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Second Annual Awards Dinner, Chapter No. 1, Pittsburgh Chapter, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, May 20, 1971
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Second Annual Awards Dinner, Chapter No. 1, Pittsburgh Chapter, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, May 20, 1971
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The original documents are located in Box D31, folder "Second Annual Awards Dinner,
Chapter No. 1, Pittsburgh Chapter, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, May
20, 1971" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald
R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford at the second Annual Awards Dinner of the Chapter
1,
Pittsburgh Chapter, the Nationalic Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, May 20, 1971.
and members of the board of directors
Mr. Daniell, Mr. Benedum, other of ficers of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National
Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, distinguished guests and friends of football:
It is a great honor for me to
be here
tonight. I know I have not been
invited to be
your principal speaker because I am an
I-American
because I
never
was accorded that honor. I can only lay claim to being one of the orneriest
centers who ever passed the ball back to the quarterback of a University of Michigan
team.
Tonight I'm not feeling ornery. I'm just happy to be here, and very pleased that
you have chosen to hear what I have to say. I love football I always have from the
time I was old enough to tackle anybody. And maybe those are credentials enough.
I played a lot of football as a kid. I was so nuts about the game that I was
out pushing somebody around
on
a field when I should have been home eating
supper. But I managed toget pretty big anyway--big enough to play for South High
School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Not all of the guys who went out for high school football at South were big, of
course. There was one skinny little guy who made up in guts what he lacked in weight.
He was so small he got clobbered every
time he got out on the field.
the coach
felt sorry for him and one day he said, "Joe, I'm going to let you play end, guard and
tackle. Joe was real suprised and said, "Coach, how can I play all three positions?"
1he coach answered, "I want you to sit on the end of the bench, guard the water
bucket, and tackle anyone who comes near it."
also
We had some great teams at South High School, but of course it is
exciting
varsity
to play college ball. And SO It was a real thrill for me to play center for the
University of Michigam for three seasons. Two of t hose years we were national
champions. The third year, when we lost every game but one, they picked me as Most
Valluable Player. That
reminds me of the time I was first elected Republican
leader of the House of Representatives. I won with the landslide margin of seven votes.
But, seriously, we
have had some great teams at the University of Michigan.
The team I never get tired of talking about is the 1948 squad. They beat Southern
tramendous
California in the Rose Bowl 49 to O. Michigan had a
line that year--a real
beef trust--and they were all ganging up on
Southern Cal's
quarterback. While more than 100,000 people watched, this quarterback tried to sneak
through the Michigan line and got buried under a mound of tacklers. When he
finally staggered to his feet, he looked up at the thousands of people in the stands
and said, "I'll be a sonuvagun. How did all those people get back up there to their
seats so fast?"
Digitized from Box D31 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
When I finished up at the University of Michigan, I got offers to play professional
football
from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. Maybe the reason I
didn't
accept is because
one day I happened to talk to the wife of a guy who
was playing tackle for the Lions. "It's really exciting to be married to a professional
football player,' she said. very time my husband comes home he looks like a different
person."
So I'm nott sorry I passed
up professional football and took a job as assistant
varsity coach at Yale while attending law school there. Although
who knows,
if I
had played pro ball I might have wound up on the Supreme Court, like
Whizzer White.
There was one game played in Yale Stadium that I will never forget. It was a cold
November day and the stadium was jammed. High up in the stands
a Yale alumnus
kept standing up and yelling,
"Hey, Gus." And every time he did a guy in the
third row would stand up and tip his
hat. This went on for some time and finally
the guy in the third row jumped up and yelled, "Now quit calling me. I'm getting awfully
tired of standing up. And besides, my name ain't Gus."
Yes, football is a great game. I really look forward to fall. I've reached that
time in my life when I have to watch myself, t hough. I'm developing television spread.
Football season is a great time of year. It's the only time when a guy can walk
down the street with a girl on one arm and a blanket on the other without
the tongue
of every gossip in town
starting to wag.
Now I'm going to quit kidding around and tell you that to share
in your
annual Awards Dinner is an honor beyond my fondest wish. It is also an honor to be
able
to
S
tand
here
and
tell you that I think football does more for
a young man
than any other game I know.
There are those who say football teaches courage and leadership. I don't agree.
Football will help a young fellow find out whether he is courageous or has qualities
of leadership but it won't
give him those qualities.
The football field, in short, is a proving
ground. It tells a fellow if he's
got the stuff. It has tremendous value in that
respect.
Football is, however, a teacher. What it does teach is self-discipline and this is
a most desirable end.
