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HEISMAN’S ALL-TIME ALL-SOUTHERN FOOTBALL TEAM:
p v .J. W. Heisman.
pVERAL times in the year past
S. ht' been aske,i to pick tlla
.j, .t , ~ven that I could from
yvrs who have performed
< ,hern Intercollegiate Ath
.. i ation since that organi
llrst started, some
nore years ago.
h etion I attempted once
.ai'- ut ten years ago; and I
~n y right here that 'it
most formidable under-
At the present time such a
prove considerably more
d'flir'ih
..ui of the question for
anything of the players
~ prior to the fall of ’95, ’
at " i my first season in the
<i :! ; At that time there tvere
, any colleges in the S. 1. A.
x , far as I can recall, the as
s a n then embraced only Van
(. bilt. > wanee, Auburn, Alabama
Mii'l Georgia
j ;im . however, well aware of the
p, A ,ni- existence of such fine play
,.r< as K- and Graham, at Van
derbilt Abbott, at Alabama; Raine,
, y. . in< < ; "Widdy” Brown, Red
, u |.’. and Dorsey, at Auburn.
;ir „i 1,. ..nard Wood, at Tech. Ex
,.e]!ent these players no doubt
A ,. r( . I have little hesitation In
i : : I do not think it prob-
>.. < it an> "f them, as far as his
vine • "tit in that day and time,
.... the equal of the men
vhoir 1 have named for this all
■ ■ ■ and tli»t for the ail-
.utti' t. iit reason that not one of
t . ni had in his day the benefit of
-up. rior coaching that is lav
upon the players of later
dab. ,
In « verj physical way they may
have been fully the equals of some
mor., recent exponents of
tin gati < . but I am very sure they
,i not know even the game of
heir own day as do these later
....: i t_- and the football of today
( idedly more scientific and
deeper name, with all its modern
, nin ? nts of play and its devel
op : ramifications, than was the
'....tbal! of twenty years ago.
In other words, in picking such a
earn we will have to look much
■the,- than to the mere physical
idvantaip - presented by claimants
for places; we shal have to take
gelt into account the better ex
leta nee of the moderns in the
gati.e, tl’"ir better instruction, and
rap betterment of the game itself,
wit . hielt the players of today
tat kept pace.
! ■ till- same reason it will be
.-•ary for me to depose the ma
il' f tin' players whom 1 named
tl all-time Southern team a
■_•■■. They were all right at
i t and mighty good men
• t . • But “the world do
and men with it. Forty
r .go the best pieces of horse
sh w< . . msidered marvels, but
i y i-ouldr i as did their
|. agent- of as, 'ars later.
In tills ease the imp . nt was
deflniuly measurable by t. in
i' mien <>f the stop watch. No such
iistrument exists by which we can
mke the exact measure of the foot
- Hi t’s all-around ability, but there
h r - question in my mind but that
In -i players of recent days
'■ Ir the vast majority of in
. improved on the best form
••■ n by the heroes of years gone
• ♦ ♦
VI Colleges Know
'heir Own Players Best.
I 1 -•■ nr extent 1 am aided by the
nt.y published picks of the
- ■ !■ vens turned out during the
btory of the game at the various
'" Ui. i'u colleges—these selections
evnig lie. n made in The Georgian
"n who have been closely in
’i" ii with the football situation at
! ‘ir respective colleges for a long
1 riod of time. Each college knows
"'•■“t which of its sons performed
<-st on the gridiron, for they have
i' opportunity to the man’s
■fork day | n an( j jay out for sev
eral years, not merely in an iso
a,p(] game or two. as do outsiders
who have at times attempted the
D icing of all-Southerns. So if a
Player was not good enough to
take the all-time team of the col
where he performed, he cer
•i nil does not come in for consid
in connection with an all
tll-S. I. A. A. team.
I ' l '-ven so one will have to go
merits of at least 100 play
"t each college picks out not
"■'s than eleven best men. and
■ iri ' at least ten such colleges
" J onsidered. And if you are
to give each man his just
merited consideration, your
" 11l have to serve you well.
Chew DRUMMOND I
Nature made ii mild I
~ it's pure Burley. I
DRUMMOND!
NATURAL leaf
CHEWING TOBACCO I
There Were Many
Crack Center Men.
'p HE great centers of Southern
antiquity were Watkins and
Poole, of Sewanee; Stone and Gra
ham, of Vanderbilt; Sims, of Tech;
Keasler, of Cldmson; 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 fighting
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. Watkins and Adams are a
shade too light. The very best cen
ters we have had have been Caton,
Stone. Morgan and "Red” Smith.
Caton 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, com
pared 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.
And that was where Stone and
Smith shone, resplendent as Sirius.
