Show SOMETHING like 20 years ago or close to that spot on the calen dar chick meehan and N Y U came up with one of the greatest football players the game has ever known slightly over 6 feet weighing pounds be he was a brilliant ball earner carrier a smash ing blocker a fine forward passer and above all one of the best kickers that ever applied shoe leather to a pigskin his name I 1 happens to be ken strong barring possibly J jim im aw thorpe ken could do more things well than any back 1 I ever saw in ac S chandler tion when ken strong practically wrecked a fine carnegie tech team a team that already had crushed rushed c notre dame judge kalhe steffens carnegie s coach said to me that night at last I 1 ve seen a back greater than willie heston strong is 13 the only back I 1 ever saw who could run over one of my best teams pass kick block and tackle I 1 ive ve never seen his ins equal I 1 it was about that time that coach gwinn henry of missouri wired me I 1 ve got your all america this year dont don t bother any more just ken hen strong forget the others recently I 1 ran into ken strong agam again ken Is now around 40 what s his job well one of his jobs Is play ing for the new york giants ken isn t running blocking or passing any more but I 1 ive ve still got the toughest job in football he said like kicking an eel I 1 in kicking ken explained did you ever try to punt place kick or drop kick this cigar shaped ball they have today its it s a ball shaped entirely for the passing game thin and long compared to the ball we used to kick 20 years ago it is like kick kicking ilig an eel the old football was much rounder it was easy to get your toe into it it was easier to punt or to drop kick or place kick it was far easier to kick off to drive one beyond the goal line but today you have a target to hit fiat that Is about the size of a silver dollar and I 1 m having a tough time betting a kicking shoe that has the proper kicking space you need a square toed shoe that can drive into the limited space the modern football has to offer the kicker no wonder so many college teams have so much trouble getting anyone who can kick off or place kick and no wonder there are so few fine punters left either in the college or the pro game naturally the pros with their greater expert ence have more good punters but I 1 can promise you it s a tough job but I 1 still hope to get a few over the crossbar or over the goal line on a kickoff it s a good thing for me that I 1 have all these kicking years to call on ball made hade to throw ken strong Is quite close to being per cent right about the modern football it was arranged for the passer it is long thin easy enough to throw but harder to kick luck than a hot dog or a pretzel I 1 ve asked at least 20 leading col lege coaches why they used so many varieties of action on the kickoff such as placing the ball sideways we have no one who can kick off 00 is the usual answer I 1 ve asked them why they had no first class punters there s no one who can kick this ball they tell you then we began looking back to the old days of football with its great kickers george brooke of pennsylvania of michigan of chicago brink thorne and bull of yale and one of the greatest kercheval of ken tucky he was the best of all shipwreck kelly tells me 60 or 70 yards on a dime not bad kicking the old game was packed with fine kickers and one of these was spud chandler of georgia long with the N Y yankees as a brilliant pitcher among the half modern group I 1 d name frank reagan of pennsyl vania now with the giants and harry kipke of michigan hurry up yost was a great be liever in the kicking game both as a form of attack and defense it was here his slogan came along A punt a pass and a prayer baugh can kick too one of the best modern kickers Is a lean thin somewhat aging texan known as sammy baugh formerly of T C U and now with the red skins sammy has always been a great passer he has been lust just as good a kicker he is one of the masters ward cuff of marquette the giants and the packers is still an able marksman with the right toe the best all around kicker I 1 ever saw was jim thorpe who could dunt place kick and drop kick |