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Newest ‘Epilogue’Traces W&L’s Pro FootballAlums
Not generally known as a football powerhouse, Washington and Lee University nevertheless sent more than a dozen men to the National Football League, and their story is told by a scholar of W&L athletics in the newest “Rockbridge Epilogue.”
Neely Young is the author of “Washington and Lee Generals in the National Football League,” available free at www. HistoricRockbridge.org. Young is a 1966 W&L graduate with a Ph.D. in history from Emory University and the grandson of Harry K. “Cy” Young, who won 16 varsity letters as a W&L student — four each year – and became the university’s first alumni director.
The ”Epilogues” article, illustrated with contemporary photographs of most of the players, begins with the pre-World War I career of Johnny Barrett, who played with the Chicago Tigers, a founding NFL team.
The W&L–NFL football story ends with the career of the legendary Walt Michaels, a 1951 graduate who, as a fullback and linebacker, helped bring W&L to the Gator Bowl in his senior year. Michaels later played for Cleveland and Green Bay but achieved his greatest recognition as the controversial coach of the New York Jets from 1977 to 1982.
Young’s analysis of W&L’s pro football record parallels his earlier article for “Epilogues” about Washington and Lee men who played in major league baseball. The new article is the 52nd in the “Epilogues” series, which was established eight years ago to publish scholarly articles about Rockbridge history that are not available elsewhere.