How many remember “Red”
Smith, of Cumberland, 'O3? Wasn’t
fie a peach? I see him yet, darting
all over the field and making open
field 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
feet in height, lean and supple as
panthers, and with the activity of
greyhounds. Yet each must have
weighed 185 stripped. Stone was
as good a tackler as Smtih 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.
V * «
Not So Many
Crack Guards.
rpHERE are as many guards on a.
1 football team as players in any
other positions, but for some rea
son not so many of them developed
into star players in th*' South. In
the East Heffelflnger 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
A. & M.. and Mitcham and Bonner,
of Auburn.
Now, here are a pretty fine bunch
of guards. But I have no trouble
in selecting Henry Phillips, of Se
wanee, for my first choice. This
rrian was one of the few of my
present All-Time team whose name
is also found on the team I selected
ten years ago. Phillips just nat
urally had the goods, and that's all
there is to It. He weighed over
190, he had great speed for a man
of his size, he could open a hole
through a stone wall, 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 for 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 purpose to qualify.
I ’horn was a hard worker, but a bit
slow, compared to the best men.
Metzger was nothing short of a
world’s wonder for his weight, but
this place must go to a heavier man
thnn ho was. Derrick was a great
charger—the best, of the lot—but
that about lets him out. Bonner was
a good man, but not quite consist
ent enough.
There remains Blanche. This
chap weighed about 185, was built
as trimly as a race horse and could
run like one. He got about the
field and tackled the same way
Stone. Smith and Phillips did. Can
you imagine what a power such a
center trio as Stone, Phillips and
Blanche would be in a game to
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.
Tackles Are Hardest
Places On Line to Fill.
'p HE naming of the tackles will b<
• the hie' iob oil the line. And
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. MONDAY. DECEMBER 23. 1912.
All-Time AITS. I. A. A. Team
Position. Player. Weight. College.
Center, Stone, 1904-5-6-7 185 Vanderbilt.
Right Glid’d, Phillips, 1900-1-2-3-4 194 Sewanee.
Left Guard, Blanche, 1596 196 Georgia.
Right Tackle. Jones. 1904-5 198 Auburn.
Left I'ackle, Pritchard, 1903-4-5-6 208 Vanderbilt.
Right End, Blake. R. E., 1903-5-6-7 174 Vanderbilt.
Left End. Sitton. 1902-3 166 Clemson.
Quarterback, Morrison. R,, 1908-9-10-11.158 Vanderbilt.
Right Half, Craig, 1904-5-6-7 175 Vanderbilt.
Left Half, Campbell, 1907 175 .'..Vanderbilt.
Fullback. Manier, 1903-4-5-6 182 Vanderbilt.
SECOND TEAM.
Center, Smith, 1903-4 •. Cumberland
Right Guard, Metzgar. 1908-9-10-11 Vanderbilt.
Left Guard, Claiborne.-1897-98-99-00 Sewanee.
Right Tackle. Brown, T., 1910-11-12 Vanderbilt.
Left Tackle, Barker. 1911-12 Mississippi.
Right End, Brown, E., 1910-11-12 Vanderbilt.
Left End, M alton. 1910-11 Mississippi.
Quarterback. Maxwell, 1902-03 Clemson.
Right Half, Hunter, 1900-01 Clemson.
Left Half, Williams, 1894-95-96 Auburn.
Fullback. Davis. 1910-11 Auburn.
THIRD TEAM.
Center, Caton t Auburn.
Right Guard, Gaston Clemson.
Left Guard, Glenn Auburn.
Right Tackle, Hamilton Georgia.
Left Tackle, Taylor ’ Vanderbilt.
Right End, Brown Tech.
Left End, Gillem Sewanee.
Quarterback, Bushyhead Cumberland
Right Half, McWhorter..; Georgia.
Left Half, Hardage Vanderbilt.
Fullback, Clark Tech.
coaches put their best linemen at
the tackle position, and from so
many best' men It’s hard to hunt
out the men of paramount ability.
The 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
Cumberland; 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
history just what I am up against
in this chapter. But here goes;
Glenn was a big, fierce 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 he got started right in a game
that I ever expect to see in or out
of Hagenbcck's. Weighing 220 and
running with the fury of a typhoon,
he was just about as near to un
stoppable as anything I ever want to
get in the way of. I 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 very, 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 Tom Brawn and Tay
lor for doing so. Could you ask for
better tackles than these last two?
I don't see how.
