A Chicle a day through the end of May

[vintagetopps]

Jeff,

Your half way. Keep up the great work.

[jefferyepayne]

Huff, puff, pant, pant. I feel like I'm hitting the wall in a marathon. Got ... to ... keep ... scanning ...

jeff

[jefferyepayne]

Card #20 in the Chicle set is Warren Heller. Warren never left home. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA and was a star player at a Pittsburgh high school. Warren Heller attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1929 - 1932 where he was a star tailback for legendary coach Jock Sutherland. As a sophomore, he ran for 200 yards in a win over Penn State. He was a consensus All-American his senior year as Pitt went undefeated during the regular season (with two ties) and received a Rose Bowl bid.

Warren Heller played three season in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Pirates (later renamed the Steelers) from 1934 - 1936. In his only year as a starter in 1934, he was 2nd in the league in passing yards (511) and 5th in rushing yards (528) for a team that finished 2 - 10. The team improved significantly during the next couple of years but Heller's playing time diminished for unknown reasons.

After retiring from football, Heller taught social studies and physical education in the Deer Lakes School District near Pittsburgh and led East Deer to a conference championship in football before retiring in 1972.

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jeff

[vintagetopps]

Great looking Heller card. I like the colors on the helmet.

[jefferyepayne]

Card #22 in the Chicle set is Shipwreck Kelly. His given name was John Simms Kelly but he was nicknamed "Shipwreck" either after Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, who was a famous pole sitter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole-sitting) in the 1920's or because of his running style in college.

Shipwreck attended the University of Kentucky where he was an All-American in both football and track. He played in the NFL for the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1932 - 1937, having his best year in 1933 when he was named 2nd team All-Pro and led the NFL in receptions, yards per reception, and touchdowns.

Shipwreck Kelly became player/coach and then player/coach/owner of the Dodgers when he and a partner purchased the flailing franchise from its previous owner. The Dodgers were descendents of the Dayton Triangles, an original member of the NFL. They were also part of the first televised NFL game on October 22, 1939 against the Eagles.

After retiring from football, Kelly became an investment banker and real estate investor. His son, John, participated in the 1980 winter olympics.

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jeff

[jefferyepayne]

Card #23 in the Chicle set is Beattie Feathers. William Beattie "Big Chief" Feathers grew up in Virginia and led his high school to the VA state championship. He was an All-American halfback at the University of Tennessee, where he scored 32 TDs in the 30 games he played. Tennessee had a 25-3-2 record while Feathers was there. He was voted MVP of the SEC in 1933. Feathers also played baseball and basketball while in college.

Beattie Feathers played seven seasons in the NFL for the Bears, Dodgers, and Packers. He was first team All-Pro in 1934 and second team All-Pro in 1936. He is best known as the first player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season which he did in his rookie year for the Bears. Beattie was such a talented runner that George Halas used him as the team's featured back over Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski who were both on the Bears that year. To be fair, Grange was pretty beaten up by this time in his career. The 1934 Bears went 13-0, becoming the first team in NFL history to complete the regular season with a loss or a tie. Unfortunately for them, Feathers broke his shoulder two games before the end of the year and sat out the final two regular season games. He played injured in the playoff and the Bears were upset in the NFL Championship Game by the NY Giants in the infamous "Sneaker Game" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_NFL_Championship_Game).

Feathers never fully recovered from his shoulder injury and played the next six seasons with an immobilizing brace on his shoulder. Red Grange once said that if Feathers had stayed healthy, he would be in the HOF. Beattie Feathers still holds the record for yards per carry by a running back in a season (8.44/carry). Michael Vick broke his record for yards per carry in 2006 but as a QB.

Feathers also played minor league baseball between 1936 - 1942 where he hit for a combined average of .316 but never made it to the Majors. He was player/manager for the Kingsport Cherokees in 1943 and hit .346 that season.

After retiring from playing football and baseball, Beattie Feathers was a college coach in both football and baseball up until his retirement in 1978. He is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

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jeff

[jefferyepayne]

Card #21 in the Chicle set is Cliff Montgomery. Cliff "Monty" Montgomery grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Columbia University. After captaining the freshman squad, he became a 3 year varsity starter at quarterback and led the Columbia Lions to a 22-3-2 record. In what is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets of the twentieth century, Montgomery led Columbia to a 7 - 0 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford in 1934. Montgomery majored in history at Columbia.

The '34 Rose Bowl was played on a field that had had to withstand 3 days of heavy rain. Fireman pumped two and a half million gallons of water out of the stadium on game day but it immediately began to rain again. Many considered this to favor Stanford as they had a 17 pound per person weight advantage over Columbia. In a play that will be remembered forever, Montgomery executed a trick play, known as KF-79, for the winning score. Reminiscent of the Boise State vs. Oklahoma play in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Montgomery slipped the ball to Al Barabas while faking to another back and racing around the end himself. As the entire Stanford team followed the fake hand-off and also Montgomery, Barabas executed a naked bootleg to the blind side with the ball on his back hip for a touchdown. Stanford had been scored upon only four times the entire season. Columbia won the game 7 - 0 and Montgomery was named MVP.

Montgomery played only one year in the NFL for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1935) and played tailback. He only started three of eleven games that season and decided to move on from football thereafter.

Following a stint in business, Montgomery served with the United States Navy during World War II. He earned the Silver Star during the 1945 invasion of Okinawa, saving the lives of 400 sailors when he rescued them from a burning destroyer in rough seas.

Montgomery returned to business after WWII and had a successful career working at McGraw Hill while also spending 25 years as a college football official. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was named Columbia athlete of the century.

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And from the days when cigarette smoking was cool ...

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jeff