The Opening Kickoff

by Dave Revsine

  165. Stagg observed afterward: “Opinions of the Chicago Players,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 10, 1899, 18.

  165. “and many of his punts fell woefully short.”: “Victory for Maroons,” Sunday (Chicago) Inter Ocean, December 10, 1899, 1.

  165. “O’Dea’s kicking was poor.”: “Opinions of the Chicago Players,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 10, 1899, 18.

  166. “. . . and protested such righteousness.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, December 23, 1899, 1305.

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  168. in McClure’s Magazine in 1905: Henry Beach Needham, “The College Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (June 1905), 118.

  168. “. . . to support athletics in general.”: Ibid.

  168. “. . . is an honor to other universities.”: “Columbia Beats Yale at Football,” New York Times, October 29, 1899.

  168. only score of the game: Ibid. The New York Sun reported the run at 70 yards: “Columbia Victorious,” New York Sun, October 29, 1899, 9.

  168. other than Harvard or Princeton had beaten Yale: “Columbia Beats Yale at Football,” New York Times, October 29, 1899.

  168. “. . . I played in that game.”: Ibid.

  168. “. . . throughout the United States.”: “Columbia Victorious,” New York Sun, October 29, 1899, 9.

  168. box office revenues of $12,000: Ibid.

  169. Whitney wrote in Harper’s Weekly: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, November 4, 1899, 1122.

  169. solely due to their football ability: Ibid.

  169. funneled to the school as tuition payments: “Report to the Advisory Committee of the Columbia Athletic Association,” March 6, 1900, Columbia University Archives.

  169. “. . . as a favor to Columbia.”: “Larendon and Miller Write a Letter—Say They Played As a Favor to the University,” New York Daily Tribune, March 24, 1900, 4.

  169. “were subjected to the deepest mortification and humiliation.”: Pine to Hutton, September 13, 1900, Columbia University Archives.

  169. He got a raise: Henry Beach Needham, “The College Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (June 1905), 118.

  170. “. . . five and a half feet off the ground.”: Alexander M.Weyand, The Saga of American Football (New York: Macmillan, 1955), 67.

  170. his father found work as a stonemason: “James J. Hogan Dead—Was Football Star,” New York Times, March 21, 1910.

  171. “. . . amusing at times to watch him.”: William Hanford Edwards, Football Days; Memories of the Game and of the Men behind the Ball (New York: Moffat, Yard, 1916), 449.

  171. when the moment got particularly tense: Edwards, 279; Allison Danzig, The History of American Football: Its Great Teams, Players, and Coaches (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1956), 163.

  171. free tuition and spending money: Henry Beach Needham, “The College Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (June 1905), 124.

  171. “. . . degrading to amateur sport.”: Ibid., 115.

  172. “. . . I am sure that Hogan is.”: Ibid., 124.

  172. “the filth of the floor.”: Robert G. Torricelli and Andrew Carroll, In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century (New York: Kodansha International, 1999), 13.

  173. in her autobiography: Ida M. Tarbell, All in the Day’s Work (New York: Macmillan, 1939), 25.

  173. write a piece on Standard Oil: Tarbell background from Steve Weinberg, Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller (New York: W. W. Norton, 2008).

  173. “. . . production and efficient distribution.”: James Playsted Wood, Magazines in the United States, Their Social and Economic Influence (New York: Ronald, 1949), 133. Wood’s contention that Tarbell was not originally looking to expose Standard Oil were confirmed by Steve Weinberg in an e-mail exchange in May 2013.

  173. “. . . by fair means and foul.”: Wood, 133.

  173. “. . . on the minds of their readers.”: Ibid., 145.

  174. “. . . and its evils to be incurable.”: Kirchwey to Butler, July 14, 1902, Columbia University Archives.

  174. “. . . and pays the athletes.”: Henry Beach Needham, “The College Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (June 1905), 126. Emphasis is Needham’s.

  174. “class of students tainted with commercialism.”: Ibid., 123.

  174. “. . . and covering many sins.”: Ibid.

