PAG® FOUR
The Nittany Lyon
The Nobile Affaii
It may be that Leo Nobile’s absence in the guard s ot on Penn
State’s 1947 line might not be as large a hole as si-me people expect.
Leo, it develops, has a little of that temperament exclusive until
this time to Johnny Joe Tepsic, another Lion hero, who threw over
the Jce Co.lege days for a crack at the mean old world of profession,
al sports.
Not that Bob Higgins won't miss
Leo. He is a fine guard . . . other
wise the Redskins wouldn't hare
signed him and three other pro
teams wouldn't have offered him
contracts
It’s an open secret that Nobile,
like Tepsic, didn’t have the old col
litdh try. Leo, like Joe, is interested
in the dough primarily. If he can
have a .ittle fun, that’s okay too.
And Nobile, like Tepsic, is sus
picious. Leo suspected Higgins of
trying to keep him from making mo
ney in the pro ranks, by asking Jock
Sutherland of the Steelers not to
sign the Penn State guard until af
ter he had finished his work at the
College. The story is that both Suth
erland and Higgins thought it better
for Leo, Penn State and the Steelers,
to let Ncbile finish his eligibility in
gohool.
Tepsic, of course, suspected everyone as trying to keep him from
making money, refused to step down When the Brooklyn baseball
Dc digers asked him too, and as a result wound up in Pt. Worth, Tex
as, in the Texas League.
Leo has been tagged a potential All-American. He gtili had a
year of eligibility left a t Penn State. Higgins told last spring that
Nobile was the moat-improved player on the squad.
To this, Mr. Nobile replied: "Now maybe I'll get some of the pub
licity that Bob Rutkowski's been getting."
Nice team spirit.
Leo has said, that he “was unhappy at Penn State,” and wanted
to reap the financil benefits of a profession! football contract.
And Higgins says, “Any college player could maintain he was un
happy and seek to drive a bargain with a pro club. The player, in
many cases would be just interested in learning hew much he could
earn in the professional game.”
Which brings up another point. Mr. Higgins is slightly peeved, not
only by the loss of a ineman on whom he counted heavily, but also
by the principle cf the thing.
The National Football League adopted a rule that member clubs
would be restraine dfrom signing p’ayers who still had n opportunity
to play college ball. The following day the Redskins announced the
signing of Nobile,
“The new rue,” Higgins says, “requires that a club should contact
the college coach in such cases, and inquire fully into the facts. No
ocach wants an unhappy player, and certainly don’t want to keep
Nobile gainst his wishes.
Higgins agreed that Leo had signed hi s contract before the rule
went into effect. But that doesn’t alter the principle of he deal. Bcb
feels, and rightly so, that he should have been told at the time of the
signing. In fact, the Redskins should have notified him.
After a'l, if Leo signed his contract last February when he said
he did, it wasn’t exactly right for him tc work out with the Lion grid,
ders this spring. He also ate at the College training table.
Nobile is not to be condemned for turning pro. If he felt that he
he had to make some money, and he knew that it’s contrary to Coll
ege policy to P a: y p ayers at Penn State, it is all right for him to try
to make a living.
But the way h e went about it is questionable. We know that Leo
feels that Penn State wasn’t giving him a square deal. Any fi otball
player or poach will te 1 you that Nobile was better n ff than any other
player. Eut Leo hasn’t given anyone a square deal at Penn State
Whether he has taken oare of himself will b r»n next Fall. ,
After all, a guy has got to eat, hasn't he?
Karver Gels Grand Slam
Gerry Karver, unbeaten out
doors in 1947, is credited with the
first “grand slam” in the mile
since Leslie Mac Mitchell, of N. Y.
Q., swept all competition before
him in 1941.
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LEO NOBILE
Three '47 Veterans
Vie At Tailback
On Grid Roster
Pefchel, Williams, joe
Compete With Chuckran
Tauuacn, me spot in the
single wing aUaca, will be well
manned by Lions tnis Fall, ac
cording to Coach Bob Higgins,
who hopes his 1947 eleven will
prove one ol the East’s better
tootball teams.
Back from last year’s team,
which won six ana iosi two
against rugged competition, will
be three capable oali-carners,
namely scatback Elwood Petchel,
of Easton, signal-calling Bobby
Williams, of Pittsburgn, and
speedy Larry Joe, of Derry
Township.
PETCHEL TRIPLE'THREAT
Petchel, who kicks and passes
remarkably well for a little fel
low , is the only triple threat in
this trio, although Williams is
an exceptionally good passei, and
Joe is strong defensively and
also the fastest back on the
squad..
Of the returnees, Johnny
Chuckran, of Lansford, was with
held from Spring drills because
of shin splints, but Bill Luther,
of Osceola Mills, looked good as
a runner, kicker, and passer.
Chuckran was a stand-out in
1944, and is expected to regain
his old form. Luther has yet to
play a college game, since he en
tered the armed services befor :
the 1945 season opened.
Joe Colone fullback and
punting ace for last year’s Lions
will also answer Coach Higgins’
call for pre-season practice in
mid-August. Colone starred in
the backfield on the 1942 team as
a freshman before entering the
Army.
SELL OUT AT HERSHEY
According to advance reports,
the Lions’ opener with the Wash
ington State Cougars will be a
sell out contest.. The Hershey
Stadium, site of the game, has
a capacity of approximately
15,000. The game has been
scheduled as an arc-light show
on Saturday, September 20.
Student applications for tickets
to the game may be picked up at
the Student Union desk in Old
Main.
On Way Up
Horace Ashenfelter is expected
to succeed Curt Stone as Penn
State’s premier two-miler in 1948.
Leo Nobile, Lion Guard,
Signs With Pro Redskins
Leo Nobile, Penn State guard, has signed a contract to play for
the Washington Redskins of the National Football League for tjhe 1947
season.
Nobile, who still had a year of eligibility left at the CLl.ege, will
join Johnny Jafifurs, former All-American at Penn State, on the
Washington line. :
The announcement last Mon
day that Nobile had been signed
perplexed Nittany Lion Coach
Bob Higgins. The National Foot
ball League had recently an
nounced that it would not sign
any college players who still were
eligible to play this fall.
NOT VIOLATION
Bedt Bell, commissioner of the
National Football League, stated
that the Nobile deal was not a
violation of the league’s recent
hands-off ruling.
“Nobile actually signed some
time ago, before our new rule
was adopted,” Bell said. “The
rule is not retroactive. It is de
signed to prevent the signing of
players who have enrolled for the
Fall semester in any university
or college.”
In Pittsburgh, it was reported
that Nobile had signed a Red
skins contract last February,
after receiving an offer to join
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the Pittsburgh Steeiers, also a
NLF team.
“Coach Higgins and Dr. Jock
Sutherland, coach of the Steeiers,
are close friends, which makes
me believe that Bob asked him*
to steer clear of me until I fin
ished at Penn State,” Nobile was
quoted as saying.
GETS OTHER OFFERS
Nobile also said that he had re
ceived offers from the New York
Giants of the National League,
and the Buffalo Bisons of the new
All-America Football Confer
ence.
The Ambridge, Pa., footballer
returned from the service in the
spring of 1946, with two years of
eligibility still left at Penn State.
Nobile was outstanding at his
guard post for the Nittany Lions
last fall, and at the end of prac
tice session this spring, Coach
Higgins stated that Nobile was
the most improved player on the
squad.