Last Team Standing (41 page)

Thirteen: Win and In

196
My account of the Steagles locker room
before the Packers game is based on player interviews.

197
“in three different directions”
(Neale): Whittingham,
What a Game They Played
(p. 118).

199
“We better win …”
(Neale): Kram, “Neale People.”

199
“I even drive …”
(Neale): Neale and Meany, “Football Is My Life.”

199
My description of Shibe Park
on the day of the Packers game is based on contemporaneous newspaper accounts, as well as photographs at the Urban Archives at Temple University.

202
“We made mistakes.”
(Neale):
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
December 6, 1943.

203
“the most successful season”
(unnamed official):
Philadelphia Inquirer,
December 26, 1943.

203
“We took in more …”
(Bell):
Philadelphia Record,
December 10, 1943.

205
My account of George Preston Marshall's visit to the Bears bench
during the 1943 championship game is based on contemporaneous newspaper reports, as well as Dent,
Monster of the Midway
(p. 285) and Davis,
Papa Bear
(pp. 188–189). Commissioner Elmer Layden fined both Marshall and Brizzolara $500 each for the altercation, a verdict that the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's
Jack Sell (among others) deemed “curious.”

205
“You can say …”
(Marshall):
Philadelphia Inquirer,
December 27, 1943.

205
“I see post-war pro football …”
(Rickey):
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
December 31, 1943.

Epilogue: V-J Day

206
“Last fall …”
(Bell):
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
January 2, 1944.

206
“keep faith with Philadelphia fans”
(Thompson):
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
January 14, 1944.

207
“The best thing to do …”
(Layden):
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
January 2, 1944.

207
“The League requests …”
(Mandel): NFL meeting minutes, April 22, 1944.

207
My account of the Steelers-Cardinals merger
is based on Forr, “Card-Pitt: The Carpits,” as well as contemporaneous newspaper reports and my interview with Ted Doyle. The minutes of the league meeting at which the merger was consummated, now on file at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, were also helpful.

208
“Since the close …”
(Rooney):
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
January 11, 1944.

208
“carried the
Racing Form”
(Rooney): Forr, “Card-Pitt: The Carpits.”

209
“The whole bunch …”
(Rooney): Forr, “Card-Pitt: The Carpits.”

209
“The season couldn't have …”
(Bell): Forr, “Card-Pitt: The Carpits.”

209
Greasy Neale's self-imposed pay cut
was reported in the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
September 8, 1944.

210
The war's effect on the 1944 Bears
is described in Halas,
Halas by Halas
(pp. 214–215).

210
“We tried to get replacements …”
(Johnsos): Halas,
Halas by Halas
(p. 215).

210
“It drove me nuts …”
(Gallery): Lynch,
Tender Tyrant
(p. 133).

210
“I kept announcing …”
(Hutson): Whittingham,
What a Game They Played
(pp. 127–128).

211
“It is difficult …”
(Byrnes): Mead,
Even the Browns
(p. 219).

211
The discrimination that professional athletes faced from Selective Service
is described in Mead,
Even the Browns.
The Northey case in particular is discussed on page 220.

212
“The example set …”
(Johnson):
New York Times,
August 18, 1945.

212
Elmer Layden's visit to the White House
was reported in the
Philadelphia Inquirer,
August 23, 1945.

213
“It is not necessary …”
(Thayer):
Philadelphia Inquirer,
August 16, 1945.

213
“George Halas made me play …”
(Kavanaugh): Peterson,
Pigskin
(p. 141).

213
Jack Sanders' return to the gridiron
was reported in the
Philadelphia Inquirer,
August 20, 1945.

213
Vic Sears explained how he helped his friend John Eibner
in an interview with the author.

214
My account of the war between the NFL and the upstart AAFC
is based on MacCambridge,
America's Game
and Peterson,
Pigskin.

214
“Let them get a football …”
(Layden): Peterson,
Pigskin
(p. 148).

215
My account of the postwar integration of professional football
is based on Levy,
Tackling Jim Crow.

216
“If I have to …”
(Strode): Levy,
Tackling Jim Crow
(p. 95).

217
“Salaries have gone crazy …”
(Thompson): Stump, “Get Smart—or Go Bust?”

217
“The team made …”
(Clark): Didinger and Lyons,
The Eagles Encyclopedia
(p. 127).

217
“I had a reputation …”
(Neale): Didinger and Lyons,
The Eagles Encyclopedia
(p. 103).

218
“Weak teams should play …”
(Bell): MacCambridge,
America's Game
(p. 40).

219
“We don't want kids …”
(Bell): MacCambridge,
America's Game
(p. 105).

219
“Television creates interest …”
(Bell): Pro Football Hall of Fame, “Bert Bell: The Commissioner.”

