On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell

29. More Warfare and the Sermon on the Mount

S hortly after New Year’s Day 1954, the Canadian situation resurfaced. This time, however, Bert Bell reacted quite differently and surprised everyone by changing his tune. “The war is on,” the commissioner bellowed after learning that the New York Giants’ Arnie Weinmeister, one of the NFL’s top tackles, had played out his option and jumped to the new British Columbia Lions franchise in Vancouver.“The Canadian League has again breached our contracts. They had better start counting their players.” As Bell stepped into Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel to open the annual league meetings he disclosed a new approach, emphasizing that the NFL was prepared to counteract the Canadians’ encroachment by bidding for their top native players. “We have a list of all the Canadian players, some of whom could make our league,” he explained.“I repeat. If they want a player war, they’re going to get one.” Orville Burke, the vice president of the Calgary Stampeders, quickly responded by declaring that an all-out war over players was in the offing. Furthermore, he accused the NFL of hiring a “propagandist” to slander the Canadian game and persuade college players to stay home in the United States. “If he means we are telling the American players the truth about Canadian football, then we’re hiring a propagandist,” Bell replied, identifying the new league consultant as Bob Snyder, a former Canadian coach, who frequently told the players that conditions in Canada aren’t always as bright as they appear. Jim McCaffrey, president of the Ottawa Rough Riders, accused Bell of “popping off” and charged that the NFL had recently held a secret draft meeting to get a jump on their professional counterparts north of the border. 29. More Warfare and the Sermon on the Mount More Warfare and the Sermon on the Mount • 203 “Mr. McCaffrey has a wonderful imagination,”Bell responded.The commissioner then invited the Canadian official to “stand outside the BellevueStratford to see for himself” the annual NFL player draft in progress. Otherwise, the four-day confab was the “shortest and most harmonious winter meeting in the history of the NFL,” according to various written accounts. Explaining why the meetings were held “without one bitter argument ,” Bell pointed out that only one team, the Chicago Cardinals, failed to make a profit in 1953. In addition, three other teams avoided red ink because of television revenue. Despite some agitation for it from the players, the commissioner said that the owners never considered implementing a pension plan similar to that of major league baseball. “Our players average only three or four years,” he explained. “They don’t stay with us long enough to warrant such a plan. We have discussed the possibility of life insurance for the players.” The owners unanimously agreed not to appeal Judge Grim’s antitrust ruling and rewrote Article X to conform to his decision. They agreed to play all games on Sundays whenever possible—Eagles officials explained that three night games in 1953 cut heavily into their upstate attendance— and defeated a proposal to increase rosters from 33 to 35 players. They also slapped Bell gently on the wrist by again rejecting his perennial plea for the elimination of the extra point. “Just say my defeat was humiliating,” the commissioner joked. Bell could afford to be magnanimous, especially after George Halas announced that the owners had unanimously agreed to extend his contract for 12 years until 1965. Entering his ninth year as commissioner—he previously had three-, five-, and ten-year contracts—Bell later told reporters that he declined an increase in pay because too many clubs were still near the “money-losing” line. “We spent over $200,000 over the past two years in league business, including [fighting the U.S. government] anti-trust case, the Yankee Stadium lease, the [Dallas] Texas loss, the Baltimore settlement, and so forth,” he explained. In May, the pro football “war” shifted to television when NBC announced that it would be carrying 13 Canadian Football games in the United States during the 1954 season. The Toronto Globe and Mail estimated that the network would receive $320,000 for the games, which included all playoff contests. Bell told the Associated Press that he had no problem with the deal. “I heartily approve of all the free advertising football can get, whether it be 204 • Chapter 29 from the newspapers, the radio or television,” he...