Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 7, 1950, edition 1 / Page 2
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-PAGE rfco - SATURDAY, -'JS.TtUAP.Y 7' T'Xf THE" DAILY TAR HEElT fiir ant the dit tui sta So nc th big Ca Sti col tot the Rh the Ca: of wh a c an the Bif am an tat pet ath bas olii Of too fac she of: J. s pu fa th; stc th. ca: er, tel dd i cu ch All l he Way, Choo Choo-Charlie Justice Strictly AdLib By ZANE BOBBINS End of the Trail , .THE BLAZING heels of Charlie (Choo Choo). Justice will, write finis to one of the most glamorous careers in the long histdiy of football this afternoon in. Jacksonville, Fla. When the fix-time All America captains a team of Rebels in the first annual fclenior Bowl game. ' , Charlie, who has declined all pro football "feelers," will climax , ti thrill-packed 11-yer grid career today after capturing vir luuliy every major honor that this .football-conscious-nation of tur. ha to offer. . The sensational Choo Choo was All America from the word go. Io made the select circle four consecutive years while playing With the Tar Heels, had made Service- All America for two years prior -lo that, and was an All Southern schoolboy star at Asheville's Lee Edwards high school. ' His freshman year at Carolina was lived in typical storybook fashion. Fresh out of the navy, Charlie was rush&d by a host of professional clubs in addition to countless colleges and universi ties. He listened to most of the offers, but ended up by choosing his own state university. With the news that Justice had picked Carolina, rival coaches started tearing their hair and dreaming up defenses to halt the mighty mite. One enterprising soul went completely overboard tLoiit the whole thing and dreamed up a cock and bull story that had Charlie under contract to the Philadelphia Eagles: ' 'THY 'story " alleged that the Choo Choo had signed with the pros shortly after graduating from high school, and was ineligible at Carolina. 1 As things turned out, there was nothing much. to the-'ktory" (Justice was offered a contract with a bonus attached,! but'.re--turned both before entering the. navy); and things drifted slowly buc k to normal. . More Fireworks .' WHEN THE Southern Conference season got under .way, the . fireworks lost little time in redeveloping. Choo Choo held, the match this time, however. Virginia Tech was the first SIC opponent to sample Justice's phathom-like dipsy doodle style of running. The Gobblers were in top shape for the 1946 opener and surprised everyone by hold ing the Tar Heels to a 14-14 deadlock. They might have won had it not been for the Asheville Ambler who danced 65 yards for the tying marker. Justice shook loose for a 63-yard teedee run against Miami (Fla.) University the next week, and followed that one up with 70 and 90-yard touchdown runs against Florida U. Then came what many experts call the Choo Choo best's run an electrifying 84-yard jiqstep against Tennessee's powerful Vols in their own backyard, Shields-Watkins Field. It was a twisting, turning run that had the fans' hearts in their mouths. He scored, and the game movies showed that 13 Vols went for the razzle dazzle artist during the course of his excursion. As; Orville Campbell put it in his rave ditty "All The Way Choo Choo," "He took the .ball, poured on the coal; ran a thousand yards from goal to goal." The Other Side FAME. LOST no time in seeking out Charlie Justice. The Carolina Express rolled for other long paydirt jaunts during that first year and failed to slow up noticeably in the years after when opposing coaches set their defense for him, roughed him up in pile-ups, and tried in every way to stop the miniature marvel. There's another side to the story, however. It blossomed into; full view during the past season. After surviving six rough-and-tumble years in the toughest of service and collegiate football ranks without missing a game because of an injury, the blow came. In the twilight of his brilliant career, the indestructible Choo Choo's luck finally ran out, and old Dame Fortune gave him a kick in the pants that he'll probably never get over. " One week before the game that Charlie had waited a lifetime to play, he suffered his first serious injury a bady sprained ankle that refused to repsond to treatment. And so, he sat the big one out; even cried on the sidelines of New York's Yankee Stadium while watching his mates stave off a Notre Dame landslide forvthe better part of the game. Thrills and Chills CHARLIE HAS certainly had his share of thrills and chills during his young life. Missing the Notre Dame clash, he says, Was his greatest chill the biggest disappointment he