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HEISMAN’S ALL-TIME ALL-SOUTHERN FOOTBALL TEAM
Bv J. W. Heisman.
i \ i:RAL times in the year past
C j I) IV. been asked to pick the
v—' ... , h ven that 1 could from
yers " ho have performed
Southern Intercollegiate Ath
... iatioji since that organl-
, ,i> first started, some
11-, er more years ago.
... lection I attempted once
l out ten years ago: and I
tu -■> right here that it
most formidable under
\t tlie present time such a
H prove considerably more
tkrticu ■
1., out of the question for
. .... anything of the players
.tarred prior to tlie fall of '95,
t .as my first season in the
At that time there were
.my colleges in tlie S. I. A.
v ~ far ns I can recall, the as
;,,n then embraced only Van
s' wanee, Auburn. Alabama
i. . i 1 >■ ''i gia.
1 however, well aware of the
, ... .. . xistence of such fine play-
. Kellar and Graham, at Van
., , . t Abbott, at Alabama; Raine,
AViddy” Brown, Red
and Horsey, at Auburn,
. n.ird Wood, at. Tech. Ex-
■ these players no doubt
I ve little hesitation in
~. ,t I do not think it prob
t any of them, as far as his
T vent in that day and time,
.mlti' the equal of the men
,i | have named for this all
; and that for tile all-
■ r.t reason that not one of
. in his day the benefit, of
np.mior coaching that is lav-
: n the players of later
i.a' ■
In physical why they may
1,, n itt’.iy the equals of some
. recent exponents of
Iml 1 am very sure they
. .■ ,:i-. even the game of
.in day as do these later
and the football of today
i ! edly more scientific and
. r came, with all its modern
a: nr of play ami its devel-
r.i ideations, than was tile
. of t wenty years ago.
in other words, in picking such a
■ n we will have to look much
.. :1..r than to the mere physical
nine - prevented by claimants
i I. ■ we shal have to take
... 1., into account the better ex-
■r. ■ . the moderns in the
■ their better Instruction, rind
i i .m nt of the game itself,
■ deli tin.' players of tod y
1. pt pace.
thi, same reason it will be
. for my to depose the ma
s ne players whom I named
li-titne Southern team a
■>. They were all right al
and mighty good men
But “the world tio
- . and men with it. Forty
i ro tile best pieces of horse-
' ■ >■ considered marvels, but
oiildnT perform as did their
o:' a score of years later.
s. the improvement was
■ I measurable by the in
oi the smp watch. No such
■ xi-ts by which we can
XU' I measuie of the foot
. around ability, bur there
a un stion in my mind but that
l layers of recent days
m tlie vast majority of in-
■ i ( . improved on the best form
' l ... the heroes of year- gone
• » ♦
Colleges Know
heir Own Players Best.
I 11 "me extent I am aided by the
1 ■'■iit;y published picks of the
■ ' Vens turned out during the
•bay of tin. gam.. I the various
ml: rn colleges—these selections
ring 1., on made In The Georgian
men who have been closely in
'villi the football situation at
respective colleges for a long
>" I of time. Each college knows
winch of its sons performed
-t on the gridiron, for they have
"Il ntunity to watch the man's
'"k day in and day out for sev
' Mars, not merely in an iso
'j game or two. as do outsiders
1 have at times attempted the
r "f all-Southerns. So if a
■' r was not good enough to
i l' l ' the all-time team of the col
•vli. re he performed, he cer
“■ does not come in for coiisid
“ll in connection witli an all
' iH-S. I. A. A. team.
' ' Ven .so one will have to go
1" merits of at least 100 plat -
■ ■ o h college pi. k.- out not
than eleven best men, and
' ar.- at least ten such colleges
' onsiij, red. And if you are
'""v to give each man his Just
merited consideration, your
"ill have to serve you well.
OwTdrSSnDI
Nature ?4© it mild I
~ it’s pure Burley, g
iORUMMOHDI
| NATURAL LEAF
I ‘-HEWING tobacco I
There Were Many
Crack Center Men.
'J' HE great centers of Southern
antiquity were Watkins and
Poole, of Sewanee; Stone and Gra
ham, of Vanderbilt; Sims, of Tech;
Keasler. of Clemson; Ketron, of
Georgia; Moody. of Alabama:
Smith, of Cumberland: Caton, of
Auburn, and Grice, of Mercer. To
these should be added as being en
tirely in the class of top-notch cen
ters Morgan, of Vanderbilt, and
Adams, of Mississippi, both of
whom live and have their being in
the present.
