WHY DOES NCAA FOOTBALL HISTORY REFUSE TO CREDIT HUGH RAY? Why did the NCAAs leaders feel so betrayed by their discovery of Hugh Rays close association with the NFL in 1937? At the time, college football reigned supreme and the NCAA scorned the fledgling pro game. Collegiate football was though to be a gentlemans game, played by amateurs for school pride, while the pros were a bunch of louts playing for cash. The strong anti-pro feelings that began in the early 1920s and lingered until the late 1950s were not without merit. Many adventurous college athletes played under assumed names on Sundays for money, breaking the NCAAs eligibility rules and devastating many prominent college teams. One scandal after another rocked the collegiate game and its ideals to its core. George Halass 1925 signing of Red Grange before he graduated from the University of Illinois was a huge boost for the Chicago Bears and the struggling NFL, but it only exacerbated the great enmity that already existed between the colleges and pros for decades to come. At the time, Rays close relationship with the NFL was considered unpardonable consorting with the enemy. Few men disliked the professional game more intensely than Amos Alonzo Stagg, who called pro football a menace and demanded its dissolution. A long-time rules intermediary of Rays, he likely led the charge, along with Fielding Yost to dismiss Ray after learning of his treasonous actions. Norman D. Duncan, a southern California rues expert and NCAA and NFL official, summed things up succinctly by telling me, The colleges always hated Shorty for taking the game away from them. That kind of thinking goes a long way towards explaining the NCAAs refusal to acknowledge Rays tremendous contributions to their game. As George Halas said,Its only his association with the National Football League that Im sure was the reason for his departure. His dismissal was totally unwarranted! This is taken from pp.109-110, Hugh L. Ray, THE NFLS MR. EINSTEIN: Master Designer of the Modern Game by James W. Stangeland
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:30:11 +0000
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