ever had. On the brighter side again, one would think choosing his biggest thrill would come a little harder for the busy little man that cracked all kinds of records in the course of "his career. Justice has little trouble in putting his finger on his number calling that unforgettable 43-yard touchdown scamper that pulled one thrill, however. If was the 1948 Duke game, he says, re the Tar Heels from tho brink of disaster after half the game had gone scoreless. Final score, 20-6. Today, Justice is the same likable little guy that led Asheville High to grid glory back in the early 40's. He never let his ability and the glory that was heaped upon him go to his head. Someone recently asked one of Justice's very close friends how the Choo felt about missing a lot of first-team All Americas "He feels the same about missing them as he did about making them," the friend replied. "It doesn't affect him." I A AA i a ' - y w I ' f 'S ft 4 j (h' --i ; :7: r ; W 1 fc t A i 'U' Makes Last1 Run As An AH Southern Schoolboy Star Chop Choo Had Great- Record As Schoolboy Ralph James, Justice's high School coach was contacted earli er in the year and asked for data jConterrung Charge's high school career. Coach James had' no official records at his disposal, but sent along an interesting letter which read, m, part: "1. The season of - 1941: 17 touchdowns averaging 25 yards per (touchdown) run, leader in 11 victories, no defeats. "2. The 'season of 1942: 17 touchdowns averaging. 35 yards per run. Longest run, 99 yards against Knoxville City High, champions of Tennessee.-- "3. Operation for severe boil on Tuesday and two long touch down runs on following Friday, "4. His type of athlete made coaching a t pleasure as well as successful." Justice Total Reaches High Of 10 Miles In four years of football for Carolina Charlie- Justice has ad vanced the ball more: than 10 miles. - ' V, ! r . The arha2ing little man ran for a net of 2,755 yards, passed for 2,299 yards, kicked for 10, 439 yards, returned punts for 1,200 yards, returned kickoffs for 892 yards, returned intercepted passes for' 33 yards, and has caught passes good for 232 yards. ; Justice scored 39 touchdowns and passed for 25 more in his four-year career, thus accounting for 384 ponits. ; His overall punting record of 42.6 yards per try stamps him as the 'best booter in the history of the game, and the record will probably stand for a long, long time. I f- - ' :,,.-. ' I - " - ' ' - J' I ' ' ' ' h ..,--7 J - tff , .... f $ - t ..... """" ...i.,.v:-:o - imini'Mir 1 1 Jafc ' , - , K t ,','sJ He'll Always Be All America In The Hearts Of These Kids Ex-Bainbridqe Coach Tells Abolit Choos Naval Days A 99-yard Teedee Run Against Knoxville Hi Justice 19th In Long Line Of All Americas Charlie Justice is the 19th in a long line of All America grid- ders from the Old North State, but is th first three-time first team All America in North Caro lina's football history. Freddy Crawford, Duke's giant tackle, started the chain back in 1933 when he was chosen on the "dream team." Like Justice, Crawford was reared in western North Carolina. His home is Waynesville, 28 miles from Asheville. The Carolina AA representa tives are: George Barclay, Don Jackson, Andy Bershak, Steve Maronic, and Paul Severin. Severin was first two-time se: lectee, receiving the honor in 1939 and again in 1940. Art Werner is twentieth in the long line from this state. And Baseball, Too Brother Joe, Right Many stories have made the rounds during the past few years concerning Charlie Justice's foot ball, activity at the Baimbridge Naval Station. The. stories always vary, so we went directly to Joe Maniaci who was coaching the Bain bridge eleven at the time. Maniaci wrote the following letter describing the incident: "When Charlie reported he was 18 years old, 5' 9", and weighed around 165 pounds. He was, a frail youngster compared to; the others that reported and I refused to issue him equipment beacuse I was afraid he'd get hurt.