  174. “. . . sport is primary, winning secondary.”: Caspar Whitney, “Amateur Sport,” Harper’s Weekly, November 4, 1899, 1121.

  175. “. . . Couldn’t stand losing.”: Henry Beach Needham, “The College Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (June 1905), 117.

  175. “. . . bought him a sixty-dollar overcoat.”: Ibid., 121.

  175. “. . . sustain men by devious means.”: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, November 11, 1905, 19.

  175. “. . . conservation of academic ideals.”: Ibid.

  175. “. . .required of athletes,” Jordan wrote: Ibid., 19.

  176. “. . . according to [President] Harper’s instructions.”: Robin Lester, Stagg’s University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 90.

  176. “. . . what is necessary to be done.”: Ibid. 89.

  176. “. . . You haven’t got the money.”: John Sayle Watterson, College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), 85.

  176. a mark that stood for twenty-five years: Lester, 55.

  176. final score was 105–0: James Andrew Peterson, Eckersall of Chicago (Chicago: Hinckley & Schmitt, 1957), pages not numbered; and “Hyde Park 105; Brooklyn Poly 0,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 7, 1902, 9.

  176. a campus visit to Ann Arbor: Lester, 56.

  176. “. . . most poorly prepared freshman.”: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, November 11, 1905, 19.

  177. full load of courses that quarter: Lester, 52.

  177. “. . . ‘he never appeared in class.’” : Ibid., 57.

  177. Eckersall, 15; Wisconsin, 6: Ibid.; Peterson, no page number.

  177. “service in the University.”: Lester, 60.

  177. “. . . in the Univ. again—for cause.”: Ibid.

  177. “. . . had completed his college career.”: Ibid., 61.

  178. “. . . and that is enough.”: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, November 11, 1905, 19.

  178. “. . . great annual game with Kansas.”: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, November 25, 1905, 21.

  178. “. . . not to be counted as sinless.”: Ibid.

  178. “. . . Heston was well paid.”: Ibid.

  178. “took care of Heston while in college.”: “Former Michigan Regent, James Murfin Dies at 65,” Milwaukee Journal, July 12, 1940, 9.

  178. “. . . see that boy hit the line.”: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, November 25, 1905, 22.

  179. assistant coach at Minnesota: Edward S. Jordan, “Buying Football Victories,” Collier’s, December 2, 1905, 20.

  179. the son of two former slaves: Mark F. Bernstein, Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 71.

  179. early years of the college game: It should be noted that many of the black colleges in the South began fielding their own football teams at this time. See Charles H. Martin, Benching Jim Crow (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010), 8.

  179. rooming for African Americans: Ibid., 11; Henry Beach Needham, “The Col
lege Athlete. How Commercialism Is Making Him a Professional,” McClure’s Magazine (July 1905), 271.

  180. could continue with mass plays: David M. Nelson, The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1994), 92.

  180. more dangerous than mass plays: “O’Dea on New Rules,” Dallas Morning News, September 6, 1903.

  180. “. . . he was one of the heirs.”: Orlando Burnett, “Madison Letter,” Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader, April 25, 1900.

  181. southern portion of that continent: “O’Dea Going to Africa,” Minneapolis Journal, April 20, 1900.

  181. “. . . He’s a waiter.”: Red Salmon anecdote: Dick Hyland, “Hyland Fling,” Los Angeles Times, February 12, 1949, B2.

  181. “. . . to Coach O’Dea.”: “Our Gridiron Heroes,” Notre Dame Scholastic, December 14, 1901, 227.

  182. Andrew Morrissey fired O’Dea: Herb T. Juliano, Notre Dame Odyssey: A Journey through Sports and Spirituality on the Notre Dame Campus (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame Press, 1993), 279.

  182. in a sling for six weeks: “Pat O’Dea Breaks Shoulder,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 5, 1901, 6.

  182. who proceeded to rob him: “Chicago Highwaymen Set Upon Pat O’Dea,” Racine Daily Journal, December 24, 1901, 7.

  182. “. . . as well as one of his legs.”: “Coach O’Dea Is in Hostpital,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 16, 1902, 6.