Yes. these were all great cen
ters. Os course, all of them had
the necessary Weight and lighting
instinct. But some of them—in
comparison with others —must at
once be discarded on account of
lack of experience. This would
apply to Keasler, for instance. Oth
ers were relatively too slow'—like
Sims. W atkins and Adams are a
shade too light. The very best cen
ters we have had have been Caton.
Stone, Morgan and "Red" Smith.
C aton was a wonder and had
about all that can be asked of a
center. And the same can be.said
of Morgan today. And yet, eom
parod with Stone and Smith, these
men are a trifle slow. They had
the weight, spirit, strength and ex
perience; but, other things being
equal, the race must go to the swift.
Ami that was where Stone and
Smith shone, resplendent as Sirius.
How many remember “Red”
Smith, of <'umberland. '0.3? Wasn't
he a peach? I see him yet. darting
all over the field ami making open
fiehi tackles, from one side line to
the other. That was his great
forte.
Stone and Smith were much alike
in build. Both were well over six
teet in height, lean and supple as
panthers, and with the activity of
greyhounds. Yet each must have
weighed 18a stripped. Stone was
as good a tackler as Smtlh and had
all the other good points of play
possessed by Smith or any of the
others. In addition, he had one
talent that Smith and all the oth
ers lacked, and that was ability to
handle forward passes. Combined
with his great height and reach,
he combined an ability to get down
under the ball and to get under and
catch it almost anywhere. One of
his catches gave Vanderbilt a
game and the championship for
that year. You might say that he
not only saved the day, but won
that pennant single-handed.
I feel 1 am compelled to hand
center to Stone on a gold plat
ter, with second choice to Smith, on
a silver salver.
St ik «
Not So Many
Crack Guards.
IyHERE are as many guards on a
■* football team as players in any
other positions, but for some rea
son not so many of them developed
into star players in the South. In
the East Heffelfinger at Yale. Hare
at Penn. DeWitt at Princeton and
Trafford at Harvard have been as
great players as are to be found up
there in any other positions. But
down here the possibilities of guard
play have not yet been fully ex
ploited nor brought out.
The best of the lot have been
Metzger. Burch and Chorn, of Van
derbilt; Phillips and Claiborne, of
Sewanee; Derrick and Gaston, of
Clemson; Blanch and Beaver, of
Georgia; Cassanova. of Mississippi
4 \. & M.. and Mitcham and Bonner,
of Auburn.
Now. here arc a pretty fine bunch
of guards. But I have no trouble
in selecting' Henry Phillips, of Se
wanee, for mj- first choice. This
man was one of the few of my
present All-Time team whose name
is also found on the team 1 selected
ten years ago. Phillips just nat
urally had the goods, and that's all
there is to it. He weighed over
19l>, he had great speed for a man
of his size, lie could open a hole
through a stone wail, he was im
pregnable on defense and he was
the best punter of his day in the
Southland. To these qualifications
he added a fierce, indomitable fight
ing spirit, yet was withal one of
the cleanest players to be found
anywhere. And he knew the game
backward and by logarithms. Is
anything else needed? If so, he
had it.
A selection fol the other vacancy
from the remainder is a job that
affrights me. To my way of
thinking. Gaston was a great play
er; so was Burch: but in my opin
ion he did not possess sufficient se
riousness of purpos. to qualify.
Chorn was a hal'd worker, but a bit
slow, compared to the best men.
Mctzget was nothing short of a
world's wonder for his weight, but
tills place must go to a heavier man
than h» was. I lerrlck was a g -eat
charger—-th! best of the lot—but
that about lets him out. Bonner was
| a good man. but not quite consist-
I ent enough.
There remains Blanche. This
chap weighed about 185, was built
as trimly tie a race horse and could
rim like one. He got about the
i field and tackled the same way
Same. Smith and Phillips did. Can
you imagine what a power such a
1 ci ntci trio a StntT , Phillips and
Blanche would be in a game to
j gether? This fellow was matured,
experienced and cool headed. He
could diagnose a play while it was
lining up. Yes, Blanche is my other
guard.
I Tackles Are Hardest
! Places On Line to Fill.
HE naming of the tackles will be
*• tlie big job on the line. And
It's always so In drawing up such,
I teams. Tile reason is that ill
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.MONDAY. DECEMBER 23, 1912.
All-Time All-S. I. A. A. Team
Position. Player. # Weight. College.
