It all ended with two laps around the goal posts. Lloyd Philpot Jr., a defensive end, fell down in the middle of the second lap. We left him there in the end zone, on his stomach, one leg twitching slightly. His father had won allconference honors at Baylor for three straight years.
That evening Emmett Creed addressed the squad.
"Write home on a regular basis. Dress neatly. Be courteous. Articulate your problems. Do not dragass. Anything I have no use for, it's a football player who consistently dragasses. Move swiftly from place to place, both on the field and in the corridors of buildings. Don't ever get too proud to pray."
3
Rolf Hauptfuhrer coached the defensive line and attended to problems of morale and grooming. He approached me one morning after practice.
"We want you to room with Bloomberg," he said.
"Why me?"
"John Billy Small was in there with him. Couldn't take the tension. We figure you won't mind. You're more the complicated type."
"Of course I'll mind."
"John Billy said he wets the bed. Aside from that there's no problem. He gets nervous. No doubt about that. A lot of tension in that frame. But we figure you can cope with it."
"I object. I really do. I've got my own tensions."
"Harkness, everybody knows what kind of reputation you brought down here. Coach is willing to take a chance on you only as long as you follow orders. So keep in line. Just keep in line-hear?"
"Who's rooming with Taft Robinson?" I said.
"Robinson rooms alone."
"Why's that?"
"You'll have to ask the powers that be. In the meantime move your stuff in with Bloomberg."
"I don't like tension," I said. "And I don't see why I have to be the one who gets put in with controversial people."