In honor of the 2010 NFL season, which commences tomorrow night, I present to you a family football
story. The photo is my grandfather in his Dickinson College uniform. The family story has always been that Edward Gisriel played against Jim Thorpe when the former was at Dickinson and the latter was at the Carlisle Indian School. Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle in 1907 according to an annotated Wikipedia statement. This is problematic because according to my cousin, who is a serious genealogist, Grandpa had already left Dickinson by then. Indeed, he graduated from Taylor University in 1906 and attended Drew before that. Thorpe arrived at Carlisle in 1904, so it's possible that they did indeed play against each other that year. In fact, I am going to stop my research and allow this possibility to stand as a testament to virtual verisimilitude. There is no need to allow one measly fact to interfere with the truth as one knows it. And you can be sure now, that I'm going no where near the story that my grandfather was offered a contract to play with the International League Baltimore Orioles, but his mother would not allow him to do so because professional baseball was played on Sundays. I cherish that story and intend to let not a single fact tarnish its veracity. As for my grandfather, he became a Methodist minister, but his obituary, published in the 1959 Methodist Minutes states that "His enthusiasm for sports was to last throughout his life." And that's a fact.
story. The photo is my grandfather in his Dickinson College uniform. The family story has always been that Edward Gisriel played against Jim Thorpe when the former was at Dickinson and the latter was at the Carlisle Indian School. Thorpe began his athletic career at Carlisle in 1907 according to an annotated Wikipedia statement. This is problematic because according to my cousin, who is a serious genealogist, Grandpa had already left Dickinson by then. Indeed, he graduated from Taylor University in 1906 and attended Drew before that. Thorpe arrived at Carlisle in 1904, so it's possible that they did indeed play against each other that year. In fact, I am going to stop my research and allow this possibility to stand as a testament to virtual verisimilitude. There is no need to allow one measly fact to interfere with the truth as one knows it. And you can be sure now, that I'm going no where near the story that my grandfather was offered a contract to play with the International League Baltimore Orioles, but his mother would not allow him to do so because professional baseball was played on Sundays. I cherish that story and intend to let not a single fact tarnish its veracity. As for my grandfather, he became a Methodist minister, but his obituary, published in the 1959 Methodist Minutes states that "His enthusiasm for sports was to last throughout his life." And that's a fact.
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