"One of Princeton's old reliables was our center, George, '89. He may
not have got much out of the plaudits from the grandstand, but those of
us who knew what he was doing appreciated his work. We always felt safe
as to our center. He was steady and brilliant.

"It was during this time that Yale developed a wedge play on center.
There were no restrictions as to how the line would be formed, and Yale
would put all their guards and tackles and ends back, forming a big V
with the man with the ball in the center.

"Yale had been able to knock the opposing center out of the way till
they struck George. How well I remember this giant, who was able to hold
the whole wedge until he could knock the sides in and pile them up in a
bunch. Yale soon gave him up and tried to gain elsewhere.

"I must tell you about one more of Princeton's football players. Not so
much for his playing, but for his head work. During the years that I was
captain, in the fall of '88 the rules were changed so that one was
allowed to block an opponent only by the body. In other words, not
allowed to use hands or arms in blocking. It was Sam Hodge, who played
end and worked out what is known to-day as boxing the tackle. You can
understand what effect it would have on a man who was not used to it.
The end would knock the opposing tackle and send him clear out of the
play and the half would keep the end out."

I once asked Cowan to tell something about his experiences and men he
played against.

"The Yale game was the great game in my days," he said. "Harvard did not
have the football instinct as well developed as Yale, and it is of the