Cenicr. Stone. 1904-5-6-7185 Vanderbilt.
Right Guard, Phillips, 1900-1-2-3-4194Sewanee.
Lett < riiard, Blanche, 1896196 Georgia.
I Right Tackle, .lours. 1904-5198luburii.
Lett I tickle. Pritchard, 1903-4-5-6208 Vanderbilt,
hiiftil End. Blake. R. E.. 1903-.>-(»-< 174 Vanderbilt.
, Left Etui. Sitton, 1902-3166 Clemson.
Quarterback. Morrison. R., 1908-9-10-11.158 Vanderbilt.
Right Half. Craig, 19(14-5-6-7175Vanderbilt.
L“Ft Halt. Campbell. 1907175 Vanderbilt.
Fullback, Manier. 1903-4-5-6182 Vanderbilt.
SECOND TEAM.
( nter, Smith, 1903-4 Cumberland.
Right Guard, Metzgar, 1908-9-10-11 Vanderbilt,
heft Guard. Claiborne, 1897-98-99-00 Sewanee.
Bigin Tackle. Brown, T., 1910-11-12 Vanderbilt.
Lett I tickle. Barker. 1911-12 Mississippi.
Right End. Brown. E„ 1910-11-12 Vanderbilt.
Left End. Walton. 1910-11 Mississippi.
Quarterback, Maxwell, 1902-03 Clemson.
Right Half. Hunter, 1900-01 Clemson.
Lett Halt. \\ illianis, 1894-95-96. Auburn.
I'ullback. Davis. 1910-11 Auburn.
THIRD TEAM.
(enter, Caton Auburn.
Right Guard. Gaston Clemson.
Left Guard, Glenn Auburn.
Right Tackle, Hamilton Georgia.
Left Tackle. Taylor’....Vanderbilt.
Right End. Brown Tech.
I Left End, GillemSewanee.
Quarterback. BushyheadCumberland.
' Right Half, McWhorterGeorgia.
Left Half. HardageVanderbilt.
Fullback. Clark Tech.
coaches put their best linemen at
the tackli position, and from so
many best men it's hard to hunt
out the men of paramount ability.
Tlie great tackles include Pritch
ard, T. Brown and Taylor, of Van
derbilt; Glenn. Brown, Pierce and
Jones, of Auburn; Stone and Boll
ing. of Sewanee; Hamilton and
Kent, of Georgia; Davis and Pat
terson. of Tech; McLaurin and
Shealy, of Clemson: Bridges, of
<'umberland; Word and Newman,
of Tennessee; Countess, of Ala
bama, and Barker, of Mississippi.
The above list alone is sufficient
to tell any one with even a slight
knowledge of Southern football
i history Just what [am up against
in this chapter. But here goes:
Glenn was a big. tierce player
and grand with the ball under arm;
he wasn't clever enough at tackling.
Pierce was an exceptionally good
player in all departments. With
more detailed coaching he would
have held his own with any man
of today. Lex Stone was a grand
player; he was a trifle too clumsy
to fit in here. Hamilton had more
natural strength and downright
tackle ability than any man who
ever played the position in the
South; he just lacked hard, vigor
ous coaching. Davis and McLaurin
both deserve better than to be
shunted off with a word, or even a
dozen of them.
And this man Bridges. Why,
Great Genghis Khan! This man
was about the biggest bear cat
when iie got started right in a game
that I ever expect to see in or out
of Hagenbeck's. Weighing 220 and
running with the fury of a typhoon,
he was just about as near to un
stoppable as any thing 1 ever want to
get in the way of. 1 saw him at
his best. But they tell me he had
his worst days also, and when he
had them they were the worst ever,
and so I most reluctantly pass him
up.
It's also veiy, very hard to pass
up Barker, who is quite as good a
tackle as any Southern college ever
has a right to even hope for or
dream of.
I’m going to choose Pritchard and
Jones for the tackles; but I have
no idea how I am going to square
myself with Torn Brown and Tay
lor for doing so. Could you ask for
better tackles than these last two?
I don't see how.
And yet I do consider Jones and
Pritchard just a shadow of a shade
better than any of the others. Jones
Weighed about 19b and Pritchard
about 205, and both were over six
feet tai'. Both had that activity
ami general get-aboutnews that so
delights a coach’s eye, and both
were iii the thick of the tight from
sta t to tinisli. No interference so
strong but they could break it, no
lunge so powerful but they could
stop ft. They had perfect use of
their hands, and they used their
enormous strength to the limit.
