THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1966 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE NINE. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1966 TIlE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE NINE~ Williamson Battles To Starting Spot By JOEL BLOCK Yes, Virginia there is such a creature as a non-tendered first- string college football player. Starting defensive tackle Dick Williamson belongs to that rare breed of men who, having first been passed over by the college re- crutiers, make it big in this age of university "We-pay-as-you- play" plans. The story of this remarkable real good teams generally and es-1 junior gridder began in his grade pecially when Ron Kramer played school days. "My father always there," stated Dick. "But after had tickets to the Michigan home that, East Detroit didn't fare too games, and I've always wanted to well, including my senior year play for the Wolverines," remi- when we were three and five." nisced Dick. It's probably because of the poor Williamson comes from East Detroit High where he played of- fc nsive tight end his senior year. "Up until 1956, East Detroit had showing of East Detroit that the collegiate scouts only took interest in two of their football players; Williamson and Briant Hansen who went to the State University of Buffalo. Departed coach Bob Holloway scouted the Detroit area! but passed Williamson over. Dick Too Light "It was because of his -light weight that we didn't take much of an interest in Dick atathe time, related coach Dennis Fitzgerald. "He only weighed 200 pounds and that's a pretty light lineman ac- cording to Big Ten standards." "Sure, I was disappointed when I wasn't asked to sign a tender for anyone, but so would anyone1 else," declared Williamson. "But I wasn't going to let that stop me from going out for the freshman football team." Dick did go out1 for football in his freshman year. at Michigan and he became first- string tight end. Asked to Switch Everything went fine for the 240 pounder that year but on the first day of fall practice in his sopho- more year he got a shock. "Coach Elliott called me aside and asked me if I would make the switch! from offensive tight end to de-j fensive tackle. I told him I didn'tI know and I thought it over care- fully that night." The next day Williamson told Elliott he'd try it,, knowing that the likes of Bill Yearby and Chuck Ruzicka had turned out the way he did in spring practice." It seemed that Dick was finally set to take on a starting position when misfortune struck him again, this time in the form of mononu- cleosis. He caught it in the middle of the summer as a result of weight training after working long hours each day at his summer job. "The first two doctors I went to thought the swelling of my throat was due to just an infec- tion. Later, when I went to a hos- pital to take some tests, they told me I had a mild case of mono." Mono Takes Toll So Dick had to sit out the first two weeks of fall practice this year and it resulted in his losing of the starting left tackle job. "The 6ther candidates just passed him up ability-wise," Fitzgerald com- mented. "It's too bad that his ill- ness not only caused him to miss two weeks of valuable practice but also caused him to report out of shape as a result of it." "It was a pretty big blow to me but coach Fitzgerald helped me th' same for Dick as he found himself again on the "suicide" squads for the first half. But in the second half. Dick took over th? left tackle spot from Tom Goss and he combined with the other Wolverine defenders to hold the Bears to onti tok n touchdown. "Torn has had a slilht leg in- jury all this fall and although it hasn't kept him from playing, it has kept him from operating at xca, effi:icnc ," stated Fitzgerald. "As of r' ht now. Di k is our s a:. n 2 : e for th' North Carolina game." After two years of frustration, those words of Fitzg rald are mu- sic to Dick Williamson's ears. BOWLING LEAGUE MIXED DOUBLES Forming for Monday Nights Sign-Up at the Michigan Union Bowling lanes. -- ~ t ~= S bscribe to The Michigan Daily DICK WILLIAMSON Hea(quarters for LEVI'S the tackle positions sewed up for that year. "All that 1965 season I won- dered if I had made the right deci- sion. It took me a while to learn the new position and I can't say! 1 jitjy-,,uishedi s mv s . f nt fll lnct t Kline's 306 S. Main 662-5573 JUNIOR DEFENSIVE TACKI E Dick Williamson is shown apply- ing the final touches to a tackle that dumped California second- string quarterback Barry Bronk (16). Williamson, who was out for the first two weeks of practice with mononucleosis, saw limited action in the Oregon State game. In the California game though, he took over the left tackle spot and combined with the other Wolverine defenders to hold the Bears to only one touchdown. 