Aaron Greenwald, the twenty-one year old football player on the 1934 City College football team, died Sunday night of injuries suffered in the N. Y. U. game on November 10 at Ohio Field.
Twenty thousand football fans remembered that thrilling, gruelling, one-sided gridiron battle between two old rivals. New York University was meeting City College for the ninth time on the football field and a record crowd had turned out to watch the game.
Time and again the spectators were brought to their feet by a smashing tackle or a hair-raising run around the end. City College was no match for the Violet warriors. Yet the Beavers gave the best that was in them. Coach Benny Friedman hurled fresh men into the line of fray as soon as a man gave evidence of weakening. Aaron Greenwald, a substitute halfback, was one of these many reserves. “Greenie,” as he was called by his teammates, was known as an excellent defensive back. His ability to diagnose plays and break up the enemy attack shortly after it got under way was one of the reasons for the success of his team on four occasions during the past season.
In the third quarter of the game Aaron hurled his body through the air to stem an N.Y.U. tackle play. The whistle blew. But when the referee unpiled the tangle of human bodies Greenwald’s limp form was discovered underneath. Time was taken out and he remained in the game believing his injury not serious. A few plays later he was carried off the field.
DEATH DUE TO PNEUMONIA
His father, who was in the stands watching the game, hurried over to the sidelines where the team doctors were examining the injured player. “I’m o.k., pop,” he said, “don’t worry about me.”
Apparently normal when he left the dressing room after a shower and rub he started home on the subway. He collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where it was found he had suffered a ruptured intestine. An operation was performed immediately and he was on the road to recovery when pneumonia set in.
Last Monday several of his teammates called at the Morrissania Hospital and offered their blood in the hope that transfusions might be of use to the boy who was kept in an oxygen tent continuously. He died Sunday night at eleven o’clock. In his last hours he was delirious and was calling out his team’s football signals.
THIRD YEAR OF FOOTBALL
Greenwald, a junior at City College, was a graduate of Morris Evening High School in the Bronx. He played no football there but tried out for the C.C.N.Y. jayvee in 1932. During the season he played at center, guard, and tackle in various games. On the varsity in 1933 he played end and center, in a substitute capacity. This year, with the advent of Benny Friedman, as coach, he was moved to the backfield and though not a member of the first eleven, saw action in almost every game played during the season.
According to Benny Friedman, who was deeply shocked by the news of Greenwald’s death, the latter was slated for a varsity post on the 1935 football team. Friedman was a frequent visitor at the hospital and yesterday attended services for the young man. He was accompanied by many boys who had played alongside Greenwald this year.
Greenwald was one of the numerous subs found on every football team in the country. And like these many reserve players he took his share of the punishment and just hoped he would make good. Greenwald was on the road to success when he suffered his injury.
HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS…
The first tie game of the 1934-35 season was chalked up Sunday night and the figures stand as a lasting tribute to the battered, bruised and star-spangled Amerks.
With four cripples on the ice Sunday and their ace center on the bench with a broken jaw, the New Yorkers rallied like champs and came through to hold Les Canadiens to a 2-2 deadlock. The packed house almost blew the roof off when the Amerks tied the score with less than a minute to play in the overtime period.
It was a costly comeback. Alex Smith received a broken finger and Art Chapman may have a chipped knee bone. Bill Brydge was stitched up near the left eye and Red Dutton nearly had another broken rib tallied.
The tie, first in forty-five league games contested, enabled the Americans to retain their four-point lead over the fourth-place Canadiens. The Amerks certainly impress this corner as play-off timber.
The game was a crowd pleaser, with brief interludes, featuring vigorous checking, frenzied scrambling and some remarkable goaltending by Roy Worters and Will Cude.
TAILOR SEWS UP GRID GAME FOR GIANTS
Abie Cohen, pants presser and tailor, is the man responsible for putting the game in the bag for the grid Giants last Sunday.
Abie used to have a tailor shop near the N. Y. U. campus and was one of the most rabid football fans ever. When Chick Meehan moved to Manhattan, Cohen moved up to that institution also—in charge of the stock room. Cohen’s chief duty was keeper of the keys to the stockroom.
As Coach Steve Owen examined the icy grounds of the Polo Grounds, he realized that football shoes would be of no use in that game. Rubber soles were needed and in a hurry, too. Abie suggested the sneakers used by the Manhattan gymnasts. Steve okayed the idea and Abie was dispatched immediately to secure the sneakers.
In the meantime the Giants were taking it on the chin to the tune of 10-3. Harry Nedman, with an injured spine, was asking Owen if he could get into the game. At that point the whistle blew, ending the half.
Abie, having hurried to Spuyten Duyvil without benefit of police escort, arrived in time for the second half. He distributed nine pairs of sneakers. The sneakers saved the game. The Giants were able to keep their feet. They ran roughshod over the Bears and won, 30 to 13.
Now Abie is the official pants presser for the New York Giants.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
