![]() ![]() The untrained boy must be taught the art of falling - later, blocking, etc.” Clark warned against unsupervised, unorganized play: “The untrained boy should not play football unless the play is properly organized. We need to protect the vulnerable spots, but not the body in general. “My experience in coaching college and professional athletes,” Clark once explained to the Portsmouth Daily Times, “leads me to believe that players properly trained and drilled do not demand heavy bunglesome pads. With the peace he took up coaching at the college-level, first at Illinois University (1919), then at Michigan State University (1920), The University of Kansas (1921-1925), Minnesota (1926), and, lastly, at Butler University in Indianapolis (1927-1929).Ĭoach Clark brought discipline and a hard work ethic to the Spartans, and, held grueling training sessions and practices with little padding. Clark had originally made a name coaching in the US Army during World War I. In the spring of 1919, he led the 89th Division's football team to the American Expeditionary Forces Championship. Harry Snyder, the business manager and largest shareholder of the Spartans, hired Potsy Clark to coach the Spartans for the 1931 season. The Game Not Played, the Championship Not Won The rivalry, however, truly took hold in the Spartans’ second NFL season in 1931. Formed in 1929, the pre-NFL Spartans were coached by former Green Bay players and its roster included a number of men who had spent time playing for Lambeau’s Packers. The rivalry between the Spartans and Packers predates the Spartans entrance into the league. After having lost money every year from their NFL birth in 1930 through the 1933 season, the team’s owners voted in 1934 to sell the franchise to investors in Detroit, Michigan, where the Spartans would be rebranded the Lions. With limited ticket sales, along with the expenses associated with hosting games in Universal Stadium and the cost of maintaining a traveling team, the Spartans found it impossible to make a profit. Such ticket sales proved elusive and a large share of the gate money from the big games (like that with the Packers) was reserved for the visiting team. The franchise’s local owners needed regular crowds of between 6,000 and 7,000 to break even. Unfortunately for the team’s finances, crowds of this size were far from usual and the Spartans never again attracted a crowd as large as that which witnessed the Iron Man Game. With between 13,000 and 17,500 in attendance, the game may also mark the largest crowd ever assembled in Portsmouth. Painted by Robert Dafford, the mural depicts the leather-helmeted, Glenn Presnell - the Spartans’ star halfback - scoring a touchdown in front of a cheering homefield crowd, which has jumped to its feet in celebration. In 1994, the residents of Portsmouth commissioned Robert Dafford to design and paint a mural memorializing what many consider the greatest moment in Portsmouth sports history. The Iron Man Game of 1932 is the most widely remembered Spartan contest thanks to its role in setting up the first postseason playoff game in the league’s history, one that would resolve a tie between the Spartans and the Chicago Bears. With the 1932 season reaching its climax with the Packers game in Portsmouth, Spartans coach George “Potsy” Clark, his players, and their fans not only wanted a shot at the championship, they wanted revenge by denying the title to their greatest rival - the “World Champion” Green Bay Packers. A victory over Green Bay would lead to a scenario in which the Spartans could finish the season as league champions, a scenario that would nearly playout two weeks later when the Spartans met the Chicago Bears in the first ever postseason NFL championship game. The Spartans sat at 5-1-4 in the standings, and were tied for second place with the Chicago Bears. If the Packers defeated the Spartans they would clench their fourth league championship. Packers coach Curly Lambeau entered the game with the NFL’s best record, 10-1-1, with only two games left in the season. The league’s 1932 championship hung in the balance and the prospects for professional football in smaller cities like Portsmouth and Green Bay were being put to the test. ![]() Played in Portsmouth’s Universal Stadium (now known as Spartan Municipal Stadium), interest in the game ran so high that city authorities brought in the National Guard for crowd control. On Sunday, 4 December 1932, the reigning NFL champion Green Bay Packers faced off the Portsmouth Spartans in what has come to be popularly known as the Iron Man Game.
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