opponent on the Yale team was Charlie Chadwick Yale's strong man Foster Stanford 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 Deshailles the Empire was upon us in a moment I had visions of being ruled out of the game and disgraced you men are playing like school boys and ought to be ruled out of the game Deshailles explained 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 game through him the play of the Princeton team at the outset was disappointing Jim Rogers the Yale captain was driving his men hard and they responded heartily some of them stood out conspicuously by their playing Deshailles open field work was remarkable I remember well the great run of 55 yards which he made he was a wonderfully clever dodger and used the stiff arm well he evaded the Princeton tackler successfully until Billy Bannard made a tackle on Princeton's 25 yard line Gary Cochran was one of the Princeton players who failed in his effort to tackle Deshailles although it was a remarkable attempt with a low diving tackle Deshailles hurtled over him and Cochran struck the ground breaking his right shoulder that Cochran was so seriously injured did not become known until after Deshailles had finished his long run then it was seen that Cochran was badly hurt the trainer ran out and took him to the sidelines to stop 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 sideline 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 sideline this was the last football contest in which Gary 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 Deshailles parted at Lawrenceville both had agreed so the rumor went that should they ever meet in the Yale Princeton game one would have to leave the game Butterworth told Deshailles what he had heard and cautioned him reminding him that he wanted him to play a game that would escape criticism Deshailles put every ounce of himself into his game Cochran did the same to this day Frank Butterworth and the coaches believed that when Deshailles was making his great run up the field he kept his pledge to Cochran Deshailles 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 Lawrence Villian 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, the Yale hero Lawrenceville stocking and all after George Cadwalader had kicked the goal the score stood six to zero one of the greatest problems that confronts a coach is to select the proper man to start in a game injuries often handicap a team add Kelly, king of all line plunging half backs had been injured the week before at Princeton and for that reason was not in the original line up that day at New Haven he was on the sidelines waiting for a chance to go in, his chance came Kelly was Princeton's only hope Herbert Reed, known among writers in 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 11 carried the ball 55 yards up the field only to lose it at the last on a humble to Jim Rogers 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 Ben paraded about carrying the victors there were Captain Jim Rogers Charlie Chadwick George Cadwalader Gordon Brown Burr Chamberlain John Hall Charlie Desales 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 my knee I certainly had plenty of time to think about the sadness of defeat the ever present thought wait until next year was on my mind Gary 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 30 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 30 of my closest boyhood friends who came over from Lizzle to see the game the Princeton cheering section was rivaled in enthusiasm by the Lizzle 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 per 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 the 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 branded 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 planned we hired a special engine to take our private cars to Oweigo 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 girlfriend of mine who had attended the game my arm was in a sling and sympathy was welcome as our train rolled over the zigzag 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 ladder 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 false and leave nothing undone that would ensure victory for Princeton in the coming game with Yale End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of Football Days This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by John Escalante Football Days by William Edwards Chapter 5 Chapter 5 of 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 goodbye 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 Chapter 5 of 1899 there are 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 in 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 there were hundreds of undergraduates at the train 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 in the 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 if we leave the head coach suggested that we run through our signals all of us doffed our overcoats and hats and there on the expensive lawn went 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 the mental strain that was necessarily a part of the situation a general reception took place in the quarters players of all days came around to see the team, revive old memories and cheer the men of the team on to victory football riders 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 3-1 on Princeton betting odds is a way some people gauge the outcome of the football contest we 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 a 10 o'clock train for New Haven only those who had been through the experience can appreciate the difficulty encountered and getting on board a train for New Haven on the day of the football game we were ushered to a side entrance however and were finally landed in the special cars provided for us on the journey there was a jolly good time that relieved the nervous tension Arthur Poe and Bozy Ryder were the leading parents of the jollification a happier crowd never entered New Haven than the Princeton team that day the cars pulled in on a sighting 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 short time the palatial Pullman car was transformed it assumed the appearance of our dress 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 on joints that needed attention two big buses waited at the car platform the team paled into them we were off to the field the team was made to welcome a friendly salute from Princeton men encountered on the way personal friends of individual players and 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 the thing of the past every player was jubilant and did not attempt to conceal the fact the enthusiasm mounted as we near the scene of the coming battle as we entered the field the arrows rent from the Princeton host our hearts palpitated in response to it there was not a man on the team who did not feel himself repaid a thousand fold for a season's hard knocks but this soon gave way to the 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 have marked our arrival were repeated the Yale stand being the center this time 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 the championship came 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 centermen Brown, Hale and Alcott flanked by stillmen in France it was all sharp and McBride Fink was at quarter if there was any one play during the season that we had drilled into us a play which we might have hoped to win the game it was a long end run it was Leah'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 Bosie Ryder showed every man was doing his part and the play was made possible Ryder scored a touchdown along the side of the field I never saw a happier man than Bosie but he was no happier than his ten teammates they were