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The Code Of The Gridiron

Tuning Up Your Muscles

The game of football demands that you respect your body. It is vital that you not only get all your muscles in proper condition, but that you keep them that way. A muscle that is in good condition will not be easily injured.

In football, your muscles are called on to stretch hard and quickly in all directions. They are subjected to heavy blows. Since there are so many muscles in your body, you must develop a rather strenuous training program for yourself. It must be a daily affair.

This program should include numerous calisthenics designed to force the use of muscles in every area of your body. Naturally, you will have some stiffness and soreness at first. This is to be expected. As the muscles become "tuned up," your aches and pains will disappear.

The idea is to start out gradually, not trying to do everything in one day. Take a few exercises and do each a few times the first day. As the days go by, include all the necessary exercises and increase the number of times you do each one. Be very careful that you do not overstretch or tear any of your muscles. This can cause a permanent muscle injury that will either reduce or completely eliminate your active football play.

Here are a few suggestions on exercises that you can do:

(a) Touch your toes with your fingers, holding your knees stiff.

(b) Finger-tip push-ups and ordinary hand push-ups.

(c) The side-straddle hop, which is performed by jumping from a position of feet together to feet spread wide apart.

As you jump, you raise your arms from your sides and clap your hands together overhead. You return to your original position and then repeat the jump. Do this exercise rapidly.

(d) Do a half-knee bend, rotating your trunk, or bending forward and backward from your hips. Then, go into a full knee bend with the same trunk action.

These are all exercises you can do on your own time around home and with your buddy. Now, many boys find such a training program of exercises rather boring, but it is absolutely necessary if you are going to put yourself into proper shape to successfully play football. You simply cannot get into shape sitting in front of a television set. A boy can have a world of football talent, but it isn't of much value to anyone when he has to spend all his time on the side lines with an injury caused by improper conditioning.

Along with your calisthenics, you need a good running program. In our game of football it is often said, "If you can't run, you can't play!"

You do not have to be extremely fast to be a football player, but you do need four running abilities:

(a) The ability to start quickly from a standing-still position.

(b) The ability to run with a smooth, effortless motion.

(c) The ability to change both your pace and your direction quickly and smoothly.

(d) The ability to "run all day" without getting winded. Of course, if you are a "speed merchant" it will mean much to your success on the football field. You can actually increase your speed to a slight degree through daily training.

When the coach calls on you to run the full football-field length of one hundred yards, you should be able to do so with ease. All coaches pay very close attention to the way a player runs. Despite the heavy equipment worn, football is a game in which speed plays a most important part. Every coach dreams of fielding a team of eleven "horses" who can really get out and go!

A good running program always includes "wind sprints." The sprint action should cover ten to fifteen yards. You start out by walking, then jogging, then running, then sprinting. From your sprint, you slow down to running, then jogging, then walking. You repeat this several times over. During the first few days, do not try for quick starts or all-out speed. Work up to these two efforts gradually.

For excellent instruction on how to train yourself properly in all phases of running, read the training tips in Track and Field for Boys by my good friend Payton Jordan of Stanford University. These tips will help you greatly in developing those four running abilities we listed above, and in developing and maintaining strong, sturdy legs.

A Brain Is a Handy Thing

An unfair picture held by many people is that of the football player who is big, All-American, and dumb! Perhaps it was so a long time ago, but today it takes a smart boy to find his way around the gridiron.

In our modern style of football, with its highly complicated offensive plays and the intricate, ever-changing defensive patterns, a player must have sharp wits about him. There must be a "brain concentration" on each and every play. An offensive player must absorb the knowledge of some one hundred plays which can be used in any of several designated formations. A defensive player must be able to perform equally well in over half a dozen different defensive patterns. He must also have an intelligent understanding of all the offensive patterns.

To excel in football today, you must be able to respond quickly to unusual situations which require "instant thinking" on your part. You will find it necessary to cope constantly with slight changes in expected offensive and defensive patterns.

No matter how fine a football player you are, no matter how great your athletic ability, there is simply no place in the game for you today if you do not maintain good school grades. A boy must dedicate himself just as wholeheartedly to his classroom work as he does to his athletic practice field.

Nearly all our universities are overcrowded today. In order to be considered for acceptance, you must have a fine scholastic record in high school. In order to remain in college, you must maintain quite high scholastic standards. Athletic ability alone is not enough to guarantee you a college education.

Let's set a goal for you right now, whether you are in high school or still in grade school! What have your grades been averaging? Do you think you can bring your average up a full point? Or from a "C" to a "B" if you use the letter grading system? Of course you can do it! You are going to improve yourself in your classroom studies as well as in your football ability. Right? Right!

Penalties Are for Everyone

You must play the game of football, like all other games, according to the rules. In every gridiron contest, whether it takes place on the corner lot, the playground, or in regular, organized competition, play the way the rules say!

