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Show I 1 Greatest Football Player' of All Time ill ByWBg?gf Ir t I h (Editor's Noto Mr. Eckereall, author of the appended article, was picked by Walter Camp for three years In succeB-1 succeB-1 i l! -slon. for n place on the All-Amerlcan " A eleven and Is the only western Plnyoj " 4 ever so honored. When Mr. Camp picked f an All-Tlmo. All-American eleven, ho 7i chose Mr, Eckorsall for the position of 1 quarterback. Whether Stage's former pupil pu-pil should be considered for the honor of the greatest football player of all time cannot, of course, be discussed with pro-, pro-, J prlety by Mr. Eckorsall himself.) ' To Ted Coy of Yale, a plnyfcr who I possessed Biiporlniman endurance, who ; more than anv other man was renpon-I renpon-I Piblo for Yale's football triumphs in the last three years, who possessed all 1 "j the faculties "that co to make a great 1 football plaver and who. b" his clean playinc and" true collepo sportsmanship on and off the field, which has done much to elovate the popular collepo f sport, "belongs; the honor of being the - greatest football plaver of all time. 'J Weighing over 100 pounds, Coy pos- V sessed -Iho speed of a sprinter, the ' i agilitv of a player fifty pounds ughtfr in weight and tho ability to cope with circumstances as thev aroso on the grid-v grid-v iron in the heat of battle. He was a i, natural leader to whom his tenm-mates looked up and in whoso every suggestion sug-gestion they had implicit conscience. i i Players on teams against which vale competed for the highest title in fooi-- fooi-- , ball recognized his strength and his T; goneralship, and admired and respected , ki bis ability. His offensive and clef en-ft, en-ft, sive plaving were above criticism, so to him rightfully belongs this. honor. - All Points Must Bo Weighed. ':'" In choosing tho greatest football " , player of all time so many essential J qualifications enter that the field ot I great athletes who have won nonor J- and fame on the (rridiron must be t ' scanned most carefully and tho player ) I selected only after n study of all the .'1 . qualifications which go to ma ltd a great ( football genius. 'J Allowances must be made for the J. changes in the rules, which would affect , the plaj'ing of certain men if they V were in their primo in tho various football cycles. Every department of , , football must be taken into considcr-j considcr-j ation and a man cannot be selected for ' i proficiency in one or two branches, but must possess a combination of qualities ' t which are found So rarely in men who ji fight for tho honor and glory of their alma maters on tho gridiron. (' A man ma" be strong in offensive ' !. plav and in "all phases, but he may . lack the defensive qualifications which p have come to be as valuable, if not moro valuable, than offensive proficiency. profici-ency. Coaches who have regarded a $ player's offensive ability highly and who - have dared to keep this sort of plaj-er cut of tho game have so nr-; nr-; ranged their defense thnt the offensive ! star would bo placed in such a position ,l I that his defensive qualities would not. ' .' be brought into play to any great cx-- cx-- tent", i. Line Men Barred by Duties. ' With all due respect to linemen, who , have been as much responsible for gains '.' made by the backs as the runners them-- them-- j selves, the forwards cannot be cbnsid-i cbnsid-i ered in this selection for tho simple reason the- are seldom called upon j to advance the ball, especially under jV the present rules, and under the old code they were not called upon to I perform as many duties r.s tho backs. At the same time one cannot pass by ; the rush line without saying a word of j praisefor the men who "stand the bat tie's brunt for seventy minutes of hard play. As long as football is played the namo of "Pudgo" HolTolfingcr will rank with any man who ever played a line position. Although ho played way back when tho mass play was in its primo and when weight and strength countod for moro than speed and agility, agil-ity, ho was a player feared and ro-spected ro-spected bv all of Yalo's opponents. Although no played a guard position he was ns active as a tackle in breaking break-ing up plays and was ono of the fow heavy men of his time who tackled on the wings. On the offonsc he was a pow,or. With his massivo woight he would catch hold of a back and utterly ut-terly force his way through an opposing op-posing lino, and when ho was callod back to advance the ball ho seldom failed to gain. Do Witt Ranks High. Then there was John Do Witt, one of thn greatest playorn who over wore the orango and black of Princeton. IIo was the nearest approach of any lineman in the history of. tho gamo who would' have a chance to be callod the greatest football player of all time. There were few things that Do Witt could not do bettor than anv other football foot-ball player, and. like Hoffclfingcr, ho was feared by all of Princeton's opponents. oppo-nents. Ho was a power on tho defense, de-fense, but he showed to oven greater advantage on the offense, mostly because be-cause or his kicking. Ho wns one of the greatest booters in tno history of the came, and ono of tho fow reliables. Do Witt never was a practice kicker, but when in the heat of a battle he was absolutelv dependable. He could drop-kick with unerring aim from any IJItlUi; 11ID1UU 111 tllB UllJ-lOU'rillU whilo his punts bored through the air for Jlights of from forty to sixty yards. In Tiger football history tho namo of Do Witt always will bo placed above that of any other warrior who evor represented' Old Nassau. MeCraekeu and Haro of Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, Class and Hogan of Yale, Fish of Harvard, Cooney of Princeton. Horr of Syracuse, Thompson of Cornell, lir-win lir-win of West Point, Curtis and Schulz of Michigan. Curtis of Wisconsin, Van Hook of Illinois, and Harding and Sehaact of Minnesota nie a few of the numerous linemen whose deeds aro still fresh in the memories of the students stu-dents of their respective universities. Coy Is