Does Anybody Know Wendell Teets!?

I've spent the bulk of the summer cleaning BBQ equipment and slinging pork to great people. I've watched A LOT of mid-late 80's NFL football and have managed to read a lot of interesting articles on and offline about (yes) football, local history, cooking.... it's a long list this year.

You can never tell what you're going to find. 

You never know where you might end up when you open the pages of a book:

I generally will pick up a copy of any pigskin related Ronald Press book due to the fact that they just FEEL so damn substantial. These books have thick paper and strong spines... As it were, I received a 2nd Edition copy of Ronald Press' Football Techniques illustrated in the mail the other day and what I found inside was a neatly folded copy of the original shipping slip from 1968:

It is About How and Why These Systems Came To Be.

"...There are no bars as to race, religion, or social status. A man who is willing to play like a man gets a man's chance. Thus it may be that men like Bernie Bierman are making a finer contribution to the civilization of our time than is today generally recognized."

John L. Griffith,
Commissioner of Athletics
Intercollegiate Conference
August 1937

As I sweat over a hot smoker on a humid Saturday afternoon, I pondered. Although it began as such, my fascination with the classic football texts is no longer mainly about the x's and o's that specific systems or schemes present. I became fascinated with understanding the thought processes and philosophies of the coaches/authors.

 

 

How and why have these systems come to be?

Bierman gets right down to brass tacks:

"What makes a great coach?" he asks, while conveying a story in which Pop Warner replied: "Great Material"

The Importance of the Forward (Pass) Part I

When I was a younger man, the forward of a football book was something that I typically glossed over. I wanted to see the diagrams, the pictures, the trick plays. Some many years ago, I handed over a cherished copy of "Guide to Modern Football Offense" by Ray Graves to a dear friend to read. I noticed that he immediately turned his attention to the introduction. Well... as Sargent Elias Grodin said: "...the worm has definitely turned..."