Last weekend I watched the George Clooney film, Leatherheads. The film itself is a comedy about the rise of professional football in the 1920s. While laughing between scenes, I found myself thinking about a couple of things.
Carlisle Indian School, deaf football players, and Gallaudet.
Last summer I read Carlisle vs. Army, written by Lars Anderson. The book told the story of the Carlisle School football team and their enemies on the gridiron and in real life, the United States Army (West Point). Carlisle vs. Army recounts the story of the great Jim Thorpe, who played for Pop Warner and also won the gold in the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 summer Olympic Games; and the story of a hard-nosed linebacker for Army, a guy who would later be known as Ike - Dwight Eisenhower.
Back in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century, Gallaudet College was a gridiron force. If I remember correctly, the Gallaudet eleven played against teams such as University of Maryland, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, and Randolph Macon College to name a few. Gallaudet held its own against these big-name schools, winning a few, losing a couple.
Why did I bring up Carlisle in the first place? Because I see resemblance between Carlisle and Gallaudet. Both schools were set up in the first place to "serve" a specific population. Native Americans at Carlisle and the deaf at Gallaudet. Both schools had a lot to prove in their programs. Carlisle and her Indian players wanted to prove they belonged in a white man's world; so did the deaf players.
In the book, Anderson writes that Carlisle went on a barnstorming tour of the country, even traveling from their little town in Pennsylvania across the country to California, and taking on opponents in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Illinois, and many others on the east coast. Gallaudet did not have that luxury, but their players were subject to similar teams up and down the east coast. From its first season in 1880 until 1888, Gallaudet did not lose a single game, and its first loss was to none other than the Navy.
In 1890, the U.S. Army slaughtered women, children, and old people at Wounded Knee. That was the low point of United States mistreatment of Indians. In the efforts to civilize Indians, the U.S. government set up the Carlisle Indian School. A similar concept was conceived in Washington, D.C. as Amos Kendall donated his land for a school for the deaf and dumb.
What would happen over the next several decades is that Gallaudet continued to play football, "defying" odds that deaf could not play football. Carlisle closed in 1918, so they were not able to continue with their football tradition.
Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post wrote a book last year (The Real All Americans) where she credited Warner, "characterizing them [Carlisle] as 'The Team that Invented Football,' due to the innovations introduced by Warner, which turned the team into a national football power and opened up the game's offensive strategy significantly."
In 1894, Paul Hubbard decided on a whim to have his team huddle up to prevent the opposing teams from stealing plays. That became the huddle, which is a common sight in football in all levels from Pop Warner to the professionals.
Both schools have had a significant impact on the history of football, and it's not a coincidence that both schools also have had an impact on American social and cultural history as well.
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