“At West Point amateur sport flourishes in its perfection, and a very high standard of accomplishment has been attained in football.  There are no cross-cuts to the kind of football success West Point has worked for:  it is all a question of merit based on competency, accuracy and fearless execution.  Those of us who have had the privilege of assisting in the development of West Point football have learned much of real value from the officers and cadets about the game and what really counts in the make-up of a successful team.  It is fair to say that West Point has contributed a great deal to football generally and has, in spite of many necessary time restrictions, turned out some of the best teams and players in the last fifteen years.

“The greatest credit is due to the Army Officers Athletic Association, which, through its football representatives, started right and then pursued a sound policy which has placed football at West Point on a firm basis, becoming the standing and dignity of the institution.

“There have been many interesting and amusing incidents in connection with football at West Point which help to make up the tradition of the game there and are many times repeated at any gathering of officers and cadets.  I well remember when Daly, the former Harvard Captain, modestly took his place as a plebe candidate for the team and sat in the front row on the floor of the gymnasium when I explained to the squad, and illustrated by the use of a blackboard, what he and every one else there knew was the then Yale defense.  There was, perhaps, the suggestion of a smile all around when I began by saying that from then on we were gathered there for West Point and to make its team a success that season and not for the benefit of Harvard or Yale.  He told me afterwards that he had never understood the defense as I had explained it.  He mastered it and believed in it, as he won and kept his place on the team and learned some things from West Point football,—­as we all did.

“The rivalry with the Navy is wholesome and intense, as it should be.  My friend, Paul Dashiell, who fully shares that feeling, has much to do with the success of the Navy team, and the development of football at the Naval Academy.  After a West Point victory at Philadelphia, he came to the West Point dressing room and offered his congratulations.  As I took his hand, I noted that tears were in his eyes and that his voice shook.  The next year the Navy won and I returned the call.  I was feeling rather grim, but when I found him surrounded by the happy Navy team, he was crying again and hardly smiled when I offered my congratulation, and told him that it really made no difference which team won for he cried anyway.

“The sportsmanship and friendly rivalry which the Army and Navy game brings out in both branches of the Service is admirable and unique and reaches all officers on the day of the game wherever in the world they are.  Real preparedness is an old axiom at West Point and it has been applied to football.  There I learned to love my country and respect the manhood and efficiency of the Army officers in a better way than I did before.  I recall the seasons I have spent there with gratitude and affection, both for the friends I have made and for the Army spirit.”