Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-30
FINDS FEW REALLY
GREAT WING MEN
Warner Agrees With Illinois
CoaCh--0osterbaan One
of the Greatest.
BY BOB ZUPPKE.

TO0s ban NoaCn' university OF Illinois.
w YHAT is the easiest position to
M fill on foot ball team?
wv This question bobbed up
as Pop" Warner and we're
talking foot ball one evening
after day spent in lecturing at a
Summer course for coaches. Warner
and both had classes, and all the stu
dents seemed to get kick out of see
ing each of us stride in. to hear the
other fellow eXpound his lore.
It was agreed that each would write
his answer TO the question on a slip Of
paper. Both answers read Ends"
This will probably surprise some fol-
lowers Of the game whose mental rIc-
ture OF an end Is a player of great Skill
and all-around ability, who lies In wait
70 pounce unerringly like a hawk and
drive back the enemy.
The truth Is that usually an end is
q player who was not good enough for
the backheld or the line. I have been
accused OF saying that q lineman was
a back with the brains knocked out,
put That an end was man who never
did have any brains.
Few Really Great Ends.
Even If this, taken seriously, is a
SANDER on the lads who are giving their
best at end, the fact remains that there
are few really great ends and they were
players who created their Jobs, making
more out of the position than the ordi-
nary wing-man:
But when I make the generalization
that 1t is easier to find men for ends
than other positions, must add that
END 1s not the easiest position to play
well. All Warner and meant was
mat the coach can usually ind some
player to place there who will do the
things expected Of him up to o certain
point.
The ideal end should have speed to
cover receiver Of puntS and the ability
to dodge. Some ends make I'D for their
ordinary speed by being able to dodge.
On offense the end should be able To
block with skill and determination and
he should be dexterous handler Of the
ball on forward passes.
But 1t Is seldom q coach Is fortunate
enough to have q man who can be
spared from the backfield or line
and who can do all these things.
In practice every coach usually plans
MS team to include some player who is
great on oe1ense but poor on offense.
Tackles Are Important.
When critics wonder why the coach
does not use a certain play, often the
answer Is that he has not the end
needed to make 1t successful.
After coach selects his backs he
looks for tackles. On most teams the
tackles usually stack up fairly well, be-
cause the coach puts his best linemen
at the position. If the coach is in the
unusual, but fortunate. position of hav-
ing too many backs, the overflow can
be made into ends.
The old theory is that q tall, rangy
player Is necessary for end, but some
great ends have been short. Sometimes
sturdy little ends can handle the big
tackles better than the tall ends. But
they must be well-built and well-knit,
and they should be quick as lightning.
against Ohio State, we used as ends
Stuessy, quarterback, 154 pounds, and
Hickman, back, 149 pounds. AS 1t de-
veloped, victory meant the Big Ten
championship for us, and these boys
were factors. They did the work as
signed to them and proved again my
contention that mere weight does not
put you over and that champions come
IN all sizes.
OOsterbaan and Carney Great.
Ferry Graves, end on another cham
pionship team, 1914, weighed less than
$50, and was short. Another dininu-
tive end was Stub Muhl.
Some may argue from this that do
not want tall, rangy ends. OF course,
this would be ridiculous. The greatest
ends in my memory are Oosterbaan Of
Michigan and Carney Of Illinois, tall
and ideally built for the positions.
They were aristocrats Of the game
men who created their POSITIONS did
everything, and did It we'll You could
not have buried them in any position.
But for one Oosterbaan or Carney
there will be countless ends Of average
abillty-players who can be nodded into
fair defensive men, although they will
never thrill the stands with some bril-
liant feat.
(Copyright, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance.)