From the archives: Dudley's Still Bounding Along

(Nov. 22, 1942)

Hardly a day passes but someone asks or writes about Bluefield Bill Dudley, Virginia's 19-year-old All-American back last season and at the ripe old age of 20 the rookie star of the National Professional Football League this Fall. The word rookie is really superfluous for Dudley is THE pro star of the season. The records bear that out. He's far out front in yardage gained and, barring some unforeseen accident, he'll become one of the few first-year backs to lead the National League ball-carriers in the ground-gaining column.

In Pittsburgh, where Dudley romps for the Steelers, the yardstick for measuring a halfback was, until this year, Whizzer White, the one-time Rhodes Scholar from Colorado. In years to come, the Smoky City pro fans will compare Steeler stars to Dudley, not White. As a freshman back in 1938, White led the league in yards gained. Dudley, with two more games to play, has surpassed Whizzer's mark.

Thanks to Dudley's inspirational play, the Steelers, instead of playing the doormat role they've played in years past, are second in the Eastern Division standings and, with a break in luck, might have had a playoff game with the Redskins for the Eastern championship. For once, the Pittsburghers have had something to cheer about and they've cheered themselves hoarse over Dudley and the Steelers.

On Sunday, October 25, the Steelers played the Redskins in Pittsburgh. A Steeler victory would have tied the Pittsburgh team with the Redskins. A crowd of 8,692 persons packed Forbes Field that day. There never had been such a crowd for a pro game in Pittsburgh before. And while the big crowd was disappointed in the game's outcome, the spectators went away talking, as they've been talking all season, about Dudley. For "Uncle" Dudley was a standout that day, just as he's been in every one of the Steelers' games.

Said Washington Coach Red Flaherty after that game:

"Bill Dudley is the greatest rookie back to ever play professional ball. He's the kind of fellow who can go for a touchdown every time he gets hold of the ball."

The Redskins coach meant that. He'd said last year that Dudley would be his pick of all the college stars. And he had good cause to say Bluefield Bill is the "kind of a fellow who can go for a touchdown every time he gets hold of the ball." With a bad ankle, Bill had galloped 85 yards for a touchdown against the Redskins in the first meeting of the teams this year.

. . .

Last year, the Steelers finished on the very bottom of the league standings. They won but one game and managed to get a stalemate in another. In the remaining games they were beaten by all sorts of scores, ranging from a 10-7 setback at the hands of Philadelphia to a 34-7 rout by the Chicago Bears.

Nor was the outlook much brighter this year. Not until Dudley took charge.

The Steelers lost the opening game of the season to Philadelphia and the old cry, "The same old Steelers" was lifted by Pittsburghers. That despite a brilliant performance by Dudley.

Writing about the game, Chester L. Smith, the sports editor of the Pittsburgh Press and the author of those Time Out cartoons, had this to say:

"The Steelers made the mistake of turning in short intervals of highly commendable tactics, which caused countless citizens to turn to their neighbors and inquire if there were any rules in the union that made it illegal to chuck a block on an opponent at 3:35 p.m. and utterly ignore him at 4:02. The after-taste would have been much better if they had refrained at all times from acting like football players. Then we could have told each other that they simply didn't have it and would have been saved the suspense of trying to figure out how it is possible for 11 men to drop off to sleep at the same time in the full view of 13,000 spectators.

"Eleven is hardly the proper count, however. Bill Dudley, the hardy Southern gentleman from Virginia, got his signals mixed and kept the bit in his mouth every second he was in action. It was Mr. Dudley, the charging Cavalier, who hot-footed it 44 yards for the first Pittsburgh touchdown scarcely more than a moment after the game had begun, and there were numerous times he appeared on the verge of breaking away again, although any blocking that had been planned failed to materialize and these excursions always ended with William at the bottom of a stack of Eagles.

"In one instance, Mr. Dudley very nearly escaped by providing his own interference in the form of a pair of pliable shoulders and bone-rattling knees. He managed to gain 10 yards or more beyond expectations in this fashion, causing Cap'n Bob Higgins, the Penn Stater, who was sitting near by, to remark that he was glad he had come, for in a few minutes he expected to see, for the first time, a man throw a forward pass to himself.

