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
Harry Kersburg is one of the most enthusiastic Harvard football players
I have ever met. He played guard on Harvard in 1904, '05 and '06 and is
often asked back to Cambridge to coach the center men. From his playing
days let us read what he prizes in his recollections:
"My college career began at Lehigh, with the idea of eventually going to
Harvard. As a football enthusiast, I came under the observation of
Doctor Newton, who was coaching Lehigh at that time. Doc taught me the
first football I ever knew. In one of the games against Union College
Doc asked me before the game whether if he put me in I would deliver the
goods. I said I would try and do my best. He said, 'That won't do. I
don't want any man on my team who says, "I'll try." A man has got to say
"I'll do it." From that time on I never said, 'I'll try,' but always
said 'I'll do it.'
"I shall never forget the day I played against John DeWitt. I did not
know much about the finer points of football then. I weighed about 165
pounds with my football clothes on, was five feet nine inches tall and
sixteen years old. I shall always remember seeing that great big hawk of
a man opposite me. I did not have cold feet. I knew I had to go in and
give the best account of myself I could. It was like going up against a
stone wall. John DeWitt certainly could use his hands, with the result
that I resembled paper pulp when I came out of that game. DeWitt did
everything to me but kill me. After I got my growth, weight and
strength, plus my experience, I always had a desire to play against
DeWitt to see if he could the same thing again.
"In a Harvard-Yale game one year I remember an incident that took place
between Carr, Shevlin and myself," says Harry.
"Tom Shevlin usually stood near the goal line when Yale received the
kick-off. As a matter of fact he caught the ball most of the time. The
night before the Yale game in 1905, Bill Carr and myself were discussing
what might come up the following day. Inasmuch as we always lined up
side by side on the kick off, we made a wager that if Harvard kicked off
we would each be the first to tackle Shevlin.
"The next day Harvard won the toss and chose to kick off, and as we had
hoped, Shevlin caught the ball. Carr and I raced down the field, each
intent on being the first to tackle him. I crashed into Shevlin and
spilled him, upsetting myself at the same time. When I picked myself up
and looked around, Carr had Shevlin pinned securely to the ground. After
the game we told Shevlin of our wager and he said that under the
circumstances all bets were off as both had won."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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