The Washington times., 1931-09-14
GAME NEVER
WILL BEST
COLLEGES
BY BOB ZUPPKE

University Of Illinois Football Coach
Professional football is motion
without emotion.
That's why I believe 1t never
can excel the college game and
why I object to any statements
that the pro teams are better
than the college.
Get it straight. I have no
quarrel with pro football. Too
many fine men whom admire
are 1laying it. George Halas and
Dutch Sternaman, two OF my old
players at Illinois, were among
the pioneer managers. The pros
have developed a niche for their
game and are entitled to their
place in the football sun.
College Teams Can Beat Pros
The last report Of the Carnegie
Foundation on current develop.
,ments in college sport contraSted
the economical skill, mature pre-
cision, the fineSse and the art OF
the professional game to the
comparatively bungling college
match" WheE newspaper
writer asked me what I thought
about this, my reply that I
thought the college teams could
beat the pros precipitated an on
Slaught from some Of the owners
Of the professional teams.
These owners havs . right to
their 0DiniOn and so have /.
Let them stick to their idea
and I'll stick to mine. One Of
us is mistaken but the matter
will never be settled. At any
rate 1 am for college football.
Spirit and condition are the
main things in football. If the
pro teams could be handled the
same as the college, coached the
same way, held to the same dis
cipline and inspired to play with
the same enthusiasm and zeSt,
forgetful Of self, I'll admit there
would be no question Of their
superiority.
Pros Have Lost Emotions
But the situation is entirely
different. Football is a game for
youth. Lien should play it be-
tween Y and "a. After "a you
lose the idea Of being a hero. Be-
fore that age a man is young, his
mind is impresSionable and he
loves the glory and the glamour
of it all. Football is not game
for the sophisticated.
The pro players haze too much
control of emotions. They are
getting older and seeking other
thrills.
I'll admit that the pro game.
in q measure, is able to pick
many college stars who would
rank higher individually than
the personnel Of many college
teams, II the pros kept in good,
lean condition. But my judg-
ment Is that they will not keep
in trim and eventually they Will
be carrying too much blubber.
So most Of the college men who
remain in the pro game any
length of time are too heavy and
less agile, because of maturity. l
know boys whose frames are
built to carry 1855 pounds but are
playing at ITS and 100.
Red Grange must have weighed
I96 pounds when I saw him play
last year. Red did pretty well
but you couldn't compare him
with the lad Of seven years ago
who weighed ITO and could run
the 100 in a little over 10 seconds
There is a definite relation be-
tween muscular power and bone
structure. When your frame is
built to carry ITO pounds but
you pile on 20 more, you can't
be as agile as you were, for you
are not economically constructed
any more. You cannot carry a
potbelly and a ball., too.
One argument for the superior
ity of the pros is that they know
how to save themselves" IT
Notre Danes players last year
had been thinking how to "Save
themselves" they wouldn't have
been down the field to block for
Schwartz.
No New Stuff
It is unfair to the colleges to
have it said that when our players
enter the pro game, they are
taught a lot of new stuff and
secrets" Those Loys learned the
funda- uentals Of football from
their high school and college
coaches. Benny Friedman was
developed by Yost. Now what
"new stuff" could they teach
Benny?
Instead Of learning new
stuff" the pro player is likely
to revert to old faults that his
college coaches struggled to
correct. Many players will talk
one way publicly and another
privately about the pro and
college games.
At the close of the season of
1917 the Illinois team was invited
to Camp Funston to play the
Eighty-ninth Division team com
posed of a great array of real
college stars and coached by
Wilmington of Harvard. OuI
1917 team was not one Of our
best and it looked like sure de
feat for us on paper. Well, I'LL
nois won by about four touch
downs and the all-stars never
made a first down. They after
wards won the championship oi
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