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
"One feature of this Yale-Princeton game impressed me tremendously, that
of Bill Edwards' stand, against what I considered a superman, Charles
Chadwick. Before the game I had confidently expected Big Bill to resign
after about five minutes' play, knowing, as I did, how Chadwick was
going. In this, however, Edwards was a great disappointment, as he stuck
the game out and was stronger at the end, than at the start or half way
through. Had he weakened at all, Ad Kelly's great offensive work would
have been doomed to failure. Edwards finished up the game against
Chadwick with a face that resembled a raw beefsteak. To my mind he was
the worst punished man I have ever seen. He stood by his guns to the
finish, and ever since then my hat has been off to him."
One of the most interesting characters in Southern football is W. R.
Tichenor, a thorough enthusiast in the game and known wherever there is
a football in the South. His father was president of the Alabama
Polytechnic. He was a fine player and weighed about 120 pounds. He is
the emergency football man of the South. Whenever there is a football
dispute Tichenor settles it. Whenever a coach is taken sick, Tichenor is
called upon to take his place. Whenever an emergency official is needed,
Tich comes to the rescue. He tells the following story:
"Every boy who has been to Auburn in the last twenty years knows Bob
Frazier. Many of them, however, may not recognize that name, as he has
been called Bob 'Sponsor' for so long that few of them know his real
name. Bob is as black as the inside of a coal mine and has rubbed and
worked for the various teams at Auburn 'since the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary.'
[Illustration: BILLY BULL ADVISING WITH CAPTAIN TALBOT]
"Just after the Christmas holidays one year in the middle nineties, Bob,
with the view of making a touch, called at Bill Williams' room one
night.
"After asking Bill if he had had a good Christmas, 'Sponsor' remarked:
'You know, Mr. Williams, us Auburn niggers went down and played dem
Tuskegee niggers a game of football during Christmas.'
"'Who did you have on the team, Bob?' inquired Bill.
"'Oh--we had a lot of dese niggers roun' town yere. They was me, an'
Crooksie, an' Homer, an' Bear, an' Cockeye, an' a lot of dese yer town
niggers.'
"'How did you come out?' asked Bill.
"'Oh, dem Tuskegee niggers give us a good lickin'.'
"'What position did you play?'
"'Me?' said Bob, 'I was de cap'en. I played all roun'. I played center.
Den I played quarterback. Den I played halfback.'
"'What system of signals did you use and who called them?' was Bill's
next inquiry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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