"It was the spirit, though possibly a crude one, that only those men
were wanted on the team who could go through the battering of the game
from start to finish.
"The discipline of the team was rigorous; men were forced to do as they
were told. If a man did not think he was in any condition to play he
reported to the captain. These reports were very infrequent though, for
I know in my own case, the first time I reported, I was so lame I could
hardly put one foot before the other, but was told to take a football
and run around the track, which was a half mile long and encircled the
football field. On my return I was told to get back in my position and
play. As a result, there were very few players who reported injuries to
the captain.
"This, when you figure the manner in which teams are coached to-day, may
appear brutal and a waste of good material, but as a matter of fact, it
was not. It made the teams what they were in those days--strong, hard
and fast.
"As to actual results under this policy, I can only say that, during my
period in college, we never lost a game.
"Training to-day is quite different. I think more men are injured
nowadays than in my time under our severe training. I think further that
this softer training is carried to an extreme, and that the football
player of to-day has too much attention paid to his injury, and what he
has to say, and the trainer, doctors and attendants are mostly
responsible for having the players incapacitated by their attention.
"The spirit of Yale in my day, a spirit which was inculcated in our
minds in playing games, was never to let a member of the opposing team
think he could beat you. If you experienced a shock or were injured and
it was still possible to get back to your position either in the line or
backfield--get there at once. If you felt that your injury was so severe
that you could not get back, report to your captain immediately and
abide by his decision, which was either to leave the field or go to your
position.
"It may be said by some of the players to-day that the punts in those
days were more easily caught than those of to-day. There is nothing to a
remark like that. The spiral kick was developed in the fall of '82, and
I know that both Richards and myself knew the fellow who developed it.
From my experience in the Princeton game I can testify that Alex Moffat
was a past master at it.
"One rather amusing thing I remember hearing years ago whil
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