They rank ahead of Brown and
Taylor mainly because of their su
perior weights ami strengths
s * «
Finds It Easy
To Pick One End.
■ T is almost as easy to pick Bob
■ Blake for one of our All-Time
ends a: ft was to soled Btone for
center. Many think that Blake was
Just about the best all-around foot
ball player the South ever devel
oped. With this dictum I am very
nearly inclined to agree, particu
larly with reference to the number
and variety of things Blake could
do, and do Well. He was fine at
forward passing, great on punting,
an exceptionally’ fierce and sure
tackler, strong on advancing the
. ball, splendid at Interfering, could
catch ani old kind of a ball and
I ———i
had great strength, speed expe
rience and judgment. There will
be no dispute over Blake at one
end.
The other end will be about the
hardest selection I will have to
make on the entire team, for the
simple reason that not another end
tush that ever played down here
stands out from the field anything
like the way Blake does.
The list includes Boogher and E.
Brown, of Vanderbilt; Lewis, Wil
liams and Gillem, of Sewanee: Sit
ton, of Clemson; Brown and Rob
ert, of Tech; Ridley, of Georgia;
Walton, of Mississippi; Cogdell and
Davis, of Auburn; Begne, of Ten-
■mine y ‘-Y irwimr- T* -i< OT ft ■/ > ••-■eV sAX/Hy .'
AUCTION SALE
OF CHINAWARE
40 Peachtree Street I
I
I A $2,000.00 stock of manufacturer’s odds I
I and ends, comprising dinner sets, berry sets, I
| odd tea pots, creamers, sugar bowls, etc. I
A few brass lamps, some flat silverware I
sets, and some choice books are included. I
Buy Any Os Them At I
Your Own Price I
CHARLES M. MAY, «-<-
I 40 Peachtree Street I
nessee, and Vandegraaf, of Ala
bama.
Now. this bunch stacks up
mighty evenly all around. Beane
was decidedly too light. I should
say, and the same wits true of Rob
ert. Ridley was a. little too fragile
for this kind of an end, and Boogh
er played . too long ago to have
learned enough football. Gillem
was a grand punter and good, all
around playet: out on offense he
never tan with the ball no:- .went
down the Held under punts, as he
did all the punting himself. On de
fense he mostly backed up the line,
so, take him altogether, he was
hardly an end rush —except in the
line-up. Brown, of Tech, was also
a grand put er, but too slow for a
real end ru t —and too light for a
tackle. Cogdell had the weight, but
lacked the tire; he hail the speed,
but wouldn't alway- u%e it.
The best of the lot are E. Blow n,
of Vanderbilt: Walton, of Mi.-sls
sippi, and Sitton, of Clemson. Be
tween these three it's a very even
race in ail respects save one.
Brown is rather light, but a won
derfully effective end, nevertheless.
Walton hail the greatest weight of
the three, but Hie least experience.
Sitton wasn't quit as good a tackler
as either of the others, but he was
as fast as a chimney swallow.
I give the place to Sitton on the
strength of one great, qualification
that none of the other ends outside
of Blake possessed, and that was
his ground-gaining ability. <>n the
Clemson team of 1902, which was
Sitton's best year, he was about
the most reliable ground gainer the
Tigers had. He was much such a
rrtnner as Morrison, Haulage or
Lanier, and almost unstoppable.
He was clear-headed, athletic, easy
to handle, trained faithfully ami
put more fight into the rest of the
team by his inspiring coaching din
ing a game titan most any other
playet 1 have ever seen. And these
tilings all count big. 1 think he de
serves the place.
>- * ♦
Morrison Gets
Quarterback.
■pilFlßE have also been a kit of
corking good quarters in the
association, but none of them come
up to the class of Ray Morrison, of
Vanderbilt. His work is too recent,
to require any review in order to
explain the grounds for putting
him on our All-Time team. He was
simply exceptionally strong and
brilliant in all departments of play
and weak in none. I consider him
and Bob Blake and Manier the best
three football players the South has
produced.
• Next to Morrison, I would rate
Maxwell, of Clemson. 'O3. This boy
was also a wonder in ail depart-
ments, but he weighed only 149
about a dozen pounds less than
Morrison, on which account he
could not run so powerfully as the
latter. In all other ways the one
player would have reminded you of
the other.
