Author: Ziemba, Joe
Binding: Kindle Edition
Format: Kindle eBook
Number Of Pages: 476
Release Date: 19-06-2019
Details: When one considers traditional high school football powers in the United States, a tiny institution in Chicago is never mentioned. It has been decades since Morgan Park Military Academy last fielded a football team, yet the influence of its gridiron program cannot be disregarded. With a decorated football history dating back to 1893, the private school on Chicago’s south side completed nine undefeated seasons, sent four representatives to the College Football Hall of Fame, and often experienced difficulty scheduling games due to the powerful teams it sent out on the field. Yet it rarely enrolled more than 200 students!
Author Joe Ziemba details the fascinating history of the Academy football program from its beginnings in 1893 through its final season as Morgan Park Military Academy in 1958. Cadets, Cannons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy focuses on individual and team stories throughout the years, taking readers back to a time when game travel was via horse and buggy, game reports were carried by the major Chicago newspapers, and football stars were treated as local celebrities.
Ziemba, whose father was the football coach at the Academy in the 1940s and 1950s, uncovered numerous “forgotten” incidents from the past, including an episode in 1900 when the students were so pleased with a football victory that they accidently burned down a campus building! The reader will also meet former Academy players (and College Football Hall of Famers) like Jesse Harper, who became the legendary coach at Notre Dame; Wallace Wade, who led Alabama to three national championships; as well as Albert Benbrook, a two-time All-American at the University of Michigan. In addition, the steady hand of University of Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, who helped guide the Academy squad in its early years, is profiled.
Aside from these four Hall of Famers, the Academy football program also produced numerous collegiate head coac
Languages: English