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.

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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