DECEMBER 17, 1933 - GLADIATOR QUARTERBACK IS BORN!

This is a fictional story based around actual events...enjoy.

Dewey Quick simply couldn't believe his eyes or his circumstance. He was actually sitting amongst 26,000 strong at Chicago's Wrigley Field for his first-ever football game, the 1933 NFL Championship contest between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. Dewey was a Chicago coal and ice distributor that followed the NFL since the APFA days of the early 1920s. He was a true football junkie and 1932 was his favorite season to date. Sure his Chicago Bears won the NFL Championship, but Dewey was more thrilled that the NFL had decided to compile statistics for the forward pass that season. He was always quick to point out that the Green Bay Packers won 10 games in 1932 on the arm of their tailback, Arnie Herber, who paced the league in completions (37), attempts (101), yards (639), and touchdowns (9). Dewey always said that the forward pass would revolutionize the game of football and here was his proof, but Bears fans didn't want to listen to why the Packers were winning, or at least that's how it seemed.

As Dewey was making his deliveries on Friday December 15th, he stopped at Gus Ballard's home to drop off a 3-pound sample pack of his company's new frozen vegetables and to see if he needed to purchase more coal for the winter. Mr. Ballard was a rather new customer and this time when he opened the door, he had a Pitsos Meat Packing Company shirt on which led Dewey to again sing the praises of Arnie Herber and his forward passing exploits. Mr. Ballard was impressed by his knowledge and love for the game, but informed Dewey that New York's Harry Newman broke all of Arnie Herber's single season records in 1933. Dewey hadn't seen the final season statistics and was in awe that Newman had surpassed Herber in completions (53), attempts (136), yards (973), and touchdowns (11). "He threw for double digit touchdowns?" Dewey said. "WOW!" Mr. Ballard replied "Go watch him in person this Sunday at Wrigley Field" and gave him a ticket to the December 17th NFL title game. "You've done your job well. Happy Holidays and enjoy the game...oh and one last thing...GO BEARS!" Mr. Ballard bellowed.

"GO BEARS!" Dewey chanted with the crowd during pre-game warm-ups. "The Cubs need to take after these guys", Dewey said to a fellow fan. "It's been 25 years since they've won the World Series, and getting swept by the New York Yankees last year 4-0 left me sick to my stomach. REVENGE today my friend, this time Chicago over New York!"

After learning of Harry Newman's record breaking season from Mr. Ballard, Dewey decided that he wasn't only going to be a spectator for the championship game, but a scorekeeper as well. With his pencil and paper ready, Dewey planned to track the passing statistics of the throwers of both teams, there was just one problem, mother nature wasn't cooperating. "Damned fog", he mumbled. "Goodness gracious, saints alive, it's the middle of December. Oh well, at least they got rid of that confounded five yard buffer rule for passing from last season. Nagurski this, Nagurski that...Portsmouth'll never let that go."

As he refocused on the game and task at hand, Dewey recognized his two favorite linemen in the distance. 233-pound Link Lyman and 262-pound George Musso, were performing a chop block drill under the tutelage of head coach George Halas at the far end of the field. They were so gargantuan in size that Dewey nicknamed them "King" and "Kong" after seeing the wildly popular movie (King Kong) earlier that year. "Better give (Chicago quarterback) Carl (Brumbaugh) some time to throw today boys", Dewey said.

As the game kicked off Dewey was rooting for a Bears victory, but also a great performance from Giants tailback Harry Newman. The Bears led 3-0 at the start of the second quarter and neither team had been particularly impressive in the passing game. As Dewey was making some notes about the game, he saw the ball sail through the fog and into Red Badgro's hands for a 29-yard New York Giant touchdown, and sure enough, Harry Newman had slung the pass. Dewey was so impressed by the toss that he wrote the word "REVOLUTIONARY, GHN (Great Harry Newman)" next to the stat notation. When the fourth quarter began, the Bears were up 16-14, Newman was having a stellar game, and even Bronko Nagurski had a touchdown pass. It turned out that neither was done yet. Harry Newman threw his second touchdown pass, an 8-yard strike to Ken Strong which put New York back up 21-16. Dewey's notation on his notepad "DAMN, GHN". Later in the fourth quarter, Chicago had the ball on New York's 33-yard line; "GO BEARS!" Dewey chanted with the crowd. Nagurski took the snap, looked like he was going to run, stopped then was looking down field. The Wrigley Field faithful stood up almost in unison and Nagurski seemed to rise with them as well. Nagurski jumped up and threw...completed it to Bill Hewitt who got to the 19 and..."What's the he........TOUCHDOWN!" Dewey yelled as Hewitt lateraled the ball to Bill Karr who scored his second touchdown of the game, giving Chicago the lead and the eventual victory 23-21. Dewey's notation next to that pass on his notepad was " BN (Bronko Nagurski) GLADIATOR, CHI > NY". He quickly tabulated the stats after the game ended and was shocked to find that Harry Newman was 13-19 for 209 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. "WOW", he gasped. "Wait til the guys hear about this!" Bronko Nagurski finished 2-2 for 42 yards with 2 touchdowns.

