Hollywood Story: High School Football, That Is
- Posted on 15th September 2015
- in Entertainment, entertainment books, Hollywood books, Hollywood High School, Hollywood memoirs
- by Ben
Since football season has begun here’s a
Hollywood story
of a football kind excerpted from chapter 2 of Three Stages, the first book of my so-called Hollywood memoir.
“That fall, [1954] my junior year, I had grown to 190 pounds of muscle and was the prototype of a high school fullback.
“Unfortunately the way one made the team was to be vicious in practice. I was not, by nature, sufficiently fierce to prove myself the player that my physical skills would imply. I didn’t hit hard enough in drills. When I had the ball I ran over, around and away from my teammates but I didn’t show Ernie, the coach, enough aggressiveness. I was labeled “a gutless wonder” and relegated to the third string. I knew within myself that I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt but I didn’t prove it in practice. I got into every game but only as the holder for Jack Matthews, our place kicker. Jack was a phenom as a kicker. He was big, played tackle on offense and what is now known as nose tackle on defense. Jack could kick a forty yard field goal without even taking a step into the kick! With Bob Collins, [AKA Cobb, my best friend] the long snapper, we practiced for at least half an hour after practice every day and with us three together Jack never missed a kick in the two seasons we were the place kick unit. On Whittier College’s freshman football team two years later I experienced the only tremor of fear I ever had on a football field when we played his team. Jack was kicking an extra point for the Occidental College freshmen and I found myself with a straight shot at blocking his kick. For an instant I thought, ‘My God, he’s gonna break my arm!’
“He didn’t and I blocked the kick. We had a great laugh and my forearm was sore for a week.”
…
Click here to get Three Stages
“My senior year I was back on the football team and still the ‘gutless wonder’ as far as Coach Nauman was concerned. By then there was unlimited substitution so I was strictly an offensive player. For our opening game the starting fullback was out with an injury and in our first possession the second stringer got hurt and had to leave the game. Ernie came over to the bench where I was sitting next to a 135 pound wing-back. He asked this kid if he knew the plays for fullback. The kid said he didn’t and Coach sort of shrugged and said, ‘Okay, Bryant.’
“I ran out onto the field and was not greeted with enthusiasm by my teammates. It was second down with short yardage and the obvious play was a fullback up the middle so I got the ball. I ran straight ahead, leveled both the linebacker and defensive back who tried to tackle me and, after about fifteen yards, was tripped by the safety. After that run there were looks of astonishment on the faces when we huddled up. Cobb had a big grin. Without going into a play-by-play suffice it to say that I was a holy terror on the field. When I wasn’t the ball carrier I made my assigned block then knocked down another opponent or two. When I carried I ran over people, knocking one guy out cold. We scored and when I ran off the field Ernie Nauman grabbed me by the shoulder pads and said, ‘What the hell was that?’ To which I replied, ‘Gee, Coach, I don’t know those guys so I’m not afraid that I’ll hurt ‘em.’ It was an epiphany for both of us. I wasn’t gutless after all. I was afraid that if I went all out I’d hurt my friends! I was now first string fullback.”
…
“My senior year I had a student teacher in my favorite class, physiology. His name was Jerry Porter and we hit it off well. Jerry was also an unofficial student coach on the football team and he thought I had potential as a college player. He was a recent graduate of Whittier College, just outside LA, where he was a starting end for two years. So after the season Jerry drove me to Whittier to meet the coach, George Allen. Yes, THAT George Allen, future Super Bowl [and NFL Hall of Fame] coach of the Redskins.
“To make a long story short, Mr. Allen was impressed by my physique and the recommendation of one of his former star players and he arranged for me to get a grant in aid. Not a full scholarship but sufficient financial support for me to be able to go to Whittier.”
Click here to get Three Stages
Tags: Author Ben Bryant, Coach George Allen, entertainment books, Hollywood books, Hollywood High School, Hollywood memoir
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