And yet T do consider Jones and
Pritchard just a shadow of a shade
better than any of the others. Jones
weighed about 198 and Pritchard
about 205, and both were over six
t'e"t tall. Both had that activity
and general get-aboutness that so
delights a coach’s eye, and both
were in the thick of the fight from
start to finish. No interference so
strong but they could break it. no
lunge so powerful but they could
stop it. 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 and strengths
c • •
Finds It Easy
To Pick One End.
i T i« almost as easy to pick Bob
* Blake for one of our All-Time
ends as ft was to select Stone 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
forwf'-J cussing, great on punting,
an txo fierce und sure
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
rush 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: Beane, of Ten-
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| 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 was 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 ami good, all
around player; but on offense he
never-ran with the ball nor went
down the field 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 punter, hut too slow for a
real end rush —and too light for a
tackle. Cogdell had the'weight, but
lacked the fire; he had the speed,
but wouldn’t always use It.
The best of the lot are E. Brown,
of Vanderbilt; Walton, of Missis
sippi, and Sitton, of Clemson. Be
tween these three it’s a very even
race in all respects save one.
Brown is rather .light, but a won
derfully effective end, nevertheless.
Walton had the greatest weight t>f
the three, but the least experience.
Sitton wasn’t quit as good a tackler
as either of the others, but he was
as fast as a chimney swallow.
T 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. On 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
runner as Morrison, Hardage or
Banter, and almost unstoppable.
He was clear-headed, athletic, easy
to handle, trained faithfully and
put more tight into tlie rest of the
team by his inspiring coaching dur
ing a game than most any other
player I have ever seen. And these
things all count big. T think he de
serves the place.
c » •
Morrison Gets
Quarterback.
'pHERE have also been a lot 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-Tjme 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, 1 would rate
Maxwell, of Clemson, ’O3. This boy
was also a wonder in. all 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 were not the only high
grade quarters we have turned out
in the South, for the list includes
Tichenor, of Auburn; Crawford, of
Tennessee; Woodruff, of Georgia;
Kyle and Costen, of Vatiderliilt;
Cope ami Browne, of Sewanee;
Bushyhead, of Cumberland; Wil
son, of Tech, and Moody, of Ala
bama. These were all great play
ers.
O # 0
Halfbacks Also
Go To Vanderbilt.
'P HE extra good halfbacks that
1 the S. I. A. A. has exhibited in
the 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. It
must include Craig. Campbell,
Boogher, Hardage, Tigert and Dan
Blake, of Vanderbilt; Hunter and
Furtick, of Clemson; Williams.
Dorsey and Foy, of Auburn; Sei
bels, Shipp and Eanier, of Sewa
nee; tV. '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;
Beach, of Tennessee, and Burks and
Pratt, of Alabama.
Well, it’s just impossible to give
all of one’s- reasons for making a
selection out of a mass, or mess,
like this. All I can say is that, to
my notion, as 1 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 play
of some other halfbacks 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 for 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 with the
line plunging, the straight end run
ning, the tackling, and the heavy
interference.
I 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
preciation of their great ability,
and I considered every one of them
very carefully before reaching a de
cision.
* • «
Fullback Also Goes
To the Commodores.
y N my opinion, Manter, of the 'O3,
4 ’O4, 'OS ami ’O6 Vanderbilt teams,
was the greatest player the South
lias yet turned out. Never anywhere
have I seen a man who had quite
as much driving power when he
went into a line as this same Ma
nier; and I do not believe that the
line ever bad an existence that
could stop him. For this reason
alone I would be 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 plaj- a-s well,
though not equally so aa on line
plunging. He was very tall and
rangy, and remarkably fast on his
legs. To my mind, he stands head
and shoulders over any other full
back we have yet seen down here.
Other notably good fullbacks have
been Foy, Penton. Streit, Shafer,
Redding and Davis, of Auburn;
Edgerton and Sykes, of Vander
bilt; Reulle, of Mississippi A. and
M.: Douglas, of Tennessee; Han
vey, of Clemson; Simpkins and
Markley, erf Sewanee: Clark, of
Tech, and Lovejoy, of Georgia.
0 » »
Would Make a
Marvelous Eleven.
3X7ORDS fail utterly to give an
** idea of what a powerful ma
chine these eleven men could make.
With equally good coaching, tbly
would hold their own with most any
eleven men that could be named
from any section of the country. It
is an array of names that South
ern football fans can be proud of
nt time und In any place.
One singular thing about them is
that they were nearly all at least
lx feet tall. The only exceptions
were Sitton and Craig, the former
of whom was about o feet 11 Inches
and the latter about 5 feet 8 inches.
Not one of them was a fat man.
A thing worth pointing out Is the
fact that every last one of these
men had the fighting 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 w’ere
beaten, and who fought on always
us though defeat meant death. This
quality, of course, every - man should
have who aspires to be selected in
any such connection as this.
