All athletic interests are focused on the gridiron.  The young undergraduate who has no likelihood of making the team, fills himself with facts about the individuals who are trying to win a place.  He starts out to be a loyal rooter, realizing that next to being a player, the natural thing is to attend practice and cheer the team in their work; he becomes interested in the individual progress each candidate is making.  In this way, the members of the team know that they have the support of the college, and this makes them play harder.  This builds up college spirit.

Every college has its own freshman and sophomore traditions; one at Princeton is, that shortly after college opens there must be a rush about the cannon, between the freshman and sophomore classes.  All those who have witnessed this sight, know that it is a vital part of Princeton undergraduate life.  On that night in my freshman year, great care was taken by Cochran that none of the incoming football material engaged in the rush.  No chances were taken of injuring a good football prospect among either freshmen or sophomores.  Eddie Holt, Bert Wheeler, Arthur Poe, Doc Hillebrand, Bummie Booth and I were in the front ranks of the class of 1900, stationed back of Witherspoon Hall ready to make the rush upon the sophomores, who were huddled together guarding the cannon.  Cochran and his coterie of coachers ran out as we were approaching the cannon and forced us out of the contest.  He ordered us to stand on the outside of the surging crowd.  There we were allowed to do a little “close work,” but we were not permitted to get into the heat of the fray.  Cochran knew all of us because we were among those who had been called to college before the opening to enter preliminary training.  Every football player who has had the experience of being summoned ahead of time will understand my feeling.  I was very happy when I received from Cochran, during the summer before I entered Princeton, a letter inviting me to report for football practice two weeks before college opened.  When I arrived at Princeton on the appointed day, I found the candidates for the team at the training quarters.

At that time freshmen were not barred from varsity teams.

There was a reunion of friends from Lawrenceville and other schools.  There was Doc Hillebrand, against whom I had played in the Andover game the year before.  Eddie Holt loomed up and I recalled him as the big fellow who played on the Andover team against Lawrenceville two years before.  He had gone from Andover to Harvard and had played on the Harvard team the year before, and had decided to leave Harvard and enter Princeton.

There were Lew Palmer, Bummie Booth, Arthur Poe, Bert Wheeler, Eddie Burke and many others whom I grew to know well later on.