You've heard someone say to someone else who has acbed irresponsibly, "Why don't
you grow up?" And this is what football helps a young man to do--to acquire a sense of
responsibility, a knowledge of the importance of working with others, a real feel for
teamwork. In brief, football helps a young man to mature.
Football also implarts a fighting spirit to our young men, a keen feeling of
competitiveness. And this is invaluable in the game of life.
-3-
I think, too, you will never find an
adult American who was worth his
salt as
a football player taking the attitude that the world owes him
a
living. This is because he learned on the football field that you earm what you get
in life or it isn't worth having. And he learn that every time you get knocke
down
Another way of putting it is that
you get up again, if at all possible
Every time
he gets
flat
knocked on his face, he getsback up and gets back in the race. And that
is
what life is really all about.
We don't have to just guess about
the great benefits of amateur football. There may be
many of you who are familiar with the
study made by two San Jose State College
professors as the result of a grant from the National Football
Foundation.
That study indicated outstanding success by athletes after graduation from college--
not only in terms of income but in terms
of community participation. Case after case
showed that those who
participated in sports and extracurricular campus activities
most often exhibited a high degree of social and community responsibility after graduation.
These athletes showed a marked
tendency to take on leadership responsibilities--
whether in the profe ssions, government, education or business.
Now let me addre SS myself to the myth that football players spend so much time on the
practice field they don't make very good grades.
A study of every man who played varsity football at Yale from the time the game started
there shows that 97 per cent of the football players graduated as against a class average
and
of 85 per cent the athletes' marks were higher than the
average of their class.
For anyone in the
academic world to sneer at athletes is the most misguided
kind of snobbery.
Let me just add that I think the men who make some of the finest contributions
to
our society are those who teach
physical education. These are men who seek to
impart the best possible training to our youngsters training them
not only in body
but in
mind and spirit.
One of my most pleasurable tasks in recent weeks was towrite a letter to the
president of a university suggesting that the school's board of trustees name their
new health and physical
education building after an outstanding man who had taught
physical e ducation at the university for some 30 years.
And now I would like to say a word to all of
those who have been honored
here tonight. You deserved these homors, or they would not have been presented to you.
In football, as in life, you either produce or you don't make it. All of you
honored
tonight have produced. And I am proud to be in your company. We might have called this
Outstanding Citimens Night because that what you are outstanding citizens all.
#####
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford at the second Annual Awards Dinner of the Chapter Lb. 1,
Pittsburgh Chapter, the Nationalis Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, May 20, 1971.
no distribution
m office Copy
and members of the board of directors
Mr. Daniell, Mr. Benedum, other of ficers of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National
Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, distinguished guests and friends of football:
It is a great honor for me to
be here
tonight. I know I have not been
invited to be
your principal speaker because I am an
-American
because I
never
was accorded that honor. I can only lay claim to being one of the orneriest
centers who ever passed the ball back to the quarterback of 2 University of Michigan
team.
Tonight I'm not feeling ornery. I'm just happy to be here, and very pleased that
you have chosen to hear what I have to say. I love football I always have from the
time I was old enough to tackle anybody. And maybe those are credentials enough.
I played a lot of football as a kid. I was so nuts about the game that I was
out pushing somebody around
on
a field when I sho Id have been home eating
supper. But I managed toget pretty big anyway--big enough to play for South High
School in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Not all of the guys who went out for high scho 1 football at South were bi-, of
course. There was one skinny little guy who made up in guts what he lacked in weight.
He was so small he got clobbered every
time he got out on the field.
the coach
felt sorry for him and one day he said, "Joe, I'm going to let you play end, guard and
tackle." Joe was real suprised and said, "Coach, how can I play all three positions?"
The coach answered, "I want you to sit on the end of the bench, guard the water
bucket, and tackle anyone who comes near it."
also
We had some great teams at South High School, but of course it is
exciting
varsity
to play college ball. And so It was a real thrill for
to
lay center for the
University of Michigan for three seasons. Two of those ars we were national
champions. The third year, when we lost every game but one, they picked me as Most
Valluable Player. That
reminds me of the time I was first elected Republican
leader of the House of Representatives. I won with the landslide margin of seven votes.
But, seriously, we
have had some great teams at the University of Michigan.
The team I never get tired of talking about is the 1948 squad. They beat Southern
tremendous
California in the Rose Bowl 49 to O. Michigan had a
line that year--a real
beef trust--and they were all ganging up on
Southern Cal's
quarterback. While more than 100,000 people watched, this quarterback tried to sneak
through the Michigan line and got buried under a mound of tacklers. Then he
finally stargered to his feet, he looked up at the thousands of people in the stands
and said, "I'll be a sonuvagun. How did all those people get back up there to their
seats SO fast?"
