Evening star., 1936-09-06
BY ROD THOMAS.


Y VIRTUALLY every foot ball man
~ who saw Tuffy Leemans pale
" the All-Americas in the game
with the Detroit Lions said
he was the best player on the field,
which was saying lot because in that
7-to-7 battle were gathered the grid
ders whom the critics Of Nation held
to be the top collegians. opposed to
team which won the 1885 professional
championship.
Tuffy got in on the party through
a bit Of newspaper promotion, after
the same critics had overlooked him
as an "all-America" because he came
from an obscure" college. They also
overlooked the fact that last Fall
George Washington ranked among
the first 20 institutions in the country
in foot ball attendance, fact which,
it seems, would lift the old school out
of the ranks of the unknown.
Many a noted gridiron authority
has been quoted in the last several
days on the abilities Of Leemans,
whose next appearance will be with
the All-Stars against the New York
Giants Tuesday in New York, but the
man who knows the most about him,
in foot ball sense, perhaps in any
other, you're just hearing from, mean
ing Jim Pixlee. who coached the
young fellow for four years at George
Washington.
JeemS Is Thorough.
DUT a question to Pixlee and he an
swers from every angle.
What" we asked, makes Leemans
a great foot ball player?"
Characteristically. the thorough 60
ing and facile-nlinded Pixlee began:
"Tuffy, as you know, comes from a
Belgian family in a strong Belgian
community. :.
What's that got to do with foot
ball?"
"To know Leemans as a foot ball
player you must know him clean
through"
Shoot"
well, in such an environment"
continued Jim, "the Oldest member o.
the family, parents or grandparents.
are the ruling heads. Let it be SAID
to Tuffys credit that he never Ques-
tions or resents this fact. He still
takes advice from home. The grand
parents both are living and they al
ways are consulted on affairs that
affect the home and family.
Most kids of Tuffys age and prom
inence resent restraint, or even ad-
vice, from their elders, parents. grand
parents or who not. Tuffy doesn't;
he is the same free, happy-hearted
kid now that he was when he came
out OF the wilds of Wisconsin In this
respect, let me tell you, he differs ma
terially from most all the boys have
handled in the last 10 years.
What Makes a True Sportsman.
"RUT don't get the idea" Pixlee
- hastened, "that Tuffy is carefree
In the modern sense. He has a strong
ambition and definite plans for the
future. He knows what he wants ana
believes he can get it, and so do l.
Unlike most modern kids, particularly
star athletes, he has the necessary
patience and sense to know ne can't
do it all in day. He carries abso-
lutely no cynicism. Most boys do
simply because they see 1t in others.
Tuffy is no copy-cat He's Tuffy now,
always has been and believe always
will be-
Jim launched into philosophy.
IT always have felt that a true
sportsman was backed by character
including about equal parts Of courage,
generosity and sincerity and that
means mental, moral and physical
attributes Take these virtues away
from a person wholly or in part
and you have no true sportsman.
I never have handled a boy I
could rank above Tuffy, measured
by this scale of virtue and ap-
piled to the human triangle. the men
tai, moral and physical. He has the
courage for anything; he is generous
to fault and he is absolutely sincere
in every act and expression.
And the best part Of all this is that
until the other fellow steps out of
bounds, Tuffy credits him with all the
virtues he possesses himself He al
ways is direct, frank and honest. He
is just as much an All-America as a
gentleman and a sportsman as he is
q foot ball player
(The All Stars we're quick to sense
this In Tuffy. Some have said they
tried harder when Leemans carried
the ball)