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O n February 15, 1937, George Halas agreed to trade his prized possession , the outstanding veteran end Bill Hewitt, to the Eagles in exchange for the draft rights to Sam Francis, the great University of Nebraska football and Olympic star. More important to Bert Bell, Halas threw in a much-needed infusion of $4,000 in cash as part of the deal. The Eagles’ owner immediately doubled Hewitt’s salary to $200 a game and arranged for a $24-a-week, off-season job as a repairman in an auto service station—a position listed in the team’s game program as “lubrication and fuel oil salesman.” Hewitt, who would become the last NFL player not to wear a helmet, played significant roles in the Birds’ only two victories that year—both upsets on the road. Using only 15 players—with seven of the 11 starters going the entire 60 minutes—the Eagles knocked Washington out of first place in the East, 14–0. Hewitt set up the first touchdown with a sensational one-handed catch of a pass from Emmett Mortell. Hewitt lateraled to Johnny Kusko for a 47-yard gain and scored the touchdown on the next play after catching a nine-yard pass from Dave Smukler. Then, in a 14–0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers, Hewitt scored the first TD on another nine-yard pass from Smukler. Unfortunately, the Eagles continued to suffer at the gate. Although they drew 20,000 fans to watch them defeat the Eastern College All-Stars, 14–6, at Temple Stadium in August, their home crowds ranged from a high of 6,580 against the Redskins to a low of 3,107 against the Cleveland Rams. Bert and Frances did have another reason to celebrate, though, when their second child, another son, George Upton was born on October 13, 1937, at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia. At one point, after another pitifully small crowd attended one of the Eagles’ games, Smukler stopped into Bell’s office after the final whistle. “If you’re going to have a hard time making out this week, Bert, just forget my check. I looked awful out there today, anyway.” 12. The Struggle to Survive: 1937 to 1939 The Struggle to Survive: 1937 to 1939 • 71 “I thought he looked like the greatest football player of all time, particularly at that moment,” Bell said. Art Rooney was having his own financial problems.“The biggest thrill wasn’t winning on Sunday, but meeting the payroll on Monday,” he once told sportswriter Vito Stellino. But the Pittsburgh owner knew that things were much worse on the other side of the state, especially since Bell was being plagued by a string of rainy Sundays. According to Arthur Daley of the New York Times, Rooney started phoning Bell regularly. “Need any money, Bert?” he would ask. “No,” answered Bert. “I can struggle through.” Daley said that this continued for five weeks. Then one Monday morning, a special delivery letter arrived for Bell. It contained no message, only a check for $5,000. Bell wasn’t having much success as a coach, either. His two-year won– lost record now stood at 3–19–1, dead last in fifth place in the Eastern Division both times. Moreover, Bert’s father—the esteemed attorney general of Pennsylvania John C. Bell—still couldn’t understand what young de Benneville saw in this crazy professional gridiron game. “My mother would tell me that my grandfather would come in a chauffeur-driven Stutz Bearcat to practices,” Upton Bell recalled. “It might be 90 degrees, but he’d be sitting in a car with a bowler hat on, looking down and just shaking his head. In ten minutes he’d be gone. John C. considered professional football on the same general level as burlesque.” Shortly after Christmas, 1937, Bell received an unsolicited endorsement to return to his beloved University of Pennsylvania to succeed Harvey Harman, who had served as head football coach for the previous seven seasons. It came from Fred Byrod of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Pennsylvania men are said to be divided in their choice for Harvey Harman’s successor,” Byrod wrote. “Some seek a return to the graduate coaching system followed by the Quakers from 1888 to 1931. Others loudly declare Penn needs a ‘big name’ coach to restore the Red and Blue football fortunes to their once proud position. Close by the West Philadelphia campus is a man who fills both bills—de Benneville...

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