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Show COMETHING like 20 years ago. or close to that spot on the calendar, 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 205 pounds, he was a brilliant ballcarrier, ball-carrier, a smash- lng blocker, a fine ETWSpy' forward passer, i and, above all, one of the best kickers f J.A-.Vs that ever applied . 'i.'y, shoe leather to a icL5. ' pigskin. His name IV happens to be Kenlv: sfl : .V Strong. Barring WplJ'-fr p-ossibly Jim pjKsf.i j Thorpe, Ken could lvoS? '' f l do more thing st7 1 well than any baki-U I ever saw in ac- S. Chandler tion. When Ken Strong practically wrecked a fine Carnegie Tech team, a team that already had crushed Notre Dame. Judge Wallie Steffens, Carnegie's coach said to me that night: "At last I've seen a back greater than Willie Heston. Strong Is the only back I ever saw who could run over one of my best teams, pass, kick, block and tackle. I've never seen his equal." It was about that time that Coach Gwlnn Henry of Missouri wired me "I've got your All-America this year. Don't bother any more. Just Ken Strong. Forget the others." Recently I ran into Ken Strong j gain. Ken Is now around 40. What's his Job? Well, one of his Jobs is playing play-ing for the New York Giants. Ken Isn't running, blocking or passing any more. "But I've still got the toughest' job in football," he said. Like Kicking an EeV "I'm kicking," Ken explained. "Did you ever try to punt, place kick or drop kick this cigar-shaped1 ball they have today? Iff 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 kicking an eeL "The old football waa much rounder. It wag easy to get your toe Into It. It waa 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 that la about the slse of a silver dollar and I'm having a tough time betting a kicking kick-ing shoe that has the proper kicking apace. 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 experience, experi-ence, have more good punters. But I can promise you it's a tough job. But I 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 have all these kicking years to call on." Ball Made to Throw Ken Strong is quite close to being 100 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 than a hot dog or a pretzel. I've asked at least 20 leading college 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," Is the usual answer. I'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, Sweeley of Michigan, Herschberger of Chicago, Brink Thorne and Bull of Yale and one of the greatest Kercheval of Kentucky. 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 klckera, and one of these was Spud Chandler of Georgia, long with the N. Y. Yankees as a brilliant piicnrr. Among the half-modern group I'd name Frank Reagan of Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, now with the Giants, and Harry Klpke of Michigan. Hurry-up Yost was a great believer 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." llauzh Can Kick, Too One of the best modern kickers la a Ivan, thin, somewhat aging Texan known as Sammy Baugh, formerly of T.C.U. and now with the Redskins. Red-skins. Sammy has always been a great passer. He has been Just as good a klikir. He Is one of the masters. Ward Cuff of Marquette, the Giants and the Packers is still an able marksman witli the right toe. The best all-around kicker 1 ever saw was Jim Thorpe, who could cunt, place kick and drop kick. |
