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Do You RememberrMerrillat of Army? He Was a Good One\He Caught Prichard’s Passes and He Was Soldier of FortuneGrantland Rice Reporting:IT DOESN’T seem possible that 34 years have ducked bysince Prichard o\‘ Army begun firing passes lo M eirillat against Xavy. Thai was J014, and the Prichard-Merrillat team was directly responsible for the 20-0 Amy victory over a fine Xavy team—using the play that Notre Dame had called on the year before.Word came up from Miami a few days ago that Merry had died. The strange part is that so few knew the life record of a soldier offortune’* that made the old Richard Harding Davis hero look like aretired farmer,I spent a few days with the former Army star . two years ago when he was in charge of Army forces at Miami Beach, and it was there I picked up a few delads of the MerrlUat saga—but notfrom Merry, who had little io say about himself.^ Here is part of his record as il was given tome:Army life was much too tame for the old West Pointer, after a great record in World War I. So he resigned. When he was heard from again, Grantland Rice Merrillat was training the Persian Guard, where he turned out a brilliant job as several thousand trodps proved later.FROM PERSIA, or Iran, Merry moved to China where he was a genrral and trained over 40,000 Chinese troops, the pick of their nr my.Then the second world war broke ntn, and Merrillat roporlnd to the French at the Magi net Line where be was made a sergeant. The Magl-not Line became too quiet a spot after the first few months, so Merrillat left and became a captain in the French Foreign Legion where he served with bravery and distinction.When the United States entered the war. Merrillat resigned fromwho should know, repor- that the former football player had no equal as a Uoop trainer or an army builder.Thf.‘*e are only a jcw details ot hU aim*zing rnicer, which prpitl-tally covered lhe world.'She sunset Jf'vrji.comex fo vs *11,Wtlk the campu fires glowing. Each must anstvet' the call, Merry, ,Owtcyond our “knowing.But you've found a place that is strange and new,Another outpost where ,n thrill is duo.the Legion and repor led for duty So here’s looking, mate, where a wtih the U. S. Army Here he was dr'Hun cofoes true, again given a training job Those With lost winds blowing.Concerning the Pass GameTICE PKlCIIAJtI-MBRR!LLAT combination recalls the fact that the Midwest was far ahead of the sleeping East, as far as the ?or-tvard pass is concerned.Yost was among the first lo take H up. Siagg was even ahead oi Yost. Pop Warner, of Carlisle, was n big supporter. I could mention many others.1lt;atbrb*.HBIT THE EAST wanted no part of the pass. Back In 1907. Yale heal Harvard 12-0 on n pass from Y coder to Clarence A Iron. And then promptly discarded (he pass, for the next six or seven years.Princeton didn’t like the pass. Haughton and Harvard didn’t like the pass. Dobie of Cornell, later, hated the pass. So when Noire Dame came t o West Point in 1913 with Gus Dorals flndKnulc Rockne, Army was completely unprepared for the passing game. Army called it a ‘‘high school play.Next fall Army wasn't any too keen about using the pass to any marked extent. But Fieldmg Yost got hold of Prichard and insisted that he use it at every chance. Army wasn’t any loo keen about Yost butting in. fcut when OldHurry-Up decided tc bull in. Army and Xavy, plus the Marines couldn't stop him.FcIRegaiToLeiaiPiivs.vs.A.iCuKiBeEnMiJllScSO TRICIIARD soon began chucking passes Ip Merrillat with much success. Navy was outclassed through the airWe have often « ondered why U look lt;ho East so long to use the pass. No big eastern team wanted any part of it nr,til the Notre Dame uprising against Army, And both Slagg and Yost had called on lhe pnMt long before Notre Dame ever used it. Back around 3906, to be exact.Even as great a coach as Jock Sutherland was, he never liked the pass.We like to keep the ball,” Jock would say grimly. “You have no control of a ball In the air.” If took Ford ham's Seven walls of granite” to turn Jock around.ETlotAte;ohneBeDAN McGUGlN afc Vanderbilt was the first in lhe South to use 1he pass, McGugin had brilfiant pass plays as far back as 1908. One play where lhe ccmor, playing si the end o' the line, look a Jong pass for a victorious touchdown.fithe 131k;ScIIwricWC:Llt;T.PiSfhAirniO’biIt look Yale many years to call on the pass—practically up to Clint Frank’s lim*\ Casey to Bill Felton'’ was Harvard's best passing combination, N.Y.U had a great passer in Ken Strong. Frank |o Kelly was Yale's flrsl contribullon to the passing game, and that came 20 or 15 years later than it should have. i .The East has never had passing 11 combinations to compare with Notre Dame and Michigan, or with the Southwest, the section that really gave the passing game ils greatest boom with Sammy Baugh, Davey O'Brien and too many others to mention.But at least Merrillat was ona of the,first in the East io help prove what the passing gamp could moon.
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse, New York, US
Tue, Jul 06, 1948
Page 22
Full Page
Clipped by
Nick N.
IL, USA 02 Dec 2022
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