Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-06
YALE'S GREATEST FOOTBALL
HERO NEVER ON VARSITY
C. S. Osbourn, an Ineligible, Recommended for
His "Y" as Token of Great Work
for Old Eli

HARVARD UNIVERSITY football men
i are now discussing a story that has
come out of Yale. following the football
seasonal story OF unselfish loyalty and
hard, grueling endeavor, all done without
hope of recognition or revard-a story
that has served as an inspiration to many
Yale undergraduates, who know the par
ticulars and one that demands the respect
of every college man or follower of COL
legiate athletics-a story which will have
a happy ending, II Frank Hinkeys efforts
in Osbourn's behalf are to bear fruit.
II was from Frank Hinkey's lips that
the story was learned by Charles E.
Parker.
Yes, Frank Hinkey, formerly known as
the Silent Captain. later as the Silent
Coach and the man to whom Yale's foot
ball failure has been unjustly charged.
Hinkey is not always silent; neither Is he
noisy. He occasionally becomes remlnis-
cent, however, and he was In such
mood when he told the story of c. S.
Osbourn.
There is one thing would like to do
before 1 say good-by to Yale. and that
is to secure some suitable reward for
this fellow Osbourn," began the Yale
football coach.
Getting to Know Him
you don't know him, Ell? Well I
didn't know him for while, but I've
made his acquaintance. and he's stood
for my sometimes ungentle remarks, and
has accepted my apologies times without
number tor the rather strong language
every coach sometimes uses. and he's one
of the really big fellows now taking Yale
courses.
TT was when 7 was helping Howard
Jones with the Yale team three years
ago that 1 first noticed him.
"At Yale the ineligibles wear gray
II Il. nKAr NhA
football candidates as scarlet letters
the name typifying the wearers as foot
ball outcasts for the season.
well. when the varsity and ineligible
teams of that year opposed each other
on my first practice l saw this rangy
chap in the scarlet letter busting up my
plays and making things generally bad
for the regulars. both on the offense and
defense, and l began wondering why he
wasn't on the varsity side of the line
helping them. When the scrimmage fin
ished l went to him and asked him the
whyfor of the scarlet letter. He told mo
he was a graduate of a Southern college
and was ineligible for the varsity. but
that he loved Yale and wanted to help in
any possible way.
Played for w. and L.
"I made further inquiries from fellows
who knew him. 'Cleon Scott osbourn,'
they said was his name, and informed me
he was of an old mountaineer family hall
ing from Shenandoah Junction, w. Va.
It seems he entered Washington and Lee
University several years ago, taking an
arts course and playing a whirlwind game
on that leading Southern college eleven
for four seasons. Following his gradua-
tion he entered the Yale Theological
School. from which he will go to India
as a student missionary.
Here he was reporting every afternoon
for the second and third ineligible teams;
day after day taking the gatherings that
the men OF all such elevens must take,
all for the love of Yale and the love for
the sport, and without the remotest
chance Of playing TO the applause OF the
thousands or winning any reward. / can
tell you I warmed to him right away.
'The year went along, and every day
found Osbourn on the job. Sometimes
coaching, other times playing and always
working with might and main for Yale's
good.
'The next year found him at 1t again.
He was a wonder, and being head coach,
/ wished more than ever that i could
place him on the varsity. He was not a
terribly heavy chap, weighing but $50
pounds. despite his height of six feet and
over, but he knew how to play. and his
long, stringy muscles were like steel.
You could pretty near tell whether your
varsity linesman was good or not by CIV
ing him a session or two opposite Os-
bourn. and that was the dose that most
often was given TO men had any doubt
OF.
Loving Cup Presented
by the close of that season his case
4