  182. “. . . they’re wasting their time.”: Jack Newcombe, The Fireside Book of Football (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1964), 172.

  182. “. . . of the Tigers next season.”: “New Coach for Missouri,” Omaha World Herald, March 17, 1902.

  182. pistol in town for his safety: Wendy Bolz, “The ‘Kicking Kangaroo’ and the ‘Kangaroo Stroker,’ ” (unpublished family history), 6.

  183. “. . . during the hurried ceremony.”: “Pat O’Dea Married,” Eau Claire (Wisconsin) Leader, February 19, 1903, 4.

  183. the baby and her mother: Wendy Bolz, “The ‘Kicking Kangaroo’ and the ‘Kangaroo Stroker,’ ” (unpublished family history), 7.

  183. on three separate occasions: Michael D. Shutko, “College Football at Its Best,” Now & Then. National Center for Osteopathic History (Fall 2003).

  184. on the 1903–04 school year: “The Evils of Football,” Harvard Graduates’ Magazine (March 1905), 385.

  184. “. . . the business of teaching deception.”: Troy Soos, Before the Curse: The Glory Days of New England Baseball, 1858–1918 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2006), 44.

  184. experienced by the New Haven school: Bill Reid and Ronald A. Smith, Big-Time Football at Harvard, 1905: The Diary of Coach Bill Reid (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), xv.

  184. behind only Columbia’s Sanford: Ronald A. Smith, Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 156.

  184. “. . . Harvard’s president since 1869.”: Ibid.

  185. “. . . would have considered possible.”: Reid and Smith, 12.

  185. “. . . things except loud women.”: Ibid., 14.

  185. installing telegraph lines: Ibid., 15.

  185. “. . . try to get him eligible.”: Ibid., 78.

  185. “. . . fellows is disgustingly ludicrous.”: Ibid., 80.

  186. to work on a sheep ranch: Background on LeMoyne: Myron Finkbeiner, From Harvard to Hagerman: An Incredible Journey of an Unknown Athlete: Harry LeMoyne (Boise, ID: Borderline Pub., 2012).

  186. LeMoyne stayed in Idaho: Reid and Smith, 11–12.

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  187. a summit with President Theodore Roosevelt: Bill Reid and Ronald A. Smith, Big-Time Football at Harvard, 1905: The Diary of Coach Bill Reid (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 193.

  187. “. . . you will be able to come.”: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Walter Camp, October 2, 1905, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593. I am assuming the timeline and wording of the letters were similar to all the coaches and administrators.

  187. headed toward the nation’s capital: Reid and Smith, 193.

  187. weakness in their archrivals: Ibid.

  187. a visit to the top of the Washington Monument: Ibid.

  188. were greeted at the entrance: Descriptions of the 1905 White House from “The White House—A Home of Stately Dignity and Beauty,” Washington Post, March 5, 1905, 14, and a postcard of the Dining Room from the White House Archives.

  188. made the journey from New Jersey: Reid and Smith, 193–94.

  188. appealed to the magazine not to publish them: John Sayle Watterson, College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), 66.

  188. after the exposé was published: Theodore Roosevelt and E. E. Morison, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951), 1280–82.

  188. suggested a meeting of the “Big Three.”: Ibid., 94.

  189. “. . . the athletic spirit has saved us.”: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Walter Camp, March 11, 1895, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593.

  189. “. . .an occasional bruise or cut,” he wrote: Ibid.

  189. “. . . honorable limits, is an advantage.”: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Walter Camp, March 11, 1895, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593.

  189. “. . . both in letter and spirit?”: H. F. Manchester, “Reveals How College Football Was Saved in 1905,” Boston Herald, October 17, 1926, 7.

  189. “. . . to carry out these obligations.”: Reid and Smith, 194–95.

  189. thanked the men for their service: Telegram, Roosevelt to Camp, October 11, 1905, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593.

  190. in eliminating the game’s brutality: “Civilizing Football,” New York Times, October 12, 1905; “Reforming Football to Reduce Injuries,” New York Times, October 15, 1905.