220
“It was almost as though …”
(Smith): MacCambridge,
America's Game
(p. 127).

Postscript: 2003

221
The figures for the cost of building Heinz Field
come from “Private Financing for a New Penguins Arena,” a report by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, July 2002.

221
The account of the Steagles reunion
is based on the observations of the author, who was present.

222
“It was a time …”
(Rooney):
Beaver County Times
(Beaver, PA), July 23, 2003.

223
“One of the reasons …”
(Cade): Kays and Phillips-Han, “Gatorade: The Idea that Launched an Industry.”

224
“I used to go out …”
(Kilroy): Leuthner,
Iron Men
(p. 150).

225
“Take Allie Sherman …”
(Neale):
New York Times,
December 26, 1961.

I
WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE
to write this book without the support—moral, practical, and financial—of many people. Some I have known all my life, others I have come to know only recently through correspondence. To them all I am deeply grateful.

For advice, answers, assistance, and accommodations: Jim Algeo, Jr., Tom Algeo, John Roy Anderson, Larry Cabrelli, Jr., Jill Cordes and Phil Johnston, Lynn Cottom, Harriet Doyle, Travis Fox, Jim Gallagher, Jo Hanshaw, Joane Hinkle, Jordy Hinkle, Elise and Rob Kauzlaric, Bruce Kuklick, James Lautenschlager, Paul May, Gigi and Frank McCollum, Dan O'Neil, Kristen and John Petersen, Gino Piroli, Rob Ruck, Grace Sears, Judy Shaubach, Alan Smith, Josephine Steele, Ray Supulski, William T. Supulski, Paula D. Sweeney of the Selective Service System, Martha Teagle and Scott Davis, Mitch Teich, Gary Waleik and the public radio program
Only A Game,
Scott Westcott, Joan and Jim Wilson, Dena Mary Zimmerman, Donald Zimmerman, and Rex Zimmerman.

The staffs at the institutions where I conducted my research were most helpful: the Bowdoin College Library, the Library of Congress Main Reading Room, the Library of Congress Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room, the Los Angeles Public Library, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Urban Archives
at Temple University, and the Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania.

For going above and beyond, special thanks must be extended to Bob Carroll and the Professional Football Researchers Association, Nancy Farghalli and my colleagues at the public radio program
Marketplace,
Margaret Jerrido and the staff at the Urban Archives, and Matt Waechter at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To my agent, Jane Dystel, thank you for your unflagging support and kind encouragement. To my editor, Wendy Holt, and everyone at Da Capo Press, thank you for your wise counsel and good humor.

I am most indebted to the nine members of the Steagles I was fortunate enough to interview. Each was kind enough to speak with me at length: Ted Doyle, Ray Graves, Jack Hinkle, Frank “Bucko” Kilroy, Tom Miller, Vic Sears, Allie Sherman, Ernie Steele, and Al Wistert. Sadly, Tom Miller was unable to witness the completion of this book. He passed away on December 2, 2005.

After publication of the hardcover edition of this book in the fall of 2006, four more Steagles passed away: Ted Doyle, Jack Hinkle, Vic Sears, and Ernie Steele. They were good men and it was an honor for me to have known them.

Finally, to my wife Allyson, mere thanks are not enough. While I was writing this book, Allyson was embarking on a new adventure of her own, as a Foreign Service Officer. That we were able to successfully undertake both projects simultaneously, while moving from Los Angeles to Washington to Mali, is a testament to her infinite patience and grace. Allyson, I couldn't have done it without you.
Merci mon amour
!

T
HIS BOOK IS BASED PRIMARILY ON MY INTERVIEWS
with members of the Steagles, as well as contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the team. The interviews were conducted in person and on the telephone between February 2003 and January 2006.

I am indebted to the sportswriters who covered the team in 1943, particularly Art Morrow of the
Philadelphia Inquirer,
Cecil G. Muldoon of the
Pittsburgh Press,
and Jack Sell of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Their work in 1943 made mine in 2005 immeasurably easier.

I am equally indebted to the anonymous men and women who toiled in the basement of the late, great
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
assiduously clipping each story that appeared in the paper and filing it according to its subject matter. Before search engines there were clip files. The
Bulletin's,
consisting of a half million small brown envelopes, now resides at the Urban Archives at Temple University in Philadelphia. To anyone interested in twentieth-century American history, it is a priceless resource.

A complete bibliography follows, but a few sources deserve special mention. Books that were never out of my reach included
Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League,
edited by Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft, and John Thorn;
The Eagles Encyclopedia
by Ray Didinger and Robert S. Lyons;
The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present
by David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch; and
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Robert W. Peterson.