A Chicle a day through the end of May

[jefferyepayne]

Card #23 in the Chicle set is Beattie Feathers. William Beattie "Big Chief" Feathers grew up in Virginia and led his high school to the VA state championship. He was an All-American halfback at the University of Tennessee, where he scored 32 TDs in the 30 games he played. Tennessee had a 25-3-2 record while Feathers was there. He was voted MVP of the SEC in 1933. Feathers also played baseball and basketball while in college.

Beattie Feathers played seven seasons in the NFL for the Bears, Dodgers, and Packers. He was first team All-Pro in 1934 and second team All-Pro in 1936. He is best known as the first player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season which he did in his rookie year for the Bears. Beattie was such a talented runner that George Halas used him as the team's featured back over Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski who were both on the Bears that year. To be fair, Grange was pretty beaten up by this time in his career. The 1934 Bears went 13-0, becoming the first team in NFL history to complete the regular season with a loss or a tie. Unfortunately for them, Feathers broke his shoulder two games before the end of the year and sat out the final two regular season games. He played injured in the playoff and the Bears were upset in the NFL Championship Game by the NY Giants in the infamous "Sneaker Game" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_NFL_Championship_Game).

Feathers never fully recovered from his shoulder injury and played the next six seasons with an immobilizing brace on his shoulder. Red Grange once said that if Feathers had stayed healthy, he would be in the HOF. Beattie Feathers still holds the record for yards per carry by a running back in a season (8.44/carry). Michael Vick broke his record for yards per carry in 2006 but as a QB.

Feathers also played minor league baseball between 1936 - 1942 where he hit for a combined average of .316 but never made it to the Majors. He was player/manager for the Kingsport Cherokees in 1943 and hit .346 that season.

After retiring from playing football and baseball, Beattie Feathers was a college coach in both football and baseball up until his retirement in 1978. He is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

feathers35front.jpg
feathers35back.jpg

jeff