On Monday December 18th, during the weekly poker game at Bloke's Pub of Illinois, Dewey Quick spoke highly about the great passing feats of the day prior and how it was the sign of things to come in the game of football. Some of the guys blew him off, saying "That's Dewey just being Dewey", but the Donovan brothers had a different take. "If you believe that much in the forward pass then you should create a way that spectators can participate in football in a similar way that the professionals do," Chopo Donovan said. His brother Choto agreed and all the gentlemen mucked their cards and began creating the formula for what Dewey Quick was calling Gladiator Passer '34, in reference to the Nagurski notation and '34 for 1934, the first season that the game would be played. The initial point format was...

Completions +1

Incompletions -1

Yards +0.1

TD +6

INT -3

The participants were as follows...

Gladiator Passer '34

*Chopo Donovan - Morton Grove, IL - Unemployed, used tin foil phonograph salesman.

*Choto Donovan - Morton Grove, IL - Unemployed, used tin foil phonograph salesman.

Oscar Dundee - Chicago, IL - Upstart Polaroid photography salesman.

Duke Hovaczinski - Chicago, IL - Parking meter technician.

Ajax Logun - Chicago, IL - Pop-up toaster manufacturer.

Dewey Quick - Chicago, IL - Coal and ice distributor.

*The Donovan brothers were actively seeking ways to manipulate frequency modulation (FM) to learn more about creating a drive-in movie theater in Chicago. They were the first real loophole Gladiator QB players, no doubt.

Ajax Logun won the Gladiator Passer '34 league, followed by Dewey Quick, Oscar Dundee, the masterminding Donovan Brothers, and Duke Hovaczinski finished in last place. Each of the gentlemen pitched in a piece of the product that they worked with and created the Herber-Newman Trophy, named after the first true NFL passing stars.

The Donovan brothers were a bit skeptical of the ultimate success of the forward pass in the NFL and they weren't sure that Gladiator Passer would last with such poor numbers. In 1934, the league average passing stats were 4-13 for 59 yards with 0.5 TD and 1.7 INT. NFL teams were still running the ball almost 3 times more than they were passing it. Dewey did his part in calming the naysayers down and got everyone back on board for another season of what was now called Gladiator Quarterback for the 1935 campaign. Dewey assured everyone that the negative values would subside and that you'd see many more 100-yard passing games in 1935. Unfortunately for Quick and the other Gladiator Quarterback originators, he was more wrong than he was right. In 1935, the league average passing stats were 5-15 for 80 yards with 0.6 TD and 2.2 INT.

Dewey Quick won the 1935 Gladiator Quarterback league followed by Duke Hovaczinski, Ajax Logun, Oscar Dundee, Choto Donovan, and Chopo Donovan.

The Donovan brothers bowed out of the group in early January 1936, citing that the forward pass will never amount to anything in the NFL and that it effectively is dead.

Oscar Dundee announced his resignation in late February 1936, frustrated with the negative numbers. In a letter to Dewey Quick, Dundee said "If this game was more Arnie Herber than Honolulu Hughes, I'd still be playing". He was kind enough to send Dewey a signed Polaroid photo of Bronko Nagurski and George Musso that he took himself.

Duke Hovaczinski was the next to go in March 1936, citing that the Chicago Cubs deserve all of his sporting attention, even if Gladiator Quarterback took five minutes a week. Hovaczinski said "0 wins in the 1932 World Series, 2 wins in the 1935 World Series, and on that pace, our Cubs will be World Series champions again in 1938, ending an ugly 30 year drought!"

Ajax Logun never gave in or gave up, but he and Dewey Quick both decided in April 1936 to end the Gladiator Quarterback game due to lack of participation. Both were still confident that the forward pass would be a highly successful play in the NFL and they also hoped that someday this game would be resurrected and enjoyed by honest people of high character, integrity, and football knowledge.

On opening day (September 13) of the 1936 NFL regular season, Ajax Logun and Dewey Quick stuffed the Gladiator Quarterback rules, guidelines, and past results into a waterproof bottle, along with a lump of coal and a slice of toast, and ceremonially football passed it into Lake Michigan, not saying goodbye, but "til we meet again".

REVISED 10-17-08