- He kept coming back and kept begging me for equipment, so just to get him out of my hair I.gave him everything but shoes. , . ,". . .He was always the first one -.out for practices and the last one off the field. I couldn't help but admire him for working so hard. Of course, he still con tinued to pester me about the shoes and about getting in for contact work, so finally I decided to actually try him. I was still worried about him getting in- r .v - . ' $ A At ! Ai ' J T i I ! .. if ' "" U - - ' . ! " i iihliujjmihimii mn-irt .MWjiitntftltLiifiirwiMWi miMiiln in ll lliimmi frir lm i'i m inniii Here Is The Lighter Side Of Charlie Justice Story A Family Porirrfl: Rft' CUirltw, ini Sink During his four-yer tenure at the University, Charlie Justice has been probably the most talked-about young man in col lege circles. The seemingly-end less ' bull sessions that always pop - up when Charlie's name is mentioned have ' been, for Mhe most part; serious" discussions of the Choo Choo's amazing grid iron talents, but there has been the humorous side, top. . j In the ensuing paragraphs are related a few of the better-known anecdotes concerning the famous Tar Heel. . , Wally Butts tells this one' about a recent Carolina-Georgia clash. "We were playing North Caro lina and they had this boy Jus tice. We had a boy who had bfeen a guard. for three years without any success, so we shifted him to endl .1 told him how great Choo Choo Justice was and for him to watch him. ". . .In the third quartw, with the score tid, this boy . was .at Justice around touch- jured and warned him about how rough the game was, but he wasn't the least concerned. The first contact work that he took part in was a punting drill which consisted of two linemen going down under a punt, and then a back would receive the kick and attempt to evade the linemen. "When Charlie's turn came, I asked the two linemen to help me get this kid out of my hair for his own good, but to be careful not to hurt him.The two best ends on the squad were slated to attempt to tackle him. Charlie received the punt beau tifully, started toward the on rushing linemen and, to the great surprise of everyone, got away untouched. I put him through the test again and again, but by means of his tricky running he wasn't stopped. After prac tice, I called Justice aside and told him to report to the equip ment room because it just hap pened that there was a pair of football shoes there that would fit him. . ." ' l:Pf : 1 : A ' - I Rival Coaches Respect Choo As Grid Great Charlie-, Justice, is what known .as a "player's p'.a,.r." which is. a." great- tribute ir, i. j to the lvalf-pirrt ..Carolina Ail America star, - .More ttun th. however, he ,is.,a coach's play-r. too. . - When a player wins the t. admiration, and praise, of j ivl coaches, he's bound to. h No run-of-the-mill ball-car: would ever have prompted Vir ginia's Art Guepe to say. "J h,,. is the greatest football pLv-r I've ever seen. Bill Dudley i of the great players in the hi. toi y of Southern football) couMn't carry his shoes." Justice's former Bainhndp coach, Joe Maniaci, had tins to say: "Charlie was never a quit ter, no matter how hopeless th situation." Maniaci also r(-ral an event in the 1944 Bainbridm Camp Perry game., The bahle, according to ! Maniaci," was ' a whale of a defensive, 'Contest. :sA Charlie as weil asi lall- ths-hac!:? on the squad was tpKing a severe beating." .r However,' Harry Hopp, former ly of the Detroit Lions, broke into the clear and dashed GO yards for a touchdown. "The last block on that play," said Maniaci. -'was made by Charlie the kid that everyone thought was just a run ner." Maniaci later said, "I am proud to have had a part in starting Justice on his way to greatness, and it couldn't have happened tn a better boy." Wallace Wade, boss of Caro lina's arch rivals, the hated Blue Devils, also had kind words about Charlie. "If he (Justice) played as well against everybody as he does against us," opined Wade, "they'd have' to invent a new Heisman trophy. The present one wouldn't be enough." . v tec If '' 'A '- ; '? ', Asj$ $ HI .'ft 2-: With High School Coach. Ralph 'Jantel 's 3 his end position when took a punt and went him for 75 yards and a down. . .So I called the boy over f or . an interview. 'I thought, I told you to watch Justice,' I said to him. Well, the boy shook his head and said he did. -'And he looked like a helluva good foot ball player to me, Coach, , while I was watching him. ' : Then there was the one that came out of New Orleans last year when the Tar Heels were down for the Sugar Bowl game. A drunk staggered into a Canal Street bar after a trolley had jumped the track while turning a sharp corner. "I shaw it all," he stammered, asking for a double shot of bourbon. "Sharlly Justice was going the other way in a Shevvy and faked the damn thing" right off the track." There are a great many other anecdotes concerning the famous Choo Choo that are interesting, .but-Are too long to relate here. Pr" ""f wMMMf f.. . ... iiii-T- ruiinnmi-iniramiii i m n . .. . &z&sA miHh y l , X pis v i ':r" s-' - AS'i - ' T; jA:- A- r r v. - - 1 When His Luck Ran Out Trainer Quinlan At His Side - - MU . photos courtesy Winston-Salem Journal.)
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 7, 1950, edition 1
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