Evening star., 1939-11-25
Murphy of Maryland Called
Best Safety Man Among
Capitals CoIIegions

in his undergraduate days one of the
best punt receivers and safety men
in the game. Jack dropped no kicks
during his entire career but met
with an unfortunate mishap in
Bucknell game that had dire conse-
quences. He had returned a kick
Is yards to his own 35-yard line
when the ball was knocked from his
grasp. The Bisons recovered and
moved into position for a field goal
that won the game, 80, and marred
the Hoyas' otherwise perfect record.
Jack never will live down that one,
although he was wholly blameless.
Johnny Bozek, Dick Bradley,
Charley PARCELS and Joe Mellendeck
were other Georgetowners who could
go places in hurry with punts
tucked under their arms.
Maryland had other standout
safety men, notably "Untz" Brewer,
Augie Roberts and Mike Stevens.
Catholic University boasted Tom
Oliver, Pete Dranginis and Bud
Munhall, all of whom were devel-
oped during Dutch" Bergman's ten
ure at Brookland. Even little Gal
laudet had couple, one of whom,
Lou Massinkof ranked with the best.
Whelan, Bergman was telling us,
wasn't really safety man and
played the position infrequently,
but when he was back there it was
like handing loaded revolver to a
maniac. Tom had speed to spare
and got away like bullet.
"He was fast" Bergman admitted,
"but it isn't the fast men that make
the best safety men-its the boys
who can wiggle through a broken
field. We call it running in a crowd
and it means being able to pick holes
and get through them. Take this
Andy Farkas. You'll find a lot of
faster men in the pro game, but
none shiftier or more elusive. And
what a change of pace that boy has.
Mark that down as one of the prime
requisites for a good safety mana
good change of pace"
Dutch" went on to explain that
there are two phases to returning
punts-defensive and offensive. To
the unintiated it may appear that
the man Juggling the cowhide is
on the offensive, but he is only as
long as he keeps moving forward.
AS soon as he pausess to side-step,
dodge or runs backwards he places
himself on the defensive.
And that brings up the trick of
using the feet in broken-field run
ming, not simple, and as important
as the propeller on an airplane
There are only three steps, cross
over, side-step and pivot, and, while
anybody can execute them, it's the
man who does it fastest that gains
the ground. 1t must be done with
split-second timing to be effective.
Feint Better Than Stiff Arm.
A player who feints with his head
or body and keeps moving forward
remains on the offensive, and to
hear Bergman tell it feint yards
from tackler is better than pivot
or stiff arm after being hit. Faking
more than once is not only danger
GUS but waste of time, so when
you see back lodging and ducking
tacklers you'll know he's merely
wasting time and is sure to be
tackled without gaining another
inch.
Another factor in Farkas' favor
is his ability to keep his feet after
being hit. It's an important asset
to a safety man and is trait
strange to dash men disguised In
football uniforms. They seem to
topple like bowling pins if a hand
is laid on them, but you've got to
crease Farkas' skull with q black
jack to break his stride.