Ode to Pre-War Football Cardboard

[cfhofer]

Jeff,

Two fantastic pieces, congrats. Here is a great short story about Shevlin and Hinkey (from "Big Games" by Michael Bradley):

Back in the early 1900's Tom Shevlin was the best player in all of football. He was big, strong, fast (and extremely rich, even for Ivy League standards). He was also an arrogant brat. One day, he asked Mike Murphy, the longtime Yale trainer, how he compared to Frank Hinkey. Murphy admitted that Shevlin was faster and stronger than Hinkey. And since Shevlin outweighed Hinkey by nearly 50 lbs, he was certainly a more imposing physical specimen than the Yale legend. "Now tell me one more thing," Shevlin said to Murphy, no doubt impressed with the trainer's assessment, "How do I compare to Hinkey as a football player?"
Murphy smiled. "Do you really want me to tell the truth?"
"Sure thing"
"Well, then, Frank Hinkey makes you look like the change from a counterfeit nickel."

That is how good Hinkey was....

[jefferyepayne]

Originally Posted by cfhofer

Jeff,

Two fantastic pieces, congrats. Here is a great short story about Shevlin and Hinkey (from "Big Games" by Michael Bradley):

Back in the early 1900's Tom Shevlin was the best player in all of football. He was big, strong, fast (and extremely rich, even for Ivy League standards). He was also an arrogant brat. One day, he asked Mike Murphy, the longtime Yale trainer, how he compared to Frank Hinkey. Murphy admitted that Shevlin was faster and stronger than Hinkey. And since Shevlin outweighed Hinkey by nearly 50 lbs, he was certainly a more imposing physical specimen than the Yale legend. "Now tell me one more thing," Shevlin said to Murphy, no doubt impressed with the trainer's assessment, "How do I compare to Hinkey as a football player?"
Murphy smiled. "Do you really want me to tell the truth?"
"Sure thing"
"Well, then, Frank Hinkey makes you look like the change from a counterfeit nickel."

That is how good Hinkey was....

That's a great story! We ought to have an entire thread on Mr. Hinkey. By all accounts he was a holy terror on the field even though he only weighed something like 145 pounds when he got to Yale. Just being one of a handful of 4x all-americans in the history of college football tells you all you need to know about him.

Check out this story about his playing days and Yale's rivalry with Harvard.

http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.c.../football.html

jeff

[cfhofer]

I agree Jeff. It is a shame he has been forgotten over the years.

[cfhofer]

I was contacted by the Tiffany Co to purchase this large, original 1888 Yale football team photograph from their archives. This team went 13-0 and was untied and unscored upon that year. What makes this piece extra special is that it was acquired from an estate auction of Pa Corbin's grandson. After confirming the provenance with his descendants, this photo was indeed the personal copy of the team's infamous captain. I feel blessed to be the temporary custodian of such a historic piece.

Attached is a pic with my eight year old son.

Mark

[TanksAndSpartans]

Beautiful piece. I checked here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1888_Y..._football_team That was some season.

[jefferyepayne]

Incredible piece, Mark! Congrats.

jeff

[revmoran]

Could there be a better exemplar of 19th Century Yale football than Pa Corbin - he out-camps Camp. Great photo and even better photo holder -