Page 49 - Sorghum

Dr. E. W. Branyon’s Bio
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The gang was playing sandlot football and kicked the ball near a hen lot. An old bandy rooster rolled the ball next to the hens and put up a sign: “Look at this and do your best.”
On offense I usually blocked for a faster running back. We had a single wing—a quarter- back with two guys behind him. I’d run up the middle, or block as the faster guy ran around the end. There were no cheerleaders, no marching bands, no state championships, no face or teeth guards, only leather helmets, and almost always a skinned nose after a game. I also fractured my right elbow, but continued playing, and don’t really remember when it happened. I never could straighten my arm after and had to throw underhanded the rest of my life.
There were no X-rays so I never gave the crack time to heal. The same in basketball when I hurt my knee. If it hurt too bad you wouldn’t play, if not you would. Fifty-five years later I had to have that knee replaced. We often played in the rain and freezing weather.
There’d be lots of fights during the games, but almost always among the spectators. There were no bleachers so the fans would be walking up and down the sidelines, and some