Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-12-05
RULES MAKE GAME
REASONABLY SAFE:
Not to Be Blamed for Most
ACCidentS-Serious Hurts
Are Not Many.
BY WALTER TRUMBULL.

n TEW YORK, December s.
y "The Foot Ball Rules Com
l. Y mittee," says William S.
Langford, secretary of the
Rules Committee of the National
Collegiate Athletic Association,
always has acted promptly to
rule out dangerous formations or
habits which have entered the
game. The members of the COM
mittee undoubtedly will continue
to strive to make foot ball as safe
for the contestants as it is hu-
manly possible for any vigorous
sport Of physical contact to be.
But I do not believe that the COM
mittee will be Stampeded into any
drastic changes in the rules, because
of certain shocking accidents. First, it
will consider whether the rules were in
any measure to blame. In certain In
stances, it is plain that they were not.
Naturally, the committee keeps closer
watch of such things and devotes more
thought to them than does almost any
other body or individual.
Accident Percentage Small.
Foot ball has small percentage Of
serious accidents" continued Mr.. Lang
ford. Il never have stopped to figure
| just how many men and boys are play
ing the game, but it should be safe
to say that, from coast to coast, there
are $4,000 boys on varsity squads. Then
there are the scrub teams, the 150-
pound teams, the class fraternity, house
and other teams connected with tntra-
mural foot ball, the high school and
preparatory school teams, the gram
mar school teams, the sandlot teams.
the professional teams and various
other teams The total of players must
be very large So I say that the per-
centage of serious accidents is very
small.
There always will be some accidents
in any Of the more virile sports They
have them in base ball, hockey, polo,
automobile and motor boat racing, Ice
boating, and even in golf and tennis.
But a sport grows dangerous only when
the proportion of serious injuries gets
too high. This condition does not now
exist in foot ball, although they charge
against the game such cases as that
of the youngSter who was kicking foot
ball in the street, slipped, and hit his
head on the curb. The game was scarce
ly to blame for that"
Committee Does Well.
It does look as if the Rules Commit
tee had done its best. Rules have been
made against mass formations, pulling
and pushing clipping, roughing a kicker
or receiver who is in helpless posi-
ton, piling up, crawling with the ball,
and many other things liable to pro-
| duce injuries.
The committee may have to do some
thing about the tendency to mass a
flying interference on the kickoff. but
| this is something easy to remedy. They
| can permit the kicker to use an earth
! tee, paper tee, such as an enlarged
! golf tee, or some sort of rubber tee, or
! they can make rule preventing more
| than three men of the receiving team
standing back of certain yard line.
You may have noticed that Walker
| Dill Scott, president Of Northwestern
University, has stated not only that
the foot ball players Of that institution
are good students, but that, in the 40
years he has been a faculty member
of the Western Conference, there has
been not a single foot ball fatality on
Dig len JedlIlS.
A. A. Stage said the other evening
that he was glad his two sons had been
foot ball players and that he thought
every father should be glad to have
his son play the game, as it's benefits
far outdistanced its hazards.
Non-Players Decry Game.
Fielding Yosts son is a foot ball play
err. The Hallowells of Harvard have
played foot ball for three generations.
Personally we notice that those who
take the most avid interest in foot ball
injuries, make the most uproar con-
corning them, and are the most dubious
about the game, usually are those who
never have played foot ball and never
will
All life is a chance. You take a
chance every time you walk along the
street, or cross in traffic, or ride in a
taxi, or drive a car. Insurance men
say that the bathtub is a source of
more serious accidents than ANYTHING
else in house. And, while T do nt5
remember that certain Yale and all
America quarterback ever got much
hurt at foot ball, 1 distinctly recollect
that he took a postgraduate bath,
slipped in the tub, and cracked three
ribs
Copyright. 1891 by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc.)