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
"Holden made his tackles low, a kind of a running dive with his head
thrust into his quarry's stomach. The best policy seemed, in case Holden
had you cornered, to go at him with a stiff arm and a suddenly raised
knee to check his onslaught and, if possible, shake him off in the
shuffle, but that was a mighty difficult matter for light backs to do.
"First the line was opened up so that I went through. Harding, the
Harvard quarter, who was running up and down the Crimson line like a
panther, didn't get me. My hand went against his face and somehow I got
rid of him. Finally I reached Holden, who played the fullback position
while on the defensive, and had him to pass in order to get a touchdown.
There was a savage onslaught and Holden had me on the ground.
"A few moments later Ames, who played back with Channing and me, went
through the Harvard line and again Holden was the only obstacle to a
touchdown for Princeton. There was another savage impact and both
players rolled upon the ground, but this time Holden did not get up. He
got his man but he was unconscious or at least seemingly so. His chest
bone had been broken. It was a tense moment. We all felt a pang of
sympathy, for Holden was a square, if rough, player. Harvard's cheers
subsided into murmurs of sorrow and Holden was carried tenderly off the
field.
"The accident made Harvard desperate, and as we were without Cowan we
were in the same mental condition. It was hammer and tongs from that
time on. I don't know that there was any intention to put players out
of business, but there was not much mercy shown.
"It appeared to me that some doubt existed on the Harvard side as to who
caused Holden's chest bone to be broken, but that the suspicion was
mainly directed at me. Several years later an article written at Harvard
and published in the _Public Ledger_ in Philadelphia gave a long account
of how I broke Holden's chest bone. This seemed to confirm my notion
that there was a mixup of identity. However that may be, it soon became
evident in the game that I was marked for slaughter.
"Vic Harding made a profound and lasting impression on me both with his
hands and feet. In fact, Harding played in few games of importance in
which he was not disqualified. He was not a bad fellow at all in social
relations, but on a football field he was the limit of 'frightfulness.'
I don't know of any player that I took so much pleasure in punching as
Harding. Ames and Harding also took delight in trying to make each
other's faces change radically in appearance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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