The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-02
HSTAGG SAYS PROFESSIONAL
 FOOTBALL SHOULD BE TABOO
Professionalism Is A Menace To Great College Sport, Says Noted Authority

CHICAGO, Nov. 1.-(By Associated Press. )-Branding professional foot ball as menace" working for the destruction of athletics at the Uni- versity Of Chicago tonight addressed letter gro all friends of college football" urging them to refrain from any manner encouraging the professional sport.
 Stagg, whose reputation for the de- Velopment of amateur athletics, has made him a national figure, declared that to "patronize Sunday profess siGnaf football is to cooperate with the forces which are destructive of the interscholastic and intercol- legiate football, and to add to the heavy burden of the schools and col leges in preserving 1t in it's en- nobling worth"
 Declaring that football when played with the amateur spirit, pos- sessed more clements for the devel- opment Of character and manhood than any other sport, Coach Stagg said that '1f you believe in preserv- ing. interscholastic and intercol- 1egiate football for the upbuilding of the present and future generations of clean. healthy, right minded and pa triotic citizens, you will not lend your assistance to any of the forces helping to destroy it."
 There is nothing bunch of gam blers will not do for their purpose and quite often they carry along with them the support of a group of well-meaning citizens" the veteran coach wrote.
 stagg's Statement.
 The statement follows:
 Tt seems like a matter of little consequence for one to attend the Sunday professional football games nothing more than attending any Sunday event-but 1t has a deeper meaning than you realize, possibly vital meaning to college football. ln- tercollegiate football will live only so long as it contributes to the well being of the students, that Is, while the influences of the game are pre- dominantly on the side of amateur principles, right ideals. proper stand ards and wholesome funds.
 For years the colleges have been waging a bitter warfare against the insidious forces of the gambling pub lie and alumni and against over jealous and shortsg ghted friends, in- side and out, and also not infre- quently against crooked coaches and mana gers who have been anxious to win at any cost, and victory has not been completely won. And now along comes another serious menace. possibly greater than all others, viz: Sunday professional football
 Under the guise of fair play but countenancing rank dishonesty in playing men under assumed names, scores of professional teams have sprung up within the last two or three years most of them on a salary basis of some kind. These teams are bidding hard for college players in order to capitalize not only on their ability but also, and mostly. upon the name of the college they come from, and in many cases the noised abroad mystery of their presence. The we'll known Carlinville and Taylorville in- cident of 1921 is likely to be in evil There is nothing that a bunch of gamblers will not do for their pur- pose, and quite often they carry along with them the support of thoughtless group of business men and well meaning citizens.
 Dcbauch High school Boys.
 Cases of the debauching of high school boys not infrequently has come to notice. Also recently one of the wellknown Sunday professional teams on which several men are said to be regularly playing under as- stunned names employed a well-known taxi official who officiated under an assumed name.
 ''The schools and colleges are struggling to combat the various evils connected with football, which when played with the amateur spirit possesses more elements for the de- velopment of character and manhood than any other sport know of.
 ITO patronize Sunday professional football games is to corporate with forces which are destructive of the finest clements of interscholastic. and intercollegiate football and to add to the heavy burden of the schools and colleges in preserving it in it's en- nobling worth.
 ITO cooperate with Sunday pro- fessional football games Is to work against the best interests of inter- scholastic and intercollegiate football and to lend cooperation to forces which are destructive to the finest clements of interscholastic and inter- collegiate football.
 "If you believe in preserving inter- scholastic and intercollegiate foot ball for the upbuilding of the pres ent and future generations of clean, healthy, right minded and patriotic citizens you will not lend your as- sistance to any of the forces which are helping to destroy it."