You must study the rules. You must understand exactly what you can do and what you cannot do according to the regulations. By knowing the rules, you will have a clearer understanding of the official's various calls during the game.

Show all the officials the proper respect! Officials do their best to call every play fairly and squarely. It does not do any good to lose your temper over their decisions. If you are puzzled by a decision, respectfully ask the official concerned for an explanation. Occasionally, an official will make an honest mistake. It is up to him to correct it, if he realizes that he has made it. It is wisest to let your coach argue the decision.

OFFICIALS should always be shown the proper amount of respect. However, "Referee" Dave Slattery does not usually demand this much!
There is no harm in a football player being a gentleman on the field. Foul language directed toward either your opponents or the officials is entirely out of order.
The rules may undergo slight changes from time to time, but certain standards must always be maintained. Fighting with your hands is absolutely prohibited. There is only one place for a player who illegally punches or strikes an opponent. That place is the shower room. There must be no holding and no tripping. Attempting to deliberately injure an opponent should cause the guilty player to be banned from football.

Remember, a penalty can rob your team of a scoring opportunity and it can also give your opponents the ball in a favorable position. Any player who constantly violates the rules, knowingly or through ignorance, is of very little value to his team.

It is not possible to completely avoid all penalties. A tough, hard-playing, aggressive team will draw penalties. The idea is to keep those penalties to a minimum.

You Can Measure a Boy in One Hundred Yards

Over the length of a gridiron you can judge a boy's character, his strength, his weaknesses, his ability to handle the hard knocks and the problems that come up unexpectedly. In this game of football, you receive a good preparation for adult life.

As a general rule, mothers do not want their sons to play football because they feel it is a dangerous game and that severe injuries are likely to result. I believe this fear has been carried to an extreme. It is not in line with the facts. One need only compare the annual record of football injuries with the records of boys involved, for example, in bicycle, swimming, or automobile accidents, or accidents resulting from daily life around the home!

With all our fine, modern equipment, our well-padded uniforms, our excellent training programs, our wonderful medicines and expert treatment, our close supervision, improved coaching and excellent officiating, there is truly little real danger for a boy on the football field.

Now, of course, football is our "roughest" sport because it emphasizes body contact between players, something the other sports try to avoid. Naturally, there are more bruises, aches, and pains of general types. However, there need be no greater number of serious injuries than in any of the other sports as long as these simple rules are obeyed:

1. Keep yourself in good physical condition.

2. Follow your training schedule to the letter.

3. Play your position correctly at all times.

4. Wear complete equipment that is clean and sound.

If you follow these rules, you need have no worry about serious injuries.

Yes, if you want to play football, and you are in good health, then I think "Mom" should encourage you to get into the game!

One way or another, you are going to become a man. How much of a man you become depends on how you are allowed to grow up. You can do a lot of growing on a football field!

You will learn to "take it with a grin"! You will learn the true meanings of co-operation, loyalty, courage, leadership, self-discipline, alertness, and the "never-say-die" spirit!

Football will demand much of you. To measure up, you must have the desire to win. After all, that is the point of competing in any sport, to win. I will agree that the idea of winning is sometimes approached in the wrong manner. To want to win at any cost and by any means is wrong. It is not the American Way. What is the American Way is having deep within you the desire to win ... to give the best that is in you no matter how many handicaps are placed in your way,

COACH KUHARICH AND MARSHALL McCLELLAND pose with a group of future Ail-American All-Stars on the gridiron made famous by generations of Notre Dame stars. Says the Coach: "You can do a lot of growing on a football field! You learn the true meanings of co-operation, loyalty, courage, leadership, self-discipline, alertness, and 'never say die'!" no matter what the odds, no matter how discouraging the outlook.

It is important that you understand your own qualifications and realize where you are best-fitted to play on the team. You may have a burning desire to play one particular position. You may believe that no one can handle it quite so well as you do. Then, the coach of your team sends you to another position! He is only thinking in terms of where you will do the most good for the team. Now, the boy who really measures up is the one who accepts the coach's assignment and immediately starts giving all he has to develop himself into the best player on the whole team at that position.

A boy who has speed and is quick in his movements will usually fit well into the backfield. A boy who is larger, not quite so speedy or quick, will find himself better suited to the line. Some boys have a natural knack for performing certain football movements such as blocking, or kicking, or passing, or tackling, or running. You should try out for that position where you can make the most of your particular knack or knacks.

However, never accept limitations on your abilities. Make every effort to become topnotch in every action that has to do with your position.

Finally, I would like to say this: The football player all coaches constantly search for is the boy who is so determined to play that the most important thing to him is not the position he plays but the fact that he will play somewhere!

So long, son! I sincerely hope that one day I will see you on the All-American team!

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