is the way I heard.

Watohuck watched from a distance as the men in underpants and funny shirts tried but failed

to jump over the high bar. Dressed in work boots and heavy coveralls, he was not exactly

attired for track or field, but Watohuck was not inclined to make excuses.

So when his classmates took a break, the newest student at the Carlyle Indian School

jogged across the Cinder track, accelerated at the last moment and glided over the bar with room

to spare. Five feet nine inches, a new college record. A hundred yards away, coach Pop Warner

dropped his clipboard in surprise and ran over to investigate. Coach Warner was always on the look

out for raw talent and what he had just seen was impossible to ignore. Have you ever played football,

the coach asked? No, said Watohuck. I've never played anything.

Coach Warner handed the young Indian an odd-shaped ball and led him over to the scrimmage.

He explained the drill in simple terms. The goal is to run to the other end of the field without

dropping the ball or being tackled by any of these men. Do you understand? Watohuck nodded,

a dozen men spread out on the field before him. Coach blew a whistle and the young Indian

sprung into action. He sidestepped the first two men who tried to bring him down and leapt over

the next three. The remaining seven came at him like a wall. So Watohuck put his head down and

accelerated. It was a bit like a bowling ball colliding with a cluster of unsuspecting pins. He

simply ran through them like a human battering ram and into the end zone. The new kid smiled at the

flabbergasted coach and said, nobody tackles Watohuck. That season, Watohuck scored a record

25 touchdowns for Carlisle and became the first collegiate to rush for over 2,000 yards.

With Pop Warner's encouragement, he would go on to distinguish himself and track and field,

lacrosse, boxing, tennis, wrestling and baseball. And just for Grins, he entered the intercollegiate

...