Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Have you guys ever read this?

The Pro Game Isn't Football. by Stanley Woodward. Collier's Weekly. , October 28, 1950

It's a critique of pro football by then Army coach Earl (Red) Blaik. I don't know how relevant his comments are today, but reading some of them, they seem eerily prescient. Even in 1950, he lamented the pros over-reliance on the forward pass, the dearth of downfield blocking, the lack of a rushing attack, or at least a semblance of balance. Blaik believed a pro team would not survive a full schedule against college teams!

The first two pages are here:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1950oct28-00018

the last two pages are buried in the middle of this 49 page PDF file:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1950oct28-00038

It's fascinating stuff.

fgoodwin wrote:Have you guys ever read this?

The Pro Game Isn't Football. by Stanley Woodward. Collier's Weekly. , October 28, 1950

It's a critique of pro football by then Army coach Earl (Red) Blaik. I don't know how relevant his comments are today, but reading some of them, they seem eerily prescient. Even in 1950, he lamented the pros over-reliance on the forward pass, the dearth of downfield blocking, the lack of a rushing attack, or at least a semblance of balance. Blaik believed a pro team would not survive a full schedule against college teams!

The first two pages are here:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1950oct28-00018

the last two pages are buried in the middle of this 49 page PDF file:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1950oct28-00038

It's fascinating stuff.

1950 was also the year that Greasy Neale supposedly made the "all they do is pass the ball" comment about the Browns, so I'm sure there were other veteran coaches who felt the same way.