Phantom Stang
08-31-2006, 09:52 AM
Legends of the Fall: 'Meanest man in football' got start locally
By Jacob Brown / brownj@reporternews.com
August 27, 2006
Back in the day - when helmets didn't have facemasks, the Dallas Cowboys were still almost a decade away from being formed and there was no such thing as a Super Bowl - Abilene' most logical NFL ties may have been to Chicago.
Four players that went to high school in the Big Country and attended college in Abilene were members of the 1951 Bears roster.
It started with Clyde ''Bulldog'' Turner of Sweetwater. The Little All-American at HSU was a first-round draft choice of the Bears in 1940 and, at age 20, started a professional career that spanned 13 years. Turner excelled at the center and linebacker positions and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Turner's presence on the Bears led to the recruitment of Ed Sprinkle, another HSU standout.
During his first practice at HSU, Sprinkle was told by his coach to line up at tackle. His response: ''Where do they line up?''
Sprinkle had never seen a college football game when he joined HSU in 1940, and his only prior experience on the field was one year of six-man football at Tuscola High School. But he learned the 11-man game quickly.
After playing three years for HSU and one for the U.S. Naval Academy, Sprinkle earned a contract with the Bears in 1944 and played for them until retiring from football in 1955. He spent his first two years at guard before making the switch to defensive end, where he carved out a legendary career that earned him six all-Pro selections and a spot on the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team.
The first Pro Bowl was played following the 1950 season, and Sprinkle and Turner both earned the trip. The next year, the Bears added two more accomplished players from an Abilene college: McMurry's Les Cowan and Brad Rowland, both Hamlin natives.
Cowan, who was a three-time all-Texas Conference defensive end for the Indians, was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round in 1950 but turned down a contract. He decided to join the Bears in 1951, when they made Rowland a fifth-round pick and the 60th player taken overall.
Both players lasted only one year in the NFL. Cowan gave up pro ball to begin a high school coaching career that included stops in Rising Star and Cross Plains while Rowland joined the Army.
It was in the college ranks that the two players made lasting marks.
While Cowan stood out on the defensive side of the ball, Rowland became a legend at running back. During his four years at McMurry, he was voted MVP of the Texas Conference three times and totaled about 5,200 yards rushing and receiving. He also played cornerback, punted and returned punts.
Rowland's versatility helped earn him the job with the Bears - though he never thought of it as a job.
''(Former NFL player) George Blanda told us we were the last ones that tried to have fun playing,'' Rowland said.
But once he returned from the Army in 1954, teams expanded their rosters to bring in players that excelled at one thing.
''I ran into a wall called specialism,'' Rowland said. ''It wouldn't matter how many top 10 statistics you had in college. That didn't mean anything anymore.''
Cowan's and Rowland's brush with the NFL was brief and Turner's was the most celebrated, but Sprinkle may have left the biggest impression. He terrorized opposing offenses with his gritty play and a move that earned him the nickname ''The Claw.''
''If a running back was running by and you couldn't get to him to tackle him because a guy was blocking, I would reach out and hook him. I used that technique coming in to get the quarterback, too, and I guess that's where they come up with it,'' Sprinkle said. ''It was effective, and I imagine if you tried something like that now they'd probably penalize you, but it was perfectly legal.''
Sprinkle earned a reputation as one of the premier pass rushers of his time, back before sacks were kept as an official statistic. Along with his style of play came the reputation as ''The Meanest Man in Football,'' which was the title of a 1950 article in ''Collier's'' magazine.
''I was just a hardnosed football player,'' Sprinkle said. ''It wasn't supposed to be derogatory, but that was more or less the way it turned out.''
Sprinkle said he believes the article may have ultimately cost him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame alongside Turner.
Tough and hard-working, rather than mean, may be more apt descriptions of Sprinkle, who said he was simply doing his job and trying to be the best football player he could be.
''George Halas said that I was the toughest football player that he ever had on the Bears,'' Sprinkle said of the Hall of Fame coach. ''That's pretty good coming from him.''
Sprinkle also earned the admiration of his teammates, including Rowland.
''He was a leader, and he didn't back down from any challenge that we know of,'' Rowland said. ''It would be 1,000 degrees in the cornfield, and we'd be running patterns, and anybody who was a receiver would have to show why he was a receiver. This guy Sprinkle, he had played years before that, and he was running down with everybody pretending to block for them by rolling over on the ground and then getting up and going back for the next guy.
''Of all the people I saw, and this includes Walter Payton, I never saw anybody train as hard as this fellow did. x85 He was heroic for a long time.''
Edowns in 1948. He totaled seven for his career.
