College Football: Where the Money Will Go

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The college halfback takes the handoff, slices off tackle, cuts right and scoots down the sideline 60 yds. for a touchdown. The crowd goes wild—all except a handful of tight-lipped men scattered around the stadium, jotting cryptic phrases in notebooks. They are the professional football scouts, and they know all about that particular halfback: too small, slow acceleration, can’t cut left. The pros would gobble him alive. The player they watch is the 260-lb. offensive tackle who opened the hole—or maybe that 240-lb. defensive linebacker who fought off three men before he was knocked down. “There are a lot of boys playing good college football,” says one chief scout, “and there are a few men—a very few.”

Last week, while preparing for the Nov. 28 annual pro draft, the scouts opened their books on the men who will be getting the big money—and big it will be. With the upstart American Football League challenging the staid old N.F.L. for talent, a promising young man can write his own ticket—bonus of $25,000 and up, free car, free house, $15,000-a-season salary, twice what rookies earned a few years ago. TIME’S pro-picked All-America:

OFFENSE

∙ QUARTERBACK: Craig Morton, 21, University of California, 6 ft. 4 in., 215 Ibs. California had a dismal 3-7 record this year, but the scouts couldn’t care less; nearly all chose Morton as their first-string QB. “You name it, he can throw it—short, long, fast, slow, drop back, roll out, standing up or falling down.” Running close behind Morton is unbeaten Alabama’s Joe Namath, 21 (6 ft. 2 in., 194 Ibs.), who has been handicapped this season by a banged-up knee but is still rated “the best drop-back passer in college.” Another prime prospect: Notre Dame’s John Huarte, 21 (6 ft., 180 Ibs.).

∙ HALFBACKS: Gale Sayers, 21, Kansas, 6 ft., 195 Ibs., and Donny Anderson, 21, Texas Tech, 6 ft. 3 in., 207 Ibs. Sayers has gained 2,675 yds. in his three varsity seasons, and a scout put it this way: “He’s quick, man, quick. Don’t blink your eyes or you’ll miss him.” Anderson, a draft-eligible junior, gets the same raves: “Has superspeed with the power of a fullback and possesses that little extra elusiveness a great back needs. Something like the Vikings’ Tommy Mason, but faster.”

∙ FULLBACK: Tucker Fredericlcson, 21, Auburn, 6 ft. 2 in., 221 Ibs. The consensus: “The best running back in college ball.” The pros count on him for those short yardage situations, say he is strongest banging away “inside where the running is toughest.” Better still, he can protect his quarterback on passes. “This kid is a bone-crushing blocker,” says one scout. “He’ll cut you in half with his shoulder.”

∙ ENDS: Larry El kins, 21, Baylor, 6 ft. 1 in., 187 Ibs., and Jack Snow, 21, Notre Dame, 6 ft. 2 in., 215 Ibs. The pass-catchingest end in the country last year when he had Don Trull to do the throwing, Elkins was less effective this season, but the pros think he will shine again. In Snow, scouts think they have another like Baltimore’s Ray Berry: “He can catch the ball, even a badly thrown ball, has good speed, great fakes and the change of pace needed to shake off tacklers.”

∙ TACKLES: Ralph Neely, 21, Oklahoma, 6 ft. 5 in., 261 Ibs., and Harry Schuh, 21, Memphis State, 6 ft. 3 in., 265 Ibs. Neely has all the physical requirements —”a rough, tough charger with good elbow movement, quick at the snap”—but the pros brood about his motivation. “The appeal of money,” muses a scout, “might make him achieve real dedication.” Of Schuh: “Amazing agility and speed, could go to 290 Ibs.”

∙ GUARDS: Steve DeLong, 21, Tennessee, 6 ft. 3 in., 243 Ibs., and Archie Sutton, 22, Illinois, 6 ft. 4 in., 262 Ibs. “Usually we don’t draft college guards because they’re too small,” explains one scout. “We take tackles and convert them to guards.” There are exceptions this year. The nation’s No. 1 college lineman, DeLong has the speed (“He’s as agile as a 185-pounder”) to pull out and lead interference for running plays. Sutton is given top marks for pass blocking, and “he can execute downfield blocks with the best.”

∙ CENTER: Malcolm Walker, 21, Rice, 6 ft. 4 in., 245 Ibs. A product of Texas high school football, Walker is so tough and talented that the scouts reckon he could make it either as center or linebacker, but most favor him for the offensive assignment because “he blocks real well with his head up.”

DEFENSE

∙ ENDS: Allen Brown, 21, Mississippi, 6 ft. 4 in., 230 Ibs., and Ray Rissmiller, 22, Georgia, 6 ft. 4 in., 237 Ibs. The pros feel that defensive ends are made, not born. Brown, one of the Rebels’ most rugged two-way players, appears to have the makings. Reads one report: “Strong as a bull—he throws blockers aside like bottle caps.” A tackle at Georgia, Rissmiller has such “a quick rush with good lateral pursuit” that the pros think he can easily convert to end.

∙ TACKLES: Jim Davidson, 21, Ohio State, 6 ft. 4 in., 231 Ibs., and Glenn Ressler, 21, Penn State, 6 ft. 2 in., 235 Ibs. Davidson has the ability to go over, under and around enemy linemen; his only problem is size, but isometric exercises and weight lifting should get his weight up to a satisfactory 255 or so. Ressler is also relatively light, but what he lacks in meat, he makes up in meanness—”has a great desire to hit someone, anyone, so long as the guy is wearing the other color.”

∙ LINEBACKERS: Dick Butkus, 21, Illinois, 6 ft. 3 in., 243 Ibs., and Ron Caveness, 21, Arkansas, 6 ft, 215 Ibs., and Jim Carroll, 21, Notre Dame, 6 ft. 1 in., 225 Ibs. The heart of the Illinois defense, Butkus is everyone’s choice for Animal of the Year, may well be the No. 1 draft pick. “This kid is such a brute,” says one scout fondly, “that he forces a lot of fumbles and mistakes simply by intimidating ball carriers.” The line on Caveness: “Red-dogs extremely well.” The pros like Notre Dame Captain Carroll for his canniness in diagnosing plays and his Irish-style hustle.

∙ CORNERBACKS: Clarence Williams, 22, Washington State, 6 ft. 2 in., 196 Ibs., and Roy Jefferson, 21, Utah, 6 ft., 190 Ibs. The firemen of pro defense, cornerbacks must be able to barrel in and plug a hole, or wheel and chase down pass receivers. Williams runs the 100 in 9.6, has “great quickness and gets the jump on the ball in pass defense.” The book on Jefferson: “Real tough, fast, and loves to hit.”

∙ SAFETYMEN: George Donnelly, 22, Illinois, 6 ft. 3 in., 200 Ibs., and Gerry Bussell, 21, Georgia Tech, 6 ft., 184 Ibs. Regarded by some scouts as the country’s best defensive college back, Donnelly “has tremendous range when the ball is in the air. His gliding motion fools everyone.” There are only a few things the pros need to know about Bussell: so far this season he has broken up some 25 pass plays, engineered three interceptions and averaged 41.3 yds. running them back.