"We handicap ourselves when we don't give the players a chance to have spring practice. Why should football be enclosed in a period of three months in the fall. In the spring, it is a great opportunity to practice crucial parts of the game without being injury conscience," Peabody says. "If we had the chance to practice in the spring, we would be able to beat competition outside the Ivy League. You should compete because that is one of the great things of sports. You shouldn't do anything half-heartedly."

McInally disagrees with the criticism Fish and Peabody offer. "To me, the Ivy League was the most competitive conference in the country. Any team could knock off another team any week. I think that kind of competition is the best kind and it has the right perspective. Again, it does not preclude someone from playing pro football."

Being men who have played or are playing football for money, and realizing that their careers are not permanent, Szaro and McInally value the opportunities the academic and athletic experiences at Harvard provided.

"Harvard--I would recommend it to anyone," Szaro says. "I would never substitute it for going to other schools around the country. People say that we have touch football in the Ivy League, but we took it for what it was. Just fun."

Szaro adds. "There is no doubt that I did the right thing in going to Harvard. The experience which you have both in and outside the classroom can't be compared to anything else. It wasn't until I was in professional football for three years that I found out that it was unique that the Harvard football program emphasizes and endorses academics. Ninety per cent of professional football players don't graduate from school."

"I just feel fortunate to have had the experience where I could play football and have an education at the same time." McInally says.

Prejudice

Fish is aware of the stereotypes which some people apply to football players. "I think people ought to be fair to football players and not discriminate against them," he says. "Professors seem to sneer at them. Back in my time, three of us took a course in the Divinity School, and we all got A's," Fish recalls. "But none of the 22 regular students did as well as us. Football players can get As too. They are Harvard students."

Fish adds, "If he's a good athlete, he's got the possibility to go far. If you can stand the roughness of a football field, you can stand the game of life."

McInally also believes that some people harbor misconceptions concerning gridiron stars. "I think that has prejudices against football players.

But there are athletes who excel in both [academics and sports]. The Ivy League--Harvard in particular--demands that athletes be scholars."

Peabody also recognizes the opportunities which Harvard football offers. "I made a tremendous amount of long-term friends from playing at Harvard. Those friends you made when you were using all your faculties to the fullest, you keep them for a long time. That's true for politics as well as in a Harvard fund campaign. You learn where you are able to maximize your effort and training it commits you to a level of excellence in your life and in your approach to life."

The Game

Besides the overall value of an Ivy League football experience, most of these men remember the Yale Game as the outstanding experience of their college grid careers.

Former one-term lowa Senator John Culver '54 lost his seat last November in the "Tuesday Night Massacre" of several prominent moderate and liberal Democrats. Presently, he, like Governor Peabody, also practices law in Washington. D.C. But at Harvard, he was one of the finest running backs in the school's history, holding the record for most touchdowns scored.