"The report is Mr. Dudley not only did most of the playing but a large share of the talking, and he was constantly exhorting his fellow athletes to stand on their own feet instead of their backs and get busy. But it must be that course in public speaking at Virginia isn't so much, for his argument has no visible effect. ..."

Pittsburgh's Village Smithy underestimated the public speaking course at Virginia and the inspirational qualities in Dudley's Southern accent.

More than a month after he had written the above, and the Steelers had started winning and Dudley had become Pittsburgh's favorite, Smith wrote, after a session with Co-owner Art Rooney and Coach Walter Kiesling of the Steelers:

"It seems that Mr. Dudley, in addition to being a halfback of parts, is a rousing cheerleader and an incurable optimist. In his young mind, there is no room for the thought of failure. A Dale Carnegie in cleated shoes and shoulder pads, you might call him."

. . .

We always maintained that Dudley was the greatest captain we'd ever seen, a belief shared by Frank Murray. Bill was a fountain of inspiration all three years he was playing for Virginia, but last year, when captain of the Cavaliers, he lifted them as we've never seen a team lifted.

That quality of leadership hasn't diminished as a pro. It's just as Kiesling said, old hands at the pro game listen to him and actually get worked up by the 20-year-old kid. As Rooney says: "Whizzer White couldn't carry this boy's shoes." Dudley is easily the finest back we have had in our 10 years in the league. Bill has the old college try to go with his ability."

And he's given the Steelers that "old college try." Which explains why they've recently been winning and drawing crowds.

Recently, Bob Considine, the New York columnist, wrote that speed was necessary equipment for a great back. Dudley was his example in attempting to prove his point. He pointed out that Dudley, in a foot race with between the backs on the College All-Star squad which played the Bears in Chicago, finished fifteenth. Which was true, but as Tex Mayhew, the Steelers' trainer pointed out, those backs weren't carrying footballs. "Give them all footballs," said Mr. Mayhew, "and I'd wager he'd come in first."

And what does Dudley think of pro ball?

"I wouldn't say it's much harder than college ball," is Bounding Bill's answer. "Just about the same as college play. One thing, though, in college ball you get a bit of a letup once in a while, maybe after a successful play. But in this league, you go at top clip every minute. Roughness? Well, it's about the same. A fellow just has to take care of himself.

"The men are bigger and more polished. You can't push them around like we did in college. But the holes are still there. You just have to catch the defense off guard. I've been lucky so far. Just lucky."

And Bill honestly believes that. He's got a quiet confidence, but he still believes he's had more than his share of luck.

We like the remark he made to a Pittsburgh writer. "When you newspaper folks are handout out bouquets to ball-carriers," he told the writer, "you should pass some along to the fellows up front, also."

. . .

He's the same lovable boy who won the hears of all Virginians last year with his all-American performance on and off the gridiron. The other day, we had occasion t wire him, and at the end of his answering wire was this: "Hope Ramsey Johnson or [Joe] Muha makes the all-America team because all are good enough." He never overlooks an opportunity to get in a plug for the other fellow.

Last year, Murray, who sent many a start to the pro ranks from Marquette, said Dudley was the greatest pro prospect he'd ever seen. He went on to add that Bill hadn't matured; that when he did he'd be the top back of them all.

He's done better than all right as a 20-year-older in the big league, and undoubtedly could go on to become one of, if not the best, pro back of all time. But this probably is his one season in the play-for-pay ranks. He's always had his heart set on coaching (remember Jock Sutherland said he had more head on him than any other pro rookie he'd seen), and that's what he wants to do when the war is over.

He was too heavy for his to get in the naval aviation, but the Army Air Force wants him. On October 2, he was sworn in the U.S. Army Air Force, and is marking time until he gets his call, if being the leading ground gainer in the pro ranks can be called marking his time.

We'll wager he'll be one of Uncle Sam's aces. With that competitive spirit, he'd be an ace at anything.