Pint-Sized Pro

The 61,084 keyed-up fans who elbowed their way into Yankee Stadium last week to watch the New York Giants play the Cleveland Browns to a 7-7 tie, were hardly the sedentary spectators chided by President Kennedy earlier this month. Swathed in long Johns, mufflers and assorted ski clothing, they shivered through a chilling rain, toasted numbed fingers over a bonfire in the bleachers, choked on watery coffee and soggy hot dogs, sought temporary relief from pocket flasks of liquid warmth. At the final gun, they stormed the field like college sophomores, ripped down the goalposts and scrambled for splintery souvenirs. Life was only a little easier for the thousands who were turned away: frustrated by a local TV blackout, they jammed motel rooms beyond the city limits, or clambered onto rooftops to install extra-sensitive antennas that might pull in the distant stations carrying the game.

Arthritic Has-Beens. The wild weekend crowd was just one more demonstration of the expanding appeal of pro football. With its singular combination of muscular contact and tactical excitement, pro football is fast replacing big-league baseball as the spectator sportsman's favorite.

One who has done a lot this season to boost the game is the New York Giants' pint-sized rookie coach, Alex ("Allie") Sherman, 38. A onetime second-string quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles, Sherman took over a Giant squad that was a grab bag of arthritic has-beens and unseasoned might-bes. He turned them into a hungry, opportunistic team that won ten games and ran up an average of 26 points a Sunday. Next week Sherman's revitalized Giants will face the Western Champion Green Bay Packers in the N.F.L. playoff.

Showered with congratulations and voted Coach of the Year, Sherman has had no time to savor his success: he still has the hardest part of his work ahead of him. In frigid Green Bay, where every seat in cramped (capacity: 38,613) City Stadium has been sold out for weeks, the Giants must match muscle with a Packer crew that won its second straight Western Conference title with ease--and beat the Giants earlier this season, 20-17.

Driven by their demanding coach, Vince Lombardi, the Packers have become the most versatile team in the league. To beat them, Sherman must devise a defense that can stop explosive Jim Taylor, a bruising fullback who bucked for 1,307 yds. this season and taunted tacklers: "Is that the hardest you can hit?" Nor can Sherman overlook his pass defense: guarded by a stubborn wall of Green Bay blockers, Quarterback Bart Starr has one of the game's most accurate arms. Toughest of all the Packers to defend against has been high-scoring (146 points) Halfback Paul Hornung (TIME, Oct. 27), who can run, pass and boot field goals. He will get a six-day furlough from the Army to play in the game, but he may be a bit out of practice.

Kisses. Sherman rarely bawls out his players; he operates on the theory that one pat on the back is worth two pep talks. Last year the dispirited Giants won only one of their last five games, and the lineup was studded with fragile veterans. Sherman did not even have a halfback fast enough to run the ends.

Without depth or mobility, he could not count on controlling the ball for long periods of a game. His answer was the "quick kill"--a fast-striking offense, geared to score swiftly and put opposing teams at an immediate psychological disadvantage.

Key men in his play were two players acquired in preseason trades: Quarterback Y. A. Tittle--a 14-year pro who can lay the ball softly in a receiver's hands at 60 yds.--and End Del Shofner, a lanky sprinter who can outrun the quickest safe-tyman in the league. Sherman's strategy worked: in one game this season, the Giants scored on their first play from scrimmage--on a pass from Tittle to Shofner; in four others, they scored on their first series of downs.

Last week, against the rugged Browns, the Giants pushed across a first-quarter touchdown, then hung on grimly to eke out the tie that was all they needed to win the Eastern Conference championship. Afterward, in the New York locker room, they reacted to victory like high-school heroes. Most excited of all was Coach Sherman, who kissed every Giant in the room--as well as anyone else who got in the way. "Bring on Green Bay," shouted one player. Sherman nodded happily. "I've never had a greater feeling of confidence," he said.

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