ayers who
carried the ball, are now carrying trade to the ends of the world. Men
who bucked the line, are forging their way sturdily to the front. Men
who were tackles, are still meeting their opponents with the same
intrepid zeal. The men who played at end in those days, are to-day
seeing that nothing gets around them in the business world. The public
is the referee and umpire. It knows their achievements in the greater
game of life.
It is not my purpose to select an all-star football team from the long
list of heroes past and present. It is not possible to select any one
man whom we can all crown as king. We all have our football idols, our
own heroes, men after whom we have patterned, who were our inspiration.
We can never line up in actual scrimmage the heroes of the past with
those of more recent years. What a treat if this could be arranged!
There are many men I have idolized in football, not only for their
record as players, but for the loyalty and spirit for the game which
they have inspired.
Walter Camp
When I asked Walter Camp to write the introduction to this book, I told
him that as he had written about football players for twenty years it
was up to some one to relate some of _his_ achievements as a football
player. We all know Walter Camp as a successful business man and as a
football genius whose strategy has meant much to Yale. His untiring
efforts, his contributions to the promotion of the best interests of the
game, stand as a brilliant record in the history of football. To give
him his just due would require a special volume. The football world
knows Walter Camp as a thoroughbred, a man who has played the game
fairly, and sees to it that the game is being played fairly to-day.
We have read his books, enjoyed his football stories, and kept in touch
with the game through his newspaper articles. He is the loyal,
ever-present critic on the side lines and the helpful adviser in every
emergency. He has helped to safeguard the good name of football and kept
pace with the game until to-day he is known as the "Father of football."
Let us go back into football history where, in the recollections of
others, we shall see Freshman Camp make the team, score touchdowns, kick
goals and captain Yale teams to victory.
F. R. Vernon, who was a freshman at Yale when Camp was a sophomore,
draws a vivid word picture of Camp in his active football days. Vernon
played on the Yale team with Camp.
"Walter C
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