Too Much to Bear

The Chicago Bears are probably the greatest collection of heavily falling stars ever assembled on a U. S. football field. Against Washington, in the play-off for the national professional championship last fortnight, they piled up the highest score (73-to-0) in the 20-year history of the National Professional Football League. "Break up the Bears," growled U. S. fans last week, as they cocked their ears to what was going on behind closed doors in Washington's Willard Hotel.

Inside those doors the ten club owners of the National League were meeting for their annual ritual known as the draft. The draft is something the league's bigwigs thought up to prevent the richer clubs from snatching the best college talent. Each club in turn picks, one at a time, 20 college footballers of the graduating class. The club that finished last in the league picks first, the club that finished first picks last. (Whether the club will get the player it picks is another matter; none of the players on the list can be invited to turn pro until "preferred negotiation rights" to him have thus been assigned to a particular club.)

But last week the star-stuffed Chicago Bears had already acquired a corner on this year's crop of All-Americans. By prearranged deals with the tail-end Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bears got the dickering rights to Michigan's Tom Harmon (the Eagles' first choice) and Stanford's Norman Standlee (the Steelers' first choice), in addition to their own selections: Ohio State's Don Scott and Boston College's Charley O'Rourke.

Though only 50% of the draftees actually sign up, this potential line-up was too much for the other club owners to bear. Before adjourning, they voted to plug the loophole in their draft rule: next year no club can sell or trade its first-or second-choice draftees until one playing year has elapsed, except by consent of the other nine league members.

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