Evening star., 1924-10-26

line, i didn't see how he could play
in the backfield, because he wouldn't
be able to get the signals. He could
have played quarterback fine, but his
enunciation wasn't clear enough for
him to call the plays.
Before the end of his freshman
year, however, it became apparent /
would have to take the boy into con-
sideration. He turned out to be one
OF those rare animals, a real all
around athlete. He was a star base
ball player, crack at basket ball and
the best sprint man we had in the
school
Playing on the freshman team, he
showed genuine ability. In fact, one
day in practice, he ran through the
entire varsity team for a touchdown
the first a freshman team had made in
the history of the school.
shows Him n Way Out.
Stripped down. in the dressing
rccmS, Everett was a sight to be
hold. There never was a better set
up lad than he: he was a regular
Apollo, beautifully muscled and built
and co-ordinating rythmically in
every movement. Somehow, I fig
ured, I was going to have to use him
on the next years eleven. Just how,
/ couldn't figure out. His bad hear
ing always popped up to worry me-
But in his sophomore year. when
he reported for practice, Everett him
self showed me the way out. He
noticed that the quarterback, in call
ing signals when he was to carry the
ball, always put a lot of steam into
his voice. Everett never overlooked
any bets. He knew that would be
A dead up-off in a game. So when
practice was over he came to me.
Coach" he said, those loud signals
are absolutely unnecessary. You see.
when sickness in my kid days brought
on this deafness my folks gave me the
best Instructors obtainable to teach me
lip-reading. / know every one Of our
signals by heart and I never fail to
read them, even when I'm standing on
the sidelineS"
Well, this changed things a lot That
night I thought things over and finally
reached a conclusion as to the way in
which / could make use of Strupper
and make use Of him right
Naturally I'd want him in the back
field. Quarterback would have been
his assignment II his inability to call
signals clearly hadn't barred him.
He was too light for fullback, so he
would have to play one of the half
backs.
Putting him in the place of john
son, right half was impossible. The
latter was a 1S5-pounder and strong
as q bull. l needed him in the line
up all the time, first, because of his
line-plunging and his ability to form
interference, and, secondly, because
he was invalua BILE in backing up the
line on defense.
Superceding Fielder the left half,
was a delicate matter to engineer,
too. Fielder had been elected captain
Of the team the previous Fall Rele-
eating the captain to the sidelines
was an unusual procedure. Anyway,
although Strupper was the better of
the two, Fielder was a whale of a
player himself.
Then 1t was that the system have
outlined worked itself out in my
mind: start the game with Fielder
At the psychological moment throw
in Strupper.
Incidentally. I had an inspiration.
So that Everett could read his lips, we
had our quarterback stand with his
back to the line on all plays. This
suggested another innovation. We
placed quarter to one side of center
and had the latter snap the ball
directly to the backs. 1t got the play
into action with much greater speed.
I'm not sure, but ] believe this was
the start Of a practice that now is
universal.
Tomorrow: Concluding Heisman's.
story.