Former Shenandoah President Player Sure Booting "Em for Pitt Pirates

One former Shenandoah President football player who is doing quite right by himself is Johnny (Gid) Gildea of Coaldale, erstwhile St. Bonaventure grid star. As a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he has just about clinched the title of No. 1 punter in the National Professional Football League this season.

In spite of the fact that the fast professional loop is dotted with expert punters, Gildea is being awarded the top spot by the sports writers all over the circuit. One of these scribes, Al Abrams, of Pittsburgh, penned the following opinion of Gildea's ability.

"The former St. Bonaventure player, in our estimation, is the best kicker in both professional and collegiate ranks. His booming punts have played a prominent part in every Pirate game and may bring the sectional title to the Rooney-paid gridders."

Until Gildea hit the National League, the sweetest punter in the circuit was Ralph Kercheval, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who was always rated "the greatest kicker in football." But Gildea's booting has been better than that of the Brooklyn star in every game thus far. And when the rivals met recently in a league fracas at Pittsburgh, Gildea outshone Kercheval throughout the contest. He gave the great Ralph a few pointers about booting a football, coal region style, and rolled the Pittsburgh fans in the aisles with two really sensational kicks. One of them was a 73-yard spiral that went out of bounds on Brooklyn's 4-yard line, and the other was a 54-yard effort that shot off the sidelines on the Dodger one-foot stripe.