Book Idea: Pro football and military service and deferments

[RyanChristiansen]

The other day, I was reading newspaper accounts of the second-ever Vikings vs. Packers game in 1961, and there was a lot of anxiety about whether Paul Hornung would have to exit the season to serve in the Army. Of course, Lombardi and Hornung and everyone around him gave a brave face and said Hornung will be honored to serve, etc., but there were also lots of indications that they hoped his injuries would keep him out of the Army so that he could play in the NFL. Imagine that, failing an Army physical but then going on to finish first-team all-pro. It was a weird time back then because it was Cold War-era conscription and not for any particular conflict. There should be a couple of decades worth of news accounts out there about coaches, players, and sportswriters wrestling with this topic and walking that fine line of duty for country versus duty for your team.

Thoughts?

[Mark L. Ford]

I don't want the idea to go unacknowledged, but I doubt there would be enough for an entire book. It's an interesting idea for a feature story. Broadway Joe is another example of a 4-F being a Hall of Famer, because he was having knee problems even while he was playing for the Crimson Tide.

[JeffreyMiller]

Is your premise to embarrass these athletes?

[rhickok1109]

The other day, I was reading newspaper accounts of the second-ever Vikings vs. Packers game in 1961, and there was a lot of anxiety about whether Paul Hornung would have to exit the season to serve in the Army. Of course, Lombardi and Hornung and everyone around him gave a brave face and said Hornung will be honored to serve, etc., but there were also lots of indications that they hoped his injuries would keep him out of the Army so that he could play in the NFL. Imagine that, failing an Army physical but then going on to finish first-team all-pro. It was a weird time back then because it was Cold War-era conscription and not for any particular conflict. There should be a couple of decades worth of news accounts out there about coaches, players, and sportswriters wrestling with this topic and walking that fine line of duty for country versus duty for your team.

Thoughts?

It wasn't particularly unusual for an athlete to fail his Army physical. Don Hutson, for example, was 4F because he had flat feet. He was in agony after a game, soaking his feet in an Epsom salt solution for an hour or more, and his practice time was severely limited because of it. Mickey Mantle was 4F because of chronic osteomyelitis stemming from a high school football injury. And those are just two superstars who happen to come to mind.

I honestly don't what the point of such a book would be. There wasn't any "wrestling with the topic" because the athletes in question had no say in the matter. If an athlete passed the Army physical, he was drafted; if he didn't, he wasn't.

[NWebster]

The other day, I was reading newspaper accounts of the second-ever Vikings vs. Packers game in 1961, and there was a lot of anxiety about whether Paul Hornung would have to exit the season to serve in the Army. Of course, Lombardi and Hornung and everyone around him gave a brave face and said Hornung will be honored to serve, etc., but there were also lots of indications that they hoped his injuries would keep him out of the Army so that he could play in the NFL. Imagine that, failing an Army physical but then going on to finish first-team all-pro. It was a weird time back then because it was Cold War-era conscription and not for any particular conflict. There should be a couple of decades worth of news accounts out there about coaches, players, and sportswriters wrestling with this topic and walking that fine line of duty for country versus duty for your team.

Thoughts?

It wasn't particularly unusual for an athlete to fail his Army physical. Don Hutson, for example, was 4F because he had flat feet. He was in agony after a game, soaking his feet in an Epsom salt solution for an hour or more, and his practice time was severely limited because of it. Mickey Mantle was 4F because of chronic osteomyelitis stemming from a high school football injury. And those are just two superstars who happen to come to mind.

I honestly don't what the point of such a book would be. There wasn't any "wrestling with the topic" because the athletes in question had no say in the matter. If an athlete passed the Army physical, he was drafted; if he didn't, he wasn't.

I think if there's a book/article in there, it's about how some coaches (Halas -cough, -cough) might have been able to "influence" who was ineligible. But of course that would not have been documented in a way that could make for a book/article.