Football days : $b memories of the game and of the men behind the ballEdwards, William H. (William Hanford)
General
Football days : $b memories of the game and of the men behind the ball
Edwards, William H. (William Hanford)
Football
"In the course of my years at Yale, six big games were played," says
Bull, "four with Princeton and two with Harvard. I was fortunate in
being able to go through all of them, sustaining no injury whatsoever,
except in the last game with Princeton. In this game, Channing came
through to me in the fullback position and in tackling him I received a
scalp wound which did not, however, necessitate my removal from the
game.
"Of the six games played, only one was lost, and that was the Lamar game
in the fall of '85. In the five games won I was the regular kicker in
the last three, and, in two of these, kicking proved to be the deciding
factor. Thus in '87--Yale 17, Harvard 8--two place kicks and one drop
kick were scored in the three attempts, totaling nine points.
Considering the punting I did that day, and the fact that both
place-kicks were scored from close to the side lines, I feel that that
game represents my best work.
"The third year of my play was undoubtedly my best year; in fact the
only year in which I might lay claim to being anything of a kicker. Thus
in the Rutgers game of '87 I kicked twelve straight goals from
placement. Counting the two goals from touchdowns against Princeton I
had a batting average of 1000 in three games.
"Through the last year I was handicapped with a lame kicking leg and
was out of form, for in the final game with Princeton that year, '88, I
tried at least four times before scoring the first field goal of the
game. In the second half I had but one chance and that was successful.
This was the 10-0 game, in which all the points were scored by kicking,
although the ground was wet and slippery.
"It is of interest to note, in connection with drop-kicking in the old
days, that the proposition was not the simple matter it is to-day. Then,
the ball had to go through the quarter's hands, and the kicker in
consequence had so little time in which to get the ball away that he was
really forced to kick in his tracks and immediately on receipt of the
ball. Fortunately I was able to do both, and I never had a try for a
drop blocked, and only one punt, the latter due to the fact that the
ball was down by the side line, and I could not run to the left (which
would have taken me out of bounds) before kicking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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