Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1975
- Class:
- 1928
Paul H. Hodge '28
Hometown: Fitchburg, MA
Sport: Football
Year Inducted: 1975
Paul H. Hodge '28 was a star lineman on one of the roughest, toughest teams in football history, the Brown Iron Men of 1926. This undefeated eleven carved a niche for itself in football lore with Michigan's Point-A-Minute team, Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, and Fordham's Seven Blocks of Granite. Capt. Hal Broda of the Iron Men remembers Hodge as a fearless guard and tackle, a man who had the knack of coming up with the big play when it was needed. As example, he cites the Yale game of 1926, the day the Iron Men were born. Brown led, 7-0, but Yale was grinding out the yards late in the game in a relentless march toward the Bruin goal. The Bulldogs reached the Brown 20 and had fourth down and a foot to go. On the next play, Hodge slashed through the line like a shot and dumped the fullback for a two-yard loss, probably saving the victory. The Fitchburg, Mass., native was a cocky athlete, an expert needler on the field. In a running commentary with the man across the line from him in the Yale game, Hodge kept quoting Coach Frank Cavanaugh, who earlier that year had said, "No Yale man past the age of 40 has any back teeth. He's ground 'em all down growling 'Yay-yull, Yay-yull.'" A week later, at Hanover, Hodge joined hands with Orland Smith and Thurt Towle and danced in daisy-chain fashion over to Eddie Dooley, Dartmouth's talented but sometimes temperamental halfback, all the while singing a strictly improvised version of the song hit of the day, "Oh, Mr. Dooley -ooley-ooley." The referee was not amused. "Gentlemen," he said, "I'm giving you an 'a' for the music and 15 yards for the lyrics." A 1932 graduate of Harvard Law School, Paul Hodge is a Providence attorney.
