Two years ago the Pittsburgh Steelers picked Bobby Layne of Texas as their number one draft choice.
Today the Gold and Black face the task of stopping the same young man if they hope to win their fourth game in the National Football League and stick in the eastern division race.
The 22-year-old Layne is now the star quarterback of the New York Bulldogs. He didn't stick on the local roster long. A T-formation quarterback, Bobby didn't want to play here. He was traded immediately to the Chicago Bears after being picked in the annual NFL draft. Ray Evans came here in the deal.
The Chicago Bears got a lot of publicity last season about the three L's of their backfield, namely Sid Luckman, Johnny Lujack and Bobby Layne. Actually, the first two did most of the quarterbacking. They offered competition that was a bit too high class for the former Long Horn star to buck.
A trio of high priced players at the same job proved too much for Owner-Coach George Halas, who watches the expense accounts as closely as he does enemy weak points. After all, Layne was reported to have turned down an offer of $77,000 for three years made by the Baltimore Colts of the rival All-America Conference.
So last July, Halas showed Owner Ted Collins of the New York Bulldogs the clippings of Layne's great college career in which he led Texas to two Southwest Conference titles and post-season victories in the Sugar and Cotton Bowls. Ted took the bait, slipped the rubber band off his bankroll and gave George a big chunk of cash plus two unnamed players.
To date Layne hasn't helped the Bulldogs break into the victory column. But he may get hot here. After all, the Steelers had him on their roster once and didn't keep him. It's lads like that who often come back to haunt the club which bounced them. Steeler fans hope it doesn't happen today.
All information and photo from the October 23rd 1949 program.
Editor's note: The Steelers won this game 24-13 and finished 6-5-1.
Full results on Pro-Football Reference.com.
1949 roster>>>
