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Show r iiiiiiiiimimu I By ROBERT McSHANE I E by Wtiltm N.w.pop., Union ffiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiitiKiiiiiHiiiiiiiiii fNE of the wisest moves ever made by the National Professional Profes-sional Football league was persuading persuad-ing Elmer Layden to quit the cloisters clois-ters of collegiate football for the more turbulent professional gridiron business. The former Notre Dame couch and athletic director had an excellent excel-lent reason for casting his lot with the play-for-pay boys. That reason rea-son was financial. It isn't necessary to go beyond the announced figures of his new deal to understand why he took the step he did rather than sign the new contract which was offered him at Notre Dame. A man with family responsibilities doesn't have to think twice about $20,000 a year. No coaching job could have paid him that much. Perhaps typical of professional football is the fact that the Thin Man found himself ln the middle of a controversy before the Ink on his contract had dried. Bert Bell, half owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, and two other club owners, Alexis Thompson of Pittsburgh and Dan Topping of Brooklyn, touched off the fireworks by declaring that Layden had been "railroaded" Into office. 1 Sound and Fury The lanky Layden, never known to be overly verbose, assumed a strict self-imposed silence as pro circles debated the legality of his appoint-Jtient. appoint-Jtient. Messrs. Bell, Thompson and Topping objected loudly to the manner man-ner of the appointment, shrieking that it wouldn't be official until action ac-tion is taken to amend the constitution constitu-tion at the league meeting in April. Quite a few followers of professional profes-sional football were considerably disgusted with the outbursts originating originat-ing in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn. Far-sighted club owners were congratulating themselves for having hired a man who will give the pro league a type of solid standing with the general sports public far beyond anything professional football foot-ball has enjoyed to date. But three disgruntled club owners were not satisfied with the arrangement. They proceeded to let the world know it. Their complaints sounded silly, however, how-ever, when George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears and the man who signed Layden, denied that Layden was named commissioner without the knowledge of othcr club owners particularly Thompson and Topping. Top-ping. "We talked to them by telephone the same as other club owners," said Halas. "A majority of the club owners voted for Layden and a majority ma-jority is all the league constitution demands on any matter of business." Marshall's Views George Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins, pulled no punches in airing his views of the appointment. He pointed out that Art Rooney, who owns 50 per cent of the Philadelphia club, was one of the signers of the Layden contract. con-tract. That fact, he pointed out, should be brought to Bell's attention. The teapot tempest blown up by Thompson, Topping and Bell has started the public to musing over whether Layden will have real authority au-thority in his new job or whether the pro owners will still run the show in their own cat and dog fash-Ion. fash-Ion. It wasn't a very auspicious beginning, but chances are that Layden Lay-den is the least perturbed of the lot. He's the kind of an individual who will give value received for his annual an-nual $20,000 salary. And he can't do that by serving as nothing more than a nominal head. We expect to see quite a few chunks of fur flying around the National Na-tional Football league next fall Layden s Job Layden won't stand for question able policies or tactics you tan be sure of that. Given a chance he will be as valuable to professional football foot-ball as Judge K. M. Landis is to organized baseball. For that reason, rea-son, and like Judge Landis, he wiil be unpopular with a certain number num-ber of club owners. It will be interesting to note whether or not that number includes in-cludes Messrs. Thompson, Topping and Bell. There's always the chance that a few of the owners went along with the rest merely because they figured the commissioner would be nothing more than a subtle sort of "front" for the organization. If that is so, those owners failed to exercise good judgment. Layden will instill more confidence in the league, but not by simply lending his name. He will see to it that the spirit of the law. as well as the letter, is obeyed by every club owner in the National Football league. And that, friends, will be a bitter pill in a few instances. Sport Short? C Texas Christian university won only one Southwestern conference basketball game from 1934 until the opening of the present season. C Fielding H. Vost calls Tom Har mon the all-time trophy winner. He declared that Harmon has collected more football awards than any other oth-er player the sport has developed. C Jack Hallett, White Sox pitching rookie, won two nine-inning games on consecutive nights for Hopkins-ville. Hopkins-ville. Ky.. in 1937. |