Karl Brill
Encyclopedia
Karl Brill was an American football
player. He played at the tackle
position for the Harvard Crimson football
team in 1904 and 1905 and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1905. As a sophomore in December 1905, Brill announced that he would not continue playing football. He said, "I came to Harvard to get a degree as a mining engineer. For the last two years 'Varsity football has played havoc with my studies. Already I have been forced to drop work in my freshman and sophomore years. If I play football again it means that I shall fail to get my degree in four years, and I cannot afford a fifth. It's either play football and fail to get a degree or abandon the gridiron and get a degree." In addition to the toll the game had taken on his studies, Bill denounced football on moral grounds, stating that the human body was not mean to withstand the strain that football demands and adding, "I don't believe the game is right. I dislike it on moral grounds. It is a mere gladiatorial combat. It is brutal throughout."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He played at the tackle
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....
position for the Harvard Crimson football
Harvard Crimson football
The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1873...
team in 1904 and 1905 and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1905. As a sophomore in December 1905, Brill announced that he would not continue playing football. He said, "I came to Harvard to get a degree as a mining engineer. For the last two years 'Varsity football has played havoc with my studies. Already I have been forced to drop work in my freshman and sophomore years. If I play football again it means that I shall fail to get my degree in four years, and I cannot afford a fifth. It's either play football and fail to get a degree or abandon the gridiron and get a degree." In addition to the toll the game had taken on his studies, Bill denounced football on moral grounds, stating that the human body was not mean to withstand the strain that football demands and adding, "I don't believe the game is right. I dislike it on moral grounds. It is a mere gladiatorial combat. It is brutal throughout."