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 my experience as an official I recall the fact that I began
officiating as a Referee, and had been engaged and notified in the
regular way to referee the Penn'-Harvard game on Franklin Field in 1905.
When I arrived at the field, McClung was the other official. He had
never umpired but had always acted as a Referee. In my opinion a man
should be either Referee or Umpire. Each position requires a different
kind of experience and I do not believe officials can successfully
interchange these positions. Those who have officiated can appreciate
the predicament I was in, especially just at that time when there was so
much talk of football reform, by means of changing the rules, changing
the style of the game, stopping mass plays. However, I consented; for
appreciating that McClung was sincere in his statement that he would do
nothing but referee, I was forced to accept the Umpire's task.
It was a game full of intense rivalry. The desire to win was carrying
the men beyond the bounds of an ordinarily spirited contest, and the
Umpire's job proved a most severe task. It was in this game that either
four or five men were disqualified.
I continued several years after this in the capacity of Umpire. One
unfortunate experience as Umpire came as a result of a penalty inflicted
upon Wauseka, an Indian player who had tackled too vigorously a Penn'
player who was out of bounds. Much wrangling ensued and a policeman was
called upon the field. It was the quickest way to keep the game from
getting out of hand.
Washington and Jefferson played the Indians at Pittsburgh some years
ago. I acted as Umpire. The game was played in a driving rain storm and
a muddier field I never saw. The players, as well as the officials, were
covered with mud. In fact my sweater was saturated, the players having
used it as a sort of towel to dry their hands. A kicked ball had been
fumbled on the goal line and there was a battle royal on the part of the
players to get the coveted ball. I dived into the scramble of wriggling,
mud-covered players to detect the man who might have the ball. The
stockings and jerseys of the players were so covered with mud that you
could not tell them apart. As I was forcing my way down into the mass of
players I heard a man shouting for dear life: "I'm an Indian! I'm an
Indian! It's my ball!"
When I finally got hold of the fellow with the ball I could not for the
life of me tell whether he was an Indian or not. However, I held up the
decision until some one got a bucket and sponge and the player's face
was mopped off, whereupon I saw that he was an Indian all right. He had
scored a touchdown for his team.
An official in the game is subject to all sorts of criticisms and abuse.
Sometimes they are humorous and others have a sting which is not readily
forgotten.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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