The Washington times., 1931-12-30
KICKOFF NOT
. DANGEROUS,
SAYS POP
BY QUENTIN REYNOLDS

NE" IOIbHA, NCS' OV' nv .
football coaches and officials
holding their annual convention in
New York, meet again today as
sessions of the National Collegi te
Athletic Association open ana
undoubtedly the two great grid
iron figures of the game will,
again dominate the proceedings.
To football men there have
been only two great coacheS-Pop
Glenn Warner and Knute Rockne.
The memory of one and the
voice of the other yesterday led i,
the assembled coaches to a sem
sible discussion of the fatalities,
which have been part of football :
this year. Both Rockne and,
Warner spoke by proxy, Eockne T,
through a half dozen of his pu'
pills, now coaches, and Warner,
through James Marks, of kiski
School, who read a letter from
the sage of Stanford. Q
Warmers suggestions for mini
mizing injuries seemed to the
coaches to be the most sensible
yet offered. =.
No Danger In Kickoff
Warner said that he saw no
danger in the kickoff as now
used, but that he did think use
Of the hands by defensive line
men should be curbed to the eX.
TINT that linemen should be pre-
vented from touching the heads
of opponents.
Many injuries have been
caused by vigorous handling Of
offensive linemen by defensive
men. Butting with che heel Of
the hand, pounding with the rab-
bit punch and similar ungentle
tactics have been a part of foot
ball for years.
Warmers suggestion was re-
ceived with cheers, although
many of the coaches felt that if
put into effect a great many Of
the subtleties of defensive line
play would disappear. He also
advocated that officials pay more
attention to "kneeing" an infrae-
ton of the rules which is seldom
noticed by officials.
Herbert McCracken Of a..
fayette suggested that more rigid
physical examinations be given
players, before, during and after
the season,
eve. have investigated q
great many of the. fatalities
which have resulted from foot
ball this year and almost lnVar-
iably the boy was in poor
physical condition to begin
with" he told his colleagues.
"Many of the players SUI
fered from d. rOOte0 inf1rm-
tiles. which Immediately dis
qualified them from particlpat-
ing in the game but the med
icaI examination given was mot
stringent enough to disclose
what was wrong.
John HeiSlnan, once coach OF
the Golden Tornado OF Georgia
Tech. warned the coaches tnaG
they had better think over the
problem of injuries very seriously
before IAN aroused public opinion
forces drastic action"
The discussion was the result
of an announcement by Bert Ing
wersen, University of Iowa coacn'
who is chairman of the commlt
tee to consider proposed changes
in the rules. That the rules as
they were seemed all right, but
that the committee would be glad
to hear any suggestions. Tho
suggestions were all in the gen.
eral direction of reducing injuries.
Several other new ideas were
brought up by the coaches ana IL
may be that some action will be
taken on them today. 1t was Sug'
gested that a tee be used IN the
kickoff: that special rules be
made to protect the forward
passer: and that on the kick-oft
the kicking side be permitted to
punt, which would enable the
teams to eliminate the WEDGE
which seems to be in great dis.
favor among the coaches.
The report of E. K. Hall, chair
man of the football rules com"
mittee, will be submitted this after
noon. The N. C. A. A. will con-
tinue its sessions tomorrow.
Crowley TOastmaster
At the Brown Derby dinner last
night Jim Crowley, coach at
Michigan State, succeeded the late
Knute Rockne Of Notre Dame as
toastmaster. Crowley was one or
the -Four Horsemen" OF Notre
Dame. The dinner was featured
by football stories told by the
coaches. The banquet was the
largest ever staged by the associa-
ton, more than 400 attending.
Coaching berths at Princeton
and N. Y. U. were the two targets
aimed at by coaches at liberty.
The coaches believed 'Tuss' Nc
Laughery Of Brown would get the
Princeton berth and that either
Ed Robinson, former Brown men"
tor or Jimmy Crowley of Michii
gan State would be offered the
N. Y. U. job left vacant by the
resignation of Chick Meehan.
A huge lighted picture OF
Knute Rockne stood on the dias'