Tex Noel, Editor of The College Football Historian, the monthly newsletter of the Intercollegiate Football Researchers Association (IFRA) forwarded the following message regarding the January newsletter:
“Tex–Glad to get my January issue. I don’t know who wrote the piece on the 1905 season and Teddy Roosevelt (p. 20), but most of the stated facts are erroneous and should not be repeated. For instance:
“1) President Theodore Roosevelt never threatened to ban football. In fact, T.R. chided Harvard president Charles W. Eliot (President from 1869-1909) for wanting to ban it. (The TR myth often mentioned by writers is simply not true)
“2) If 18 players died in the 1905, nearly all were NOT college players, (The 18 college death’s myth is often noted by writers.)
“3) The flying wedged did not exist in 1905, as it was banned by the Rules Committee in 1894. (This myth is repeated by the NCAA Hall of Fame, and should be corrected.)
“4) No photo of Bob “Tiny” Maxwell has ever been uncovered. (It is quite likely a myth built around the T.R. myth of banning football after seeing a picture of the great Maxwell.)
“–John S. Watterson’s COLLEGE FOOTBALL: HISTORY, SPECTACLE, CONTROVERSY (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) is a fine book and covers most of the above issues.
“Happy New Year. Ron Smith”
Curious to know more about this, I bought a copy of Watterson’s book and started reading it. Something I read early in the book prompted an email to the author:
Dear Dr. Watterson,
While reading your well-researched College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy, Football, I wondered why you omitted the Villanova-Carlisle game that was played on Wednesday, September 26, 1906 as an example of an early regular season game in which both teams threw forward passes. Instead, you chose the Villanova-Princeton game that was played the following Saturday. The Carlisle-Villanova game was intentionally scheduled on a date when other important games would not be played and was widely promoted to coaches and players in the east to give them an opportunity to see a game played under the new rules. Newspaper coverage of the game reported that both teams threw forward passes.
Tom Benjey
Yesterday, I got a nice email from Dr. Watterson thanking me for the information and stating that he would include the Carlisle-Villanova game in a revised edition of his book, should one be published.
If you interested in receiving the IFRA newsletter for FREE, contact Tex Noel at ifra.tcfh@gmail.com.
Tags: 1906 forward pass, IFRA, Independent Football Researchers Association, John Watterson, Ron Smith, Tex Noel
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