© 1995-2006 The E.W. Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News.
By Jacob Brown / brownj@reporternews.com
August 27, 2006
Back in the day - when helmets didn't have facemasks, the Dallas Cowboys were still almost a decade away from being formed and there was no such thing as a Super Bowl - Abilene' most logical NFL ties may have been to Chicago.
Four players that went to high school in the Big Country and attended college in Abilene were members of the 1951 Bears roster.
It started with Clyde ''Bulldog'' Turner of Sweetwater. The Little All-American at HSU was a first-round draft choice of the Bears in 1940 and, at age 20, started a professional career that spanned 13 years. Turner excelled at the center and linebacker positions and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Turner's presence on the Bears led to the recruitment of Ed Sprinkle, another HSU standout.
During his first practice at HSU, Sprinkle was told by his coach to line up at tackle. His response: ''Where do they line up?''
Sprinkle had never seen a college football game when he joined HSU in 1940, and his only prior experience on the field was one year of six-man football at Tuscola High School. But he learned the 11-man game quickly.
After playing three years for HSU and one for the U.S. Naval Academy, Sprinkle earned a contract with the Bears in 1944 and played for them until retiring from football in 1955. He spent his first two years at guard before making the switch to defensive end, where he carved out a legendary career that earned him six all-Pro selections and a spot on the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team.
The first Pro Bowl was played following the 1950 season, and Sprinkle and Turner both earned the trip. The next year, the Bears added two more accomplished players from an Abilene college: McMurry's Les Cowan and Brad Rowland, both Hamlin natives.
Cowan, who was a three-time all-Texas Conference defensive end for the Indians, was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round in 1950 but turned down a contract. He decided to join the Bears in 1951, when they made Rowland a fifth-round pick and the 60th player taken overall.
Both players lasted only one year in the NFL. Cowan gave up pro ball to begin a high school coaching career that included stops in Rising Star and Cross Plains while Rowland joined the Army.
It was in the college ranks that the two players made lasting marks.
While Cowan stood out on the defensive side of the ball, Rowland became a legend at running back. During his four years at McMurry, he was voted MVP of the Texas Conference three times and totaled about 5,200 yards rushing and receiving. He also played cornerback, punted and returned punts.
Rowland's versatility helped earn him the job with the Bears - though he never thought of it as a job.
''(Former NFL player) George Blanda told us we were the last ones that tried to have fun playing,'' Rowland said.
But once he returned from the Army in 1954, teams expanded their rosters to bring in players that excelled at one thing.
''I ran into a wall called specialism,'' Rowland said. ''It wouldn't matter how many top 10 statistics you had in college. That didn't mean anything anymore.''
Cowan's and Rowland's brush with the NFL was brief and Turner's was the most celebrated, but Sprinkle may have left the biggest impression. He terrorized opposing offenses with his gritty play and a move that earned him the nickname ''The Claw.''
''If a running back was running by and you couldn't get to him to tackle him because a guy was blocking, I would reach out and hook him. I used that technique coming in to get the quarterback, too, and I guess that's where they come up with it,'' Sprinkle said. ''It was effective, and I imagine if you tried something like that now they'd probably penalize you, but it was perfectly legal.''
Sprinkle earned a reputation as one of the premier pass rushers of his time, back before sacks were kept as an official statistic. Along with his style of play came the reputation as ''The Meanest Man in Football,'' which was the title of a 1950 article in ''Collier's'' magazine.
''I was just a hardnosed football player,'' Sprinkle said. ''It wasn't supposed to be derogatory, but that was more or less the way it turned out.''
Sprinkle said he believes the article may have ultimately cost him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame alongside Turner.
Tough and hard-working, rather than mean, may be more apt descriptions of Sprinkle, who said he was simply doing his job and trying to be the best football player he could be.
''George Halas said that I was the toughest football player that he ever had on the Bears,'' Sprinkle said of the Hall of Fame coach. ''That's pretty good coming from him.''
Sprinkle also earned the admiration of his teammates, including Rowland.
''He was a leader, and he didn't back down from any challenge that we know of,'' Rowland said. ''It would be 1,000 degrees in the cornfield, and we'd be running patterns, and anybody who was a receiver would have to show why he was a receiver. This guy Sprinkle, he had played years before that, and he was running down with everybody pretending to block for them by rolling over on the ground and then getting up and going back for the next guy.
''Of all the people I saw, and this includes Walter Payton, I never saw anybody train as hard as this fellow did. x85 He was heroic for a long time.''
Edowns in 1948. He totaled seven for his career.
© 1995-2006 The E.W. Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News.