Margarita Still Flashing Speed He Had with Pros

The words of Varsity football coach Dick Harlow on Soldiers Field these days are amplified sometimes by an electrical loudspeaker, but more frequently by the small voice of authority of Henry Robert Margarita.

In February, 1946, Margarita joined, the Crimson football hierarchy in the capacity of backfield coach. His background, and unobtrusive cleverness qualified him perfectly for this vital position in one of the twentieth century's most complicated large scale enterprises. Within his 175-pound five-foot-ten frame d wells one of the greatest halfbacks in college and professional football history.

Worried the Crimson

In 1940, after seriously considering coming to Harvard, he entered Brown University in Providence. In 1941 and '42 he played varsity football. During those years, the newspapers of the United States began booming the name of Hank Margarita. "I wish had come here instead," says Dick Harlow, in retrospect. "He never beat us, but for two years he certainly scared hell out of us."

After spending the war in the Army, he returned to Brown to receive his degree and graduate in 1944. That fall he joined the Chicago Bears and a backfield that included Sid Luckman, Ray McLean, and George McAfee. In his freshman season with the pros Margarita distinguished himself by ranking fourth among the ground gainers. In 1945, the year George Halas returned to the club, he finished in third place.

One day Harlow called him up and asked him to go to work. On first coming to Cambridge, the Hank Margarita of pro football ran into a slight confusion in the presence of cohorts Henry Lamer, Harold Kopp, and Harry Jacunski and switched to his middle name. Now known almost exclusively as Bob he has fitted into the Crimson pattern of postwar expanding football which began two years ago with the coming of himself, line coach Kopp, and end coach Jacunski, all as assistants to Harlow.

Bob has one outstanding ambition at the present stage of his life--never to be quoted by a newspaper reporter. Faced with this impasse the material for this column was gathered with some sparring and tilting. The quest for truth was not enhanced by Bob's quiet, modest nature when discussing his past. Some people, for instance, think 175 pounds is light for pro football. When asked, Bob admitted that he might have been a little lighter than average, but he added that he outweighed his running mates, McLean and McAfee

Covered Hutson Alone

There is also a rumor extant in these United States that he is the only player in the history of professional football ever to cover fleet touchdown making end Don Hutson along. Faced with this query, Bob was hard put to play himself down successfully. He explained that nobody ever covered Hutson alone.

In the first place, a defensive end at the line of scrimmage, always kept him out of the flat and started him off down the middle. After that, most, clubs had two defensive halfbacks ready to pick Hutson up, depending on whether he cut right or left. At this point in the conversation, Bob cast his eyes to the floor and revealed that the Bears let him pick up Hutson alone after some ether defender had already guided the end down the middle, and that in this respect he might be considered as having guarded Hutson alone.

His coaching technique centers around the position of the feet. "This is important," he said in one of his rare statements to the press, "in blocking and tackling, as well as in running, cutting properly, and catching passes. You can take the largest man on the squad, and if he doesn't have his feet right at the start and keep them driving, he'll hit you with all the impact of a cream puff."

Bob is mostly legs himself, and his old speed is still there when he runs through plays with the A team, as he often does. Sometimes he even draws a wistful smile from Harlow and a murmured "wish we could put pads on him Saturday and turn him loose in the Stadium."

Roof Spotting in the Stadium

Bob's Saturday duties present a small variation from his daily fare. Last year he watched Varsity games from the Stadium roof where he could supplement by telephone communication Dick Harlow's limited view at ground level on the players' bench. This fall he makes varsity substitutions, crouching on the sidelines in front of the bench and giving players the final world before they go into the game. Harlow leaves him a free hand in this matter following a general overall briefing before the game and precluding unforeseen difficulties.

Margarita calls a great football player one who can block and tackle as well as run. He considers Frank Sinkwich one of the finest all around players in his experience. "I like aback who is heavy fast, and hard-running," he says with a chuckie. "And that's Sinkwich."

In the future, Bob hopes to keep on coaching football. He considers his studies at Brown in history and education to have a definite relation to the instruction of football players. His home is and always has been in nearby Medford. It now includes a wife and two young sons.