On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell

4. Back to Penn as Captain of the Quakers

R elaxing on the ship steaming its way back from France, Top Sergeant Bert Bell was asked if he would still accept the captaincy of the 1919 Quakers. This was the position that he had been elected to serve before the war intervened. “Will I?” Bert exclaimed. “Well, you just bet your life I will. I’m going to get there as quick as I can. And let me tell you something: I’d rather have that honor than anything I know. Why, if General Pershing came up and said, ‘Here, boy, you can have my job and I’ll take yours at Old Penn,’ I’d say, ‘Thank you kindly, General, but there’s nothing doing.’” Bell had been slated for an officer’s commission if the Armistice hadn’t been signed. Now all he could think of was getting home and leading the Red and Blue once again. As the respected captain of one of the nation’s top football teams, Bert was consulted by the coaches on all personnel matters. He helped with play selection and even devised some new plays. Once, in fact, he shocked teammates and coaches alike by having the gall to suggest to Bob Folwell that the team throw a pass on its first play from scrimmage. The coach was not amused but he continued to let Bell supervise the training routines and give postgame interviews to the press. Bell was, undoubtedly, the primary reason why expectations were so high going into the 1919 season—especially when he was connecting with long, precision passes and nailing 40-plus-yard field goals with regularity in preseason practices. “Bert Bell is a natural leader endowed with physical requisites to class him as a brilliant player,” wrote sportswriter D. L. Reeves. “He has qualified as a skilled general in field techniques and is fortunate at having at his command the best material seen on Franklin Field for more than a decade. Pennsylvania seems destined to take the leading position in the intercollegiate football world in the East this fall.” 4. Back to Penn as Captain of the Quakers Back to Penn as Captain of the Quakers • 17 Unfortunately, things did not go as well as fans had expected. The Quakers started off exceptionally strong, blowing away their first five opponents by a combined 237–7 margin. But they finished with a 6–2–1 record which included disappointing, back-to-back losses to Penn State and Dartmouth and a frustrating 3–3 tie with Pittsburgh. Bell required three stitches over his right eye after suffering a cut during a brawl in the 16–0 opening game win over Bucknell. At one point, a small riot broke out in the stands between Bell detractors and Bell supporters. This occurred after a group of fans in the south stands began chanting, “Take Bell out!” Some fans thought that Bert had kicked Bison star Johnny Hendren in the teeth, but Hendren himself said later that it never happened . Others recalled watching Bell’s father, John C., the distinguished attorney general, stoically sitting on the Quakers’ bench while fans on one side cheered his son and fans on the other side screamed,“Get your kid out of there. He stinks!” Even with their starters playing less than a half, the Quakers blanked their next two opponents, PMC College, 54–0, and Delaware, in the rain, 89–0. It was the most points for a Penn team in a single game since a 93–0 win over South Jersey College in 1893. “Penn has the greatest team I have ever seen,” said Delaware coach Bert Shipley. “My team was made to look bad but they were up against one of the best elevens of all time.” The Quakers then rolled over Swarthmore, 55–7. “The game cannot be allowed to pass without a mention of Bert Bell’s gallant leadership,” the Philadelphia Bulletin reported.“Bert ran the team flawlessly, choosing just the right play at the right moment in almost every case. Bert also did his share of carrying the ball and making interference, but the latter goes without saying.” By now, interest in the Quakers reached a fever pitch. Work began immediately after the Swarthmore game on adding 5,000 seats in the west stands to accommodate the crowds expected for the Penn State, Pittsburgh , and Cornell games. This would increase Franklin Field’s capacity to more than 28,000. After the unbeaten Quakers methodically took care of Lafayette, 23...