Back when football coaches generally kept players from drinking water during camp and practices, their teams also practiced in heavy water-absorbing gear. Most padding was leather or felt, jerseys were wool or cotton, and the football pants were moleskin or canvas, both cotton fabrics that retained water.
However, a few players and coaches, including Bert Bell, had better ideas and got a lot done practicing in shirts and shorts, but doing so was sufficiently unusual that it made the newspapers.
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Of course, Penn’s captain, Bert Bell, went on to own and coach the Philadelphia Eagles, co-own the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was the NFL commissioner from 1946 to 1959, a critical period in the league’s development.
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