AMOS ALONZO STAGG - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 11/14/1951 - HFSID 252603

AMOS ALONZO STAGG
Amos Alonzo Stagg sends an important autograph letter in 1951 about the early years of football to Alexander M. Weyand who published The Saga Of American Football in 1955.
Important Autograph Letter Signed: "A.A. Stagg" in pencil, 1p, 8½x11. Selinsgrove, Pa., 1951 November 14. To Col. Weyand. In full: "My data is back home at 127 W. Euclid Ave Stockton, Cal. If you can wait until I get back there in Dec. I think that I can give you the facts on the K.O. Wedge. I know that Walter Camp devised a small wedge for use as a swing play in 1889 when I was playing regularly. I do not think we used it in 1888. I think that Princeton sprung the kick off wedge on Yale in 1884 on Thanksgiving Day at the Polo Grounds. I was a Frosh but did not see that game. I saw the Yale-Princeton game in 1885 at N.H. & in 1886 at Princeton. I have no remembrance of 1887. In 1888 & 1889 I played & have some remembrances. The KO Wedge was in general use by all teams. My best wishes to you." The Saga Of American Football by Alexander M. Weyand was published in 1955. Amos Alonzo Stagg (1862-1965) played and coached football for 71 years. He was 98 years old when he retired as a football coach from Stockton Junior College on September 16, 1960. He played at Yale and made the original All-America football team in 1889. Stagg is credited with the use of dummies for tackling practice and introducing (at the University of Chicago) the end-around play, the shift and the man in motion. Stagg was 102 when he died. 3 loose-leaf holes at left. Fine condition.