the Final Choice. There also have been quarterbacks, ends, and backs who have performed marvelous feats on tho chalk-lined fields, but to Coy bolongs the supremo honor. He was' of the fast, dashing type, who did not know tho meaning of (he word fear and never know when to quit until he had accomplished tho desired result. Playing with a team which has boon ono of the foremost football aggregations aggrega-tions in this country since the game has been played. Coy lived up to 'his reputation in every game, and in many of them ho performed the unexpected so man3' times that ho was nicknamed "Ted, the phonom." When it came to any department of the game there was nothing that Coy did not know, and know how to do well. He did not lack anything that went to mako up a football player. Ho possessed that rare faculty, football intuition. In the three years that ho played fullback for Yale, Coy was placed on the All-American team for two j-ears and was selected for tho second 'team mm M i r o Te? Coy, fele c - ono year. When Walter Camp selected his AIl-Ainerican football team ho picked Coy without a bit of hesitancy and said ho was the best back who evor played the game. Being a great player, ho never would allow himself to be caught in a position which might result in iu.iury. He was the most feared plnver who ever graced an eastern grid iron, and not a few of his opponents by tricks which should bo beneath" tho collcgo-bred athlete. Qroat Power on Offense. Coy wns a veritable demon In advancing ad-vancing the ball, whether ho was callod upon to buck tho line, dash off tho tackles, tack-les, or run tho ends. With his great weight earriod with the speed of a sprinter, ho would dodge and worm hts wav through opposing lines for tho noc eBsarv distance. Proficient with the stiff 'arm and tho use of the tnees in breaking tackles, he hcldom failed to gain when called upon to gain ground. In tho interference he equal-lv equal-lv wns valuable, being one of those football rarities who when he once hit a tackier put that man out of tho play. When interfering for a player in the open, Cov never hesitated to leave his feet to bowl over a tackier when that man was the only opponent between Yale and a touchdown. Coy undoubtedly was ono of the best all-round kickers the game has over seen. To tho ordinnry spectator in U rn.wlah..wl n.tntl all lOOk allJCO. How few of them there are who will give credit to a kicker who place" tho ball in such a manner that the catchers have hard work in getting to it, at tho same time allowing his own ends plenty of opportunities to gel down under tho kick and prevent the catcher from running back the ball. Against tho wind Coy always dr.ovo the ball low and hard, away from the defensive backs, and when ho had the wind in his favor ho never failed to boot tho oval high aboo the stands where the air currents could help its flight. Work Remedies Only Weakness. Although never considorod a field goal kicker of great ability in his early football dnys at Yale, Coy was wise enough to know-that such a faculty fac-ulty would help" his playing .immeasurably. .immeas-urably. Consequently he would gPl out on tho gridiron beforo the call to hard practico was issued and spend hours in an endeavor to perfect nim-self nim-self in this department. He novcr cared much for tho plncc kick, but contented himself on mnstoring the fine points, or the knack of drop-kick-ing. Whnt this meant to Yale in later davs is vindicated bv football history. He was deadly in shooting for goals at anv distance under the fil'ty-vard mark and whenever his learn was in doubt ot making its distance the reliable Coy wns called into service for cither a try at. the goal or to punt tho oval out. of danger. In onsidc kicking Coy was as good as any of thm, and thr manner in which he manipulated this delicate play, allowing the backs time to cover the attempt", was one of the prettiest plays in Yale's category. Tn negotiating negotiat-ing tho forward pass Coy equally was proficient. Ho timed his throws in perfect per-fect style, and in Iho majority of cases his pegs were executed accurately. Dofcnslvc Play Strong; Point. Great as was his offensivo playing, Coy's defensive work was even more effective. Playing behind tho line on defense he had tho faculty of sizing up plays with surprising exactness, and tho way in which ho directed tho Eli defense to meet such attacks was one of the spectacles of football, in such a defensive position ho was absolutely a mass or leave his feet for a runner who was attempting to circle the onds. At body-checking a man about to receive re-ceive a forward pass there wero few players who had anything on tho Yalo fullback. Timing his check perfectly he would rush into, an opponent at' full speed and the player never had n chance to get his hands on tho ball. Taking all things into consideration, Coy stands alono in the fuotball world ns tho greatest plnycr of all time. With all tho fierceness of a tiger on tho field, Coy was a perfect gentleman on and off tho field, and even his opponents havo nothing but praise fr the sportsmanlike sports-manlike manner in which he treated opposing op-posing teams. Time may develop au-othor au-othor player who will excel Coy, but that player will havo to be truly a marvel of football perfection. It would not be fair to close this article without mentioning the names of other players who may be consirl-erod consirl-erod the iu?nreBt approach to Coy in this Holection. McClung, Buttorworth, McBridts Hale, Veeder. Shevlin, Hin key, Chadwick and Jons of Yale; Corhott, Lake, Brewer. Dihhln3 don, Daly and Wendell of frj flomans, Kolly. Kafer and Mtfv of Princeton; Brooke, MibdsMrt en, Smith and Hollenbach 0f P vanin; Morloy and Wcekes of! bia; Hubbard. Amhcrt, MavVi Brown; Heston of Michigan: 1 berger and Steffen of Chicago '& Govern of Minnesota aro a fw-other fw-other brilliant football piayerr-performances piayerr-performances on the gridiron ni thy of mention. " $ (Tn next Sunday's TribuniJi Ri ey, editor of the'snUy ffin will pick iho grentest Amcricii ning horse of till time.) |