leaping in the air with joy the Princeton stand arose in 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 a well-delivered punt by Burt Wheeler who kicked the ball out to Hutchinson Hutch healed it in front of the goal and Burt Wheeler boosted the ball straight over the crossbar 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 kickoff the Princeton side of the field was a perfect bedlam of enthusiasm all grads were hugging each other on the sidelines 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 old captain was rousing his man with the Yale spirit and they realized what was demanded of them the effect was evident it showed how Yale could rise to an occasion we thought that the old bulldog spirit of Yale was after us and as strong as ever how wonderfully well McBride the old captain kicked that day what a power he was on defense I saw him do some wonderful work it was after one of his long punts which with the win in his favor went about 70 yards that Princeton caught the ball in the 10 yard line Wheeler dropped back to kick the Yale 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 and it was offside Wheeler delayed the kick expecting that an offside 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 making the score 6-5 in favor of Princeton believe me the Yale spirit was running high the men were playing like demons there was a team that was considered a defeated team before the game there were 11 men who had risen to the occasion and who were slowly but surely getting the best of the argument that seemed inevitable of 11 players who started the game on the Princeton side 8 had been incapacitated by injuries of one kind or another Doc Hillibrand the ever reliable all-american tackle had been compelled to leave the game with a broken collarbone just before McBride made his touchdown I remember well the play in which he was injured I have resurrected a photograph that was snapped of the game at the moment that he was lying on the ground knocked out Bummy Booth who had stood the strain of the contest wonderfully well had played a grand game against Yale giving way to Horace Bannard brother Bill Bannard the famous Princeton half-back of 1998 just then I saw a man in football togs come out from the sidelines wearing a blue visor cap he was to kick for the goal it was unusual spectacle in the football field I rushed up to the referee at Ridington of Harvard and called his attention to the man with the cap I asked if that man was in the game while he replied with a broad smile you ought to know him he is the man you've been playing against all along Gordon Brown the man with the cap to shade his eyes I am frank to say that this one was on me the chagrin wore off when Brown missed the goal which would have tied the final score and robbed Princeton with the ultimate victory the tide of the battle turned towards Yale Al Sharpe kicked the goal from the field from the 45 yard line it was a wonderful achievement it is true that the circumstances later substituted Arthur Poe for him as the hero of the game but those who witnessed this Sharpe's performance will never forget it the laurels that he won by it were snatched from him by Poe the score was changing by Sharpe's goal from 6-5 in our favor to 10-6 Yale leading the half was over the score was 10-6 against Princeton every Princeton player felt there was still a real opportunity to win out we're 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 the game is everlastingly impressed upon my memory every man that played for Princeton played like a veteran I shall ever treasure the memory of the lowest support that those men gave me as captain in the response to my appeal to stand together and play not only for Princeton but for the injured men on the sidelines whose places they had taken the Yale team had also heard some words of football wisdom in their dressing room previous encounters to Princeton had taught them that the Tiger could also rally they came on the football 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 the Yale fumble they gave us a chance we were waiting for Bill Roper who had taken Lou Palmer's place and left in had his eyes open he fell in 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 he got to cook 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 paloed myself for the three members of the original team left how the substitutes rallied with us and gave us the perfect defense that made Poe's feet possible is a matter of history as I looked around for my position to see that the defensive formation was right to call how small Arthur Poe looked there in the full back position here was a man doing something we had never rehearsed as a team but safe and sure the pass went from a chorus banner and as biffy remarked after the game when Arthur kicked the ball it seemed to stay up in the air about 20 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 crossbar the score was 11-10 and the Princeton stand let out a roar of triumph in New Jersey there were about 36 seconds left for play Yale made its splendid supreme effort to score further but it was futile proud to left the field before Poe made his great goal kick that accepted a Yale victory as inevitable some said the bets were paid on the strength of this conviction the Yale News which went to press five minutes before the game ended got on an edition seeing that Yale had won they had to change that story during the seconds preceding post-kick for a goal I had a career obsession there was a serious matter to me then I can recall it now with amusement big was a prefix not on my own selection I had never appreciated its justification however until that moment or his banner was playing center I had my left hand clashed under his elastic and 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 block kick to be frank I was afraid I would block it that Poe couldn't clear me that ball into me I crouched as low as I could go and the more worried the larger I seemed to be and I feared greatly for what might occur behind me it seemed as though I was swelling up but finally as I realized 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 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 our former defeats it was a joyous crowd that rode back to the private cars Barcy players and substitutes shared a like and a 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 a line of the hour no finer fellow ever received more just tribute it would have taken a separate volume to describe the instance of that trip from New Haven to New York before it had ended we realized if we had never realized it before how sweet was victory and how worthwhile the striving that brought it to us suffice to say that the 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 looking back to the retrospect of 17 years I realized that I not fully understand then the meaning of those happy moments and I 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 Hilly Brown and I ended the night together when we woke in the morning the old football was there between our pillows the banded shoulder and the collarbone of Hilly Brown 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 woodyard was looking the next day for the 36 quads of wood that had served as a foundation for the victorious plays it was learned afterwards that the owner of the cordwood had backed the team so he had no regret the team was driven up in buses from the station it was a proud privilege to light the bonfire every man on the Princeton 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 pack of souvenirs gold mat shapes footballs and other things nothing was too good for the victors well well to the victors belong to spoils that is the verdict of history end of chapter 5