These wete not the only high
grade quarters we have turned out
in tlie South, for the list includes
Tichenor, of Auburn; Crawford, of
Tennessee; Woofliuff, of Georgia;
K\ I and Costill, of Vatlde: .> If :
Cop., and Browne, of Sewaiieo;
Bushyhead, of Cumberland; Wil
son, of Tech, and Moody, of Ala
bama. These were all great play
ers.
Halfbacks Also
Go To Vanderbilt,
j'HE extra good tialtbai''ks 'hat
* the S. 1. A. A, lias exhibited in
tlie last two decades are legion. The
problem here is much the same as
that encountered in selecting tack
les, and the list of stars for these
positions is even a longer one. Lt
must include Craig. Campbell,
Boogher, Hardage, Tigei i and Dan
Blake, of Vanderbilt; Hunter and
Furtick, of Clemson; 'Williams,
Dorsey ami I’oy, of Auburn: Sei
bels, Shipp and Lanier, of Sewa
nee; W. Wilson Davis and Goree,
of Tech; Dickinson and McWhorter,
of Georgia: Williams, of Mississippi
A. and M ; Knox, of Mississippi:
Head and Steele, of Cumberland;
Leaeli. of Tennessee, and Burks and
Pratt, of Alabama.
Well, it’s just impossible to give
all of one's reasons for making i
selection out of a mass, or mess,
like tills. All 1 ciln say is that, to
my notion, as I saw them play, I
would rather have had Craig and
Campbell than any other two of
the lot.
Now, this doesn't mean that there
was any marked superiority in fa
vor of this pair. Craig, for Instance,
was not the equal in defensive pl: y
of some other- halfliaVks I could
name. But then he was such a.
Wonder on advancing the ball that
I just naturally would a little rath
er have him on my team than one
of the other men—that's all.
My second choice tor halfback is
Campbell, also of Vanderbilt. He
and Craig each weighed about 175
or more, and were as speedy as an
telopes. Campbell couldn’t dodge
and get about a broken field like
Craig, but he was there witli the
line plunging, the straight end tun
ning. the tackling, and tile heavy
interference.
1 regret greatly that I can not
stop to say how well I think of
every other man on the list. To
name them in the same list with
Craig and Campbell shows my ap
i predation of their great ability,
ami I considered every one of them
x cry carefully before reaching a de
cision.
Fullback Also Goes
To the Commodores.
■ N my opinion, Manier. of the 'OS,
1 'O4, 'OS and 'O6 Vanderbilt teams,
was the greatest player the Soutii
has yd turned out. Never anywhere
i ve i set n a man who had quite
mudi driving power when he
went into a line as this same Ma
uivr; and I do not believe that the
line ever had an existence that
could stop him. For this reason
alone 1 would he willing to give
him the place, for before a game
was half over lie nearly always had
the whole of the opposing team
battered to a pulp, so that there was
no standing up to him after the
first half. But Manier was strong
in other features of play as well,
though not equally so as on line
plunging. He was very tall and
rangy, and remarkably fast on his
leg:--. To my mind, he stands head
n d shoulders over any other full
back we have yet seen down here.
' ‘tin r notably good fullbacks have
been Foy, I’enloti. Streit, Shafer,
Reddilig and Davis, of Auburn;
Edgerton and Sykee, of Vander
bilt: lb itlie. of Mississippi A. and.
M.: Douglas, of Tennessee; Han
vey. of Clemson; Simpkins and
Markley, of Sewanee; Clark, of
Tech, and Ixivejoy, of Georgia.
« ♦ »
Would Make a
Marvelous Eleven.
Yy >RDS tall utterly to give an
idea of what a powerful ma
coini' these eleven mtn could make.’
With equally good coaching, they
would hold their own with most any
i le\en men that could be named
from any section of the country. It
i. an array ot names (bat South
ern football fans can be proud of
r : any time and In any place.
' ‘n ingular thing about them is
that they were nearly all at least
six feet tall. The only exceptions
were Sitton and Craig, the former
of w hom was about 5 feet 11 inches
ami tlie latter about 5 feet 8 inches.
Not one of them was a fat man.
A thing worth pointing out is tlie
fact that every last one of these
men had tlie lighting instinct un
usually well developed. By this I
do not mean that they were quar
relsome and always spoiling for a
“shindy.” They were fighters in
the football sense—men who never
knew what it was to give up, who
could not recognize when they were
beaten, and who fought on always
as though defeat meant death. This
qii.ility. of course, every’ man should
have who aspires to be selected in
any such connection ns this.
7