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THE M A II0 0 N TIGER Page 3 football—‘Yesterday and c (9oday THE PIONEER FOOTRAEE TEAMS AT MOREHOUSE By Dr. E. R. Carter One night recently I was sitting before the fire com fortably ensconsed in an old Morris chair dreaming about football in the days of long ago. My mind reverted to the first team Morehouse had. I was quarterback and “Griff” Brawley, now Dr. Benja min G. Brawley of Howard University, was sub, no, vice quarter. One could not use such an inelegant word as sub when writing of Brawley. As it was “GRIEF’s” last opportunity to play for old A. B. C., he was given the honor of barking Signals in the annual game with A. U. Of course, Brawley did not bark as I was accus tomed to. To me, the proper enunciation of words was just another hated task. To Brawley it was a sacred duty. His signals were called in the most punctilious English and made you feel that you must be very, very courteous to your opponents. Yet Brawley could not be called a gentle tackier. When he hit a man, it did not feel as if a fly had perched upon his shoulder. No member of that first team was overburdened with football knowledge, in fact, few of us knew what it was all about. Our equipment was of the meagerest sort and non-descript. Football shoes were unknown and the pad ding was home-made. Our center used a discarded sofa pillow as a protector for his chest and abdomen. Shoul der pads were made from old quilts and blankets. When there were fourteen or fifteen men out for prac tice we called that a large squad. The late Dr. A. D. Jones was head coach and Dr. John Hope, the assistant. Dr. Jones had played football at Howard, hut Dr. Hope’s knowledge of the game was acquired during the sum mer vacations when he would catch the ball as Bill Lears, the famous colored center of Harvard would prac tice snapping the ball between meals at the hotel where they were waiters. When, one day I reminded Dr. Hope of the fact that our teams in those days never won a game, he remarked that he saw nothing to be ashamed of. The fault was not with the Coaches hut with the rotten material they had to work with. At that time I was playing left end. Since we had no regulation football shoes it fell to the lot of some members of the faculty to make a sacri fice of their second best pair. The players who were not fortunate enough to forage extra shoes used their only pair. Uncle Hamp Wardlaw, the college cobbler, would be busy all the night—before and the morning of the game putting on cleats. Our only trip out of town was to Tuskegee. In those days the field was mostly sand and the Tuskegee coach always had it plowed a week before the game. Our players had a difficult time trying to run in that sand. Those games were rough affairs. When a man was tackled he usually stayed put. In one game, Germany, our right end, and I tackled Tuskegee’s quarter at the same time. Germany hit him high and I went low. A new quarter called signals the rest of the game. How ever, I did not emerge unscathed. There was a green- stick fracture of one of my ribs, but Dr. Jones was (Continued on Page 5) FOOTBALL IN AMERICAN COLLEGES TODAY By W. R. Johnson, ’34 Football season is in bloom again. Those players who were frisky a month ago begin to lag a bit; the egg-shaped pigskins, impelled by educated toes, spiral their way skyward as eager fans sit on hard benches anxiously awaiting the whistle; the kick-off! the various heroes flash into action. Players are thrilled! fans are thrilled. Every one awaits the play that will make thousands of fans rise as one, screaming with ecstacy, groaning with agony. Many observers of football are still wondering just what will happen on the gridiron this year. They won der because the columns of publicity last year concern ing the deaths in football games caused a swelling tide of criticism from many sections. We remember vividly the stories about players who were killed while fighting for their ALMA MATER. Such comments coming at the end of last season were not overlooked by the American Football Coaches Asso ciation which met December 29, 1931. A considerable portion of the discussions dealt with the subject of the number of deaths by football during the 1931 season. At this meeting six changes were agreed upon after many suggestions by various outstanding coaches. These changes were designed primarily to reduce the mortality in football. In my estimation, the most important of the changes allows a player who is withdrawn from the game to re enter at the next quarter. This one is particularily val uable because it gives the coach the opportunity to pull the too tired or slightly injured hero with the satisfac tion that is it not necessarily permanent. Opinions as to the effect of the remaining rules differ widely. The fact that the coaches in the session in New York City agreed that a number of deaths and permanent in juries occured because of slight injuries improperly cared for put the responsibility of the problem on the mentors. It should be the duty of every coach not to allow a player with an injury to participate in a game, especially when physicians state that to do so may fur ther complications. The degree of caring for injuries depends on the stress placed on the matter by the coach, the trainer, and medical attendant. The dollar mark is quite definitely tired in the matter of the health of the players. In many institutions coaches are employed as coaches and not as teachers even though they may teach an academic subject in connection with their job as head mentor. Being hired as coaches, they are expected to show results—produce a winning team. This puts a man in an unfair position. He must pro duce a winning team as long as he coaches to keep his job. Once he becomes a defeated coach finding another job affords great difficulties. Therefore, a coach whose livelihood depends on putting over a successful team may not be extremently particular regarding the health of the players he needs in the game. Let us assume that it is the game that determines the championship; the ball is on the seven-yard line and a touchdown will win. The star quarterback has grown (Continued on Page 6)