GERILD FORD LIBRARY
-2-
When I finished up at the University of Michigan, I got offers to play professional
foo tball
from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. Maybe the reason I
didn't
accept is because
one day I happened to talk to the wife of a guy who
was playing tackle for the Lions. "It's really exciting to be married to a professional
football player," she said. ivery time my husband comes home he looks like a different
person.'
So I'm nott sorry I passed up professional football and took a job as assistant
varsity coach at Yale while attending law school there. Although
who knows,
if I
had played pro ball I might have wound up on the Supreme Court, like
Whizzer White.
There was one game played in Yale Stadium that I will never forget. It was a cold
November day and the stadium was jammed. High up in the stands
a Yale alumnus
kept standing up and yelling,
"Hey, Gus." And every time he did a guy in the
third row would stand up and tip his
hat. This went on for some time and finally
the guy in the third row jumped up and yelled, "Now quit calling me. I'm getting awfully
tired of standing up. And besides, my name ain't Gus."
Yes, football is a great game. I really look forward to fall. I've reached that
time in my life when I have to watch myself, though. I'm developing television spread.
Football season is a great time of year. It's the only time when a guy can walk
down the street with a girl on one arm and a blanket on the other without
the tongue
of every gossip in town
starting to wag.
Now I'm going to quit kidding around and tell you that to share
in your
annual Awards Dinner is an honor beyond my fondest wish. It is also an honor to be
able
to
S
tand
here
and
tell you that I think football does more for
a young man
than any other game I know.
There are those who say football teaches courage and leadership. I don't agree.
Football will help a young fellow find out whether he is courageous or has qualities
of leadership but it won't
give him those qualities.
The football field, in short, is a proving
ground. It tells a fellow if he's
got the stuff. It has tremendous value in that
respect.
Football is, however, a teacher. What it does teach is self-discipline--and this is
a most desirable end.
You've heard someone say to someone else who has acted irres onsibly, "Why don't
you grow up?" And this is what football helps a young man to do--to acquire a sense of
responsibility, a knowledge of the importance of working with others, a real feel for
teamwork. In brief, football helps a young man to mature.
FORD
Football also implarts a fighting spirit to our young men, a keen feeling of
BERAL
LIDERAY
competitiveness. And this is invaluable in the game of life.
-3-
I think, too, you will never find an
adult
American who was worth his
salt as
a football player taking the attitude that the world owes him
a
living. This is because he learned on the football field that you earni what you get
in life or it isn't worth having. And he learns that every time you get knocked down
Another way of putting it is that
you get up again, if at all possible.
asvery time
he gets
flat
knocked on his face, he getsback up and gets back in the race. And that
is
what life is really all about.
We don't have to just gue SS about
the great benefits of amateur foctball. There may be
many of you who are familiar with the
study made by two San Jose State College
professors as the result of a grant from the National Football
Foundation.
That study indicated outstanding success by athletes after graduation from college--
not only in terms of income but in terms
of community participation. Case after case
showed that those who
participated in sports and extracurricular campus activities
most often exhibited a high degree of social and community responsibility after graduation.
These athletes showed a marked
tendency to take on leadership responsibilities--
whether in the professions, government, education or business.
Now let me address myself to the myth that football players spend so much time on the
practice field they don't make very good grades.
A study of every man who played varsity football at Yale from the time the game started
there shows that 97 per cent of the football players graduated as against a class average
and
of 85 per cent the athletes' marks vere high r than the
average of their class.
For anyone in the
academic world to sneer at athletes is the most misguided
kind of snobbery.
Iet me just add that I think the men who make some of the finest contribution
to
our society are those who teach
physical education. These are men who seek to
impart the best possible training to our youngsters- training them
not
only
in
body
but in
mind and spirit.
One of my most pleasurable tasks in recent weeks was to write a letter to the
president of a university suggesting that the school's board of trustees name their
new health and physical education building after an outstanding man who had taught
physical e ducation at the university for some 30 years.
And now I would like to say a word to all of
those who have been honored
here tonight. You deserved these homors, or they would not have been presented to you.
In foctball, as in life, you either produce or you don't make it. Ill of you
honored
tonight have produced. And I am proud to be in your company. We might have called this
Outstanding Citizens Night because that what you are outstanding citizens all.
####
ROUGH NOTES
PITTSBURGH, PA.
MAY 20,1971
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OFFICE OF THE MINORITY LEADER
Herald R. Ford
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
M.C.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
THURSDAY
SECOND ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER
CHAPTER #1, PITTSBURGH CHAPTER
NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION
AND HALL OF FAME
GERALD FORD LIBRARY