  190. “. . . responsible for their continuance.”: “Hard Job to Reform It, Eliot Says,” New York Times, October 11, 1905.

  190. “. . . are all dealt with in the rules.”: Reid and Smith, 207.

  190. “. . . college sport is doomed.”: As quoted in “Princeton for Reform,” New York Times, October 15, 1905.

  190. “. . . practice of the game itself.”: Ibid.

  190. “merely a tool of Camp’s.”: Reid and Smith, 34.

  190. “. . . demanded by public sentiment.”: Letter from Francis Bangs to Nicholas Murray Butler, October 28, 1905, Columbia University Archives, Athletics Folder, 1–2.

  191. “. . . existing irresponsible committee on rules.”: Letter from Butler to Bangs, November 2, 1905, Columbia University Archives, Athletics Folder.

  191. “. . . not likely to be cured at his age.”: Ibid.

  191. in the school’s athletics operation: Letter from William Beebe to Arthur Hadley, September 27, 1905, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 3, reel 2.

  191. of the school’s athletic finances: Richard P. Borkowski, The Life and Contributions of Walter Camp to American Football (thesis, Temple University, 1979), 177.

  191. “. . . extravagance in connection with athletics.”: “Light on Yale Athletics,” New York Times, October 29, 1905.

  191. “. . . voted to abolish football.”: H. F. Manchester, “Reveals How College Football Was Saved in 1905,” Boston Herald, October 17, 1926, 7.

  192. “. . . ought to be radically changed.”: Ibid.

  192. Bartol Parker, fought back: Ibid.

  192. “. . . appetites are like, you know.”: Ibid.

  193. Harvard’s loss to Yale: John J. Miller, The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football (New York: Harper Collins, 2011), 197.

  193. Harvard guard in the fa
ce: Reid and Smith, 316.

  193. the game’s power brokers: Guy Lewis, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Role in the 1905 Football Controversy,” Research Quarterly (December 1969), 723.

  193. adopt that country’s game: Theodore Roosevelt to Walter Camp, August 21, 1906, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593.

  193. “. . . abide by whatever you do.”: Theodore Roosevelt to Walter Camp, October 11, 1905, Walter Chauncey Camp Papers, Yale University Archives, box 21, folder 593.

  193. “. . . venture to make a suggestion.”: Ibid.

  193. “. . . not a crucial one.”: Guy Lewis, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Role in the 1905 Football Controversy,” Research Quarterly (December 1969), 724.

  194. suffered a cerebral hemorrhage: “Football Player Killed,” New York Times, November 26, 1905.

  194. put the toll at eighteen: Nineteen number is from “The Homicidal Pastime,” New York Times, November 29, 1905; eighteen number is from John S. Watterson, “The Gridiron Crisis of 1905: Was It Really a Crisis?” Journal of Sport History (Summer 2000), 294.

  194. “. . . very bad thing for his health.”: “The Homicidal Pastime,” New York Times, November 29, 1905.

  194. “. . . distinction of supremacy.”: Ibid.

  194. “. . . it is all in the game.”: Ibid.

  194. “but so does war.”: “Favor Revision of Rules,” New York Times, November 27, 1905. Watterson, 87.

  194. “. . . disliked the existing gridiron system.”: John S. Watterson, “The Gridiron Crisis of 1905: Was It Really a Crisis?” Journal of Sport History (Summer 2000), 298.

  195. “. . . dangerous to human life.”: “Football Is Abolished by Columbia Committee,” New York Times, November 29, 1905.

  195. the paper editorialized: Untitled Editorial, Columbia Spectator, November 29, 1905, 2.

  195. he wrote to MacCracken: “Football Is Abolished by Columbia Committee,” New York Times, November 29, 1905.

  195. “. . . profitable is the main evil.”: Ibid.

  195. rather than abolish the game: Guy Lewis, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Role in the 1905 Football Controversy,” Research Quarterly (December 1969), 721.

  195. meeting in late December: Watterson, College Football, 74.