'DEFEN PE IMPROVED C zie Fids It Tough in NBA ROSWLI E, N J. UP) - Former much time to work on anything with the other guys because you Michigan star Cazzie Russell com- else but defense and I've worked get the ball a lot less." pleted his first 60 minutes of ac- on that so much I've neglected the Eddie Donovan, general manag- tion as a professional basketball other part of the game. er of the Knicks, sees a future for player Tuesday night and said he "In this league, if a guy goes the 6-foot-5%/ Russell as a swing was far from satisfied with his around you it's the most embar- man alternating between guard performance thus far. rassing thing in the world. You and forward. College basketball's Player of won't last too long that way. So Mostly at Guard the Year spent 18 minutes on the I've been concentrating on stand- "We've played him mostly at court as his New York Knicks ing in front of my man, fighting guard," Donvan said, "because we suffered their third straight pre- off screens and making sure to gar Donov sim "bcasrwe season defeat, losing to the Detroit stay back. Pstons 120-117. "In college I used to go right to "It's harder to move from for- Russell made three of six shots the board when the ball was shot, ward to guard. and contributed four assists as he You can't do that here or your "His defense has improved since continued the transition from col- man runs right by you." he reported." le'ye forward to professional guard. It hadn't taken Russell long to "I haven't had any surprises," In three games he has made 23 learn some of the differences be- said Russell, "and it makes no points and six assists. tween the pros and the collegians. difference whether I play forward Transition Tougher "The pros are better shooters," or guard. The physical contact "The transition to pro ball has said the former Wolverine All- doesn't bother me, either. I might been tough-like I expected," he American. be pressing a little. It's hard work said. "My defensive progress hasn't "You've got to handle the ball but you've got to keep working." been bad but my shooting has pretty good and be able to shoot. suffered because I haven't had too And you've got to learn to play I C A ^11 season.aul out a lot when I was trying to get back into condition," observed Top Tackle Williamson. "He had mono him- Then in spring practice this year self once and he knew what it was Williamson matured. "He came like." . from way down the line to our In the opener against Oregon top defensive left tackle," Fitz- State, Williamson still was second gerald said, "He showed us he had string as he only played on the a lot of guts in his sophomore kick-off team in the first half and year when things weren't going saw limited action as a sub in the too well for him. We were very second half of the lopsided affair. pleasantly surprised when he The California game started much All LEVI'S Available Sta-Prest.. . Corduroy... Stretch 8000 pairs of pants in stock 1209S. UNIVERSITY We have WHITE from sizes 27 through 42 with a wide range of colors. Scrub denim, and stretch Levi's, Slim fit in corduroy, trimcuts in sfa-prest corduroy. 41 , 3 4MibnPkCstAin r 13 S. Main V Jack S. Fagin, Prop. 1 M __ QU .ICK KOICI.j WY C LI.oJM STUDENTS! " DISTINCTIVE COLLEGIATE HAIRSTYLING for Men- And Women- * 7 Hairstylists THE DASCOLA BARBERS Near Michigan Theatre In our happy to note file: MICHIGAN is listed as the eighth best team in the country in to- tal offense. The Wolverines have a 405.5 yard average after their two games against Oregon State and California. Leading the coun- try is WEST TEXAS STATE with a 366.0 yard average. * * * LEN DAWSON, Kansas City's veteran quarterback was named! the American Football League's offensive player of the week by the Associated Press. Dawson, a' 10-year pro and the Chief's regu- lar quarterback since 1962, gained the distinction after his perform- ance in the Chief's 43-24 rout of the Boston Patriots last Sunday. The 31-year-old former Purdue standout passed for five touch- downs, completing 20 of 32 passes for 291 yards and moving into the passing leadership of the league. * * * The Boston Red Sox placed stress on an all-out youth move- ment by naming 37-year-old DICK WILLIAMS manager yesterday in a bid to regain baseball respect- ability, in the American League. Williams, a former journeyman utility player in the major leagues, was picked to guide the Red Sox's flock of young prospects after leading Toronto, Boston's top farm club, to two straight Internation- al League playoff victories in his first crack at managing. Details, of Williams' contract have been withheld. RED SCHOENDIENST can sleep safely tonight after signing a con- tract to manage the St. Louis Car- dinals for the 1967 season. It will be Schoendienst's third year as manager of the Redbirds. He be- came the Cardinal manager at the end of the 1964 season after serv- ingas a St. Louis coach for two seasons, He succeeded Johnny Keane who resigned to go to the New York Yankees. In another round of "who's got the manager," the San Diego Un- ion said yesterday that PRESTON GOMEZ, a coach for the Los An- geles Dodgers, will be named the manager of the Cleveland In- dians. Phil Collier, a Union sports- writer, traveling with the Dodg- ers, said the announcement will be made after the Dodgers have com- pleted their season. SPORTS NIGHT EDITOR: BILL LEVIS ON STATE STREET IT'S WILD'S for, LEVI'S E tg t ' 'W ILD S State Street on the Campus 4 Du Pont Nylon does the trick. Its built-in "give" nmakes Stretch Levi's fit a guy all the way down, with no strain. And its built-in toughness gives a guy months of extra wear! Swingin' sportswear colors in 75% cotton 25% Du Pont Nylon. Only $5.98 a pair. The TAB and the word "LEVI'S" are regstered trademarks. 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