COMMENTARY: How Many Players Does a Football Team Need?
By Rene A. Henry
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Seattle, WA (HNN) – Coaches and administrators who believe a college football team must have 120 players and 85 scholarships should take a look at the successful winning and competitive team fielded by William & Mary in 1953 with only 22 players.
That season W&M posted a 5-4-1 record with a team that could not even scrimmage because one of the players was a 118-pound placekicker. Head coach Jackie Freeman’s team lost only once in its first six games. W&M posted wins over Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Richmond and George Washington and tied a nationally-ranked Navy team.
As momentum and success increased, so did a multitude of injuries that finally caught up with the team late in the season. A violation of the Honor Code by more than a score of student-athletes decimated the football team from the previous season. The Honor Code was established first at William & Mary in 1779 by then Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson who graduated from W&M in 1762. Walk-ons came from the intramural touch football league who had never played football at the intercollegiate level. Not all 22 players were on athletic scholarships.
Nicknamed the “Iron Indians” -- which now the NCAA would consider politically incorrect -- the players competed without face guards and masks, and played both offense and defense and on all kicking and receiving teams. The quarterback, Charlie Sumner, even called his own plays. The players had to be versatile and flexible like Bill Marfizo who, during the season, played seven positions including center, offensive tackle and end, and defensive halfback and linebacker.
Sumner passed for touchdowns, punted, rushed for 903 yards, scored 30 points and even intercepted six passes. He went on to play eight years in the NFL as defensive safety for the Chicago Bears and Minneapolis Vikings. During his career as a coach with the Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots many considered him the best defensive coordinator in the NFL. His last season he was head coach of the Oakland Invaders of the USFL.
Jerry Sazio, a junior guard and linebacker, who went on to play several years professionally in Canada, missed two games with torn knee ligaments, and in the season’s last game, broke his hand and dislocated his shoulder. The following year Sazio was named first team All-Southern Conference, beating out Sam Huff, West Virginia’s consensus All-American and Hall of Famer.
Fullback Bill Bowman and lineman John Bednarik were both named honorable mention to All-American teams. Bowman went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions. Bednarik was the younger brother of Penn All-American and Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik.
Today, most colleges facing the overwhelming challenge Jackie Freeman had with only 22 players would cancel the season. I can think of only three coaches who would compete: the late George Allen, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, and the current W&M coach, Jimmye Laycock. And not one of them ever was paid $1 million or more a season to coach.
The 1953 William & Mary Iron Indians certainly make the case to bring sensibility to the skyrocketing costs of college football with reduced sizes of teams and scholarships. I wonder if any of the players on the teams that competed and lost to W&M would argue that the Iron Indians needed more than 22 players!
Rene A. Henry is an author and writer who lives in Seattle. A native of Charleston, WV, he spent five decades of his career in sports at all levels, including 10 years in higher education. His latest book, Communicating In A Crisis, is a must read for anyone in sports management and marketing and higher education. Many of his commentaries are posted on his website at www.renehenry.com.