Evening star., 1951-09-12
On the Air
Red Grange
Still Loves
Football
By Harry Macarthur

A young man named Whizzer
White. who seemed little under
size to be out there playing with
all those big boys, tucked a foot
ball under his arm late in the
Bears-Brown game the other
afternoon and headed for pay dirt.
He didn't stop until he was 80
yards away and across the Browns
goal line. AS he eluded tacklerI
after tackler and sped across the
chalk marks. the television an
nouncer's voice mounted in excite
ment and admiration for Mr..
| White.
The announcer seemed the last
man you might expect to display
excited glee at the sight of an
80-yard run on a football field.
The announcer was Red Grange.
who has done that same sort of
thing a number of times, first as
the scourge of the Big Ten when
he was at the University of H.
linois in the 20s and later as a
Chicago Bears back. 1t ought to
be old stuff to him.
There's no reason in the world
though. why Red Grange should
not get excited over a display
Of prowess on the gridiron. He
obviously loves the game and
would like for every one else to
share his enthusiasm.
This combination of knowledge
Of the game. gained through high
school. university and professional
playing of it, and continuing
enthusiasm for it, makes Grange
about at enjoyable a TV football
announcer as you could want.
He fills the time between plays
and time out periods with infor-
nation to help anybody know
more abuot what's going on. He
knows the key moves that mean
success or failure for a given play
and he knows how to tell viewers
to watch for them.
/ Notice how that tackle is be-
ing trapped" he may say. "They
let him through and the moment
he's through the line he's nit
from the other side and taken out
Of the play"
He tosses in brief explanations
Of pass plays and. pass defenses
and explains that the defense will
switch from man-to-man to zone !
depending on the way the team
on offense lines up.
That's a deceptive pass play"
Grange will say. "One man
charges straight down the field,
hoping to take the defense man
with him while the other delays
two or three counts. then goes out
at As degree angle. There's
an old saying about pass defense;
by the time you know enough to
be good at it, you're too old to
play"
Among other things, Grange
provided the DuMont (WT-TG)
viewers an explanation of the
Information much more concise
than any they'd heard before.
The T isn't really as compli-
Gated as it seems" he said. THE
holes are numbered in the signals.
of the outside hip of the line
men-two, outside guard four,
outside tackle; six, outside the
end, and eight. wide. On the left
side, it's three. five. seven and nine.
The signal two-four-four means
that the Number Two back will
go off right tackle on a count
of four.
! Its the blocking assignments
which complicate the T." he went
on. With this system you don't
have to block your man. then
jump on top of him and keep him
down. The T is based on speed
and these quick-opening plays.
A lineman will use what we used
to call a shoulder block to open
up hole for just a few seconds.
BY the time the hole closes again
the ball carrier is supposed to be
through"
Grange was calling the bali in
the wrong position fairly often
early in last Sundays game, but,
according to an authority on the
subject, you could see the game
better on television than Grange
could see it from the Soldiers
Field press box, which is described
as being "a country mile away"
Grange always corrected himself,
anyhow, as soon as he heard the
public address system at variance
with him, which is more than can
be said for some football COM
mentators.
There's none of that fright in
his hands but he dropped it" busi-
ness with Grange, either. He's
much more likely to say of an in
completed forward pass, "he just
couldn't quite get his hands on
it" leaving you with the assump-
ton that both passer and would
be receiver honestly tried to COM
plete the play.
* X
Another Welcome - Robert
Montgomery must be a great trial
to some elements of the broad
casting business. You can hear
them now, talking about the
drama with which Robert Mont
gomery Presents" (WNBW-TV-
Monday, $50 PM returned for
the new season. What kinda story
it that? There's this guy, who has
a little girl and his wifes been
put away. He gets his wife out
to make a home for their little
n