Isenberg Chosen Football Captain; Davis Gets 'Most Valuable' Award

Phillip Louis Isenberg '51, of Hartford, Connecticut and Winthrop House, yesterday became Harvard's 73rd captain of football by vote of 34 lettermen in Dillon Field House. At the same time, Wilbur Michel Davis '50, of Brooklyn, New York and Lowell House, was voted the first Frederick Greeley Crocker memorial plaque as the team's most valuable player.

Isenberg, outstanding defensive linebacker for two seasons under Art Valpey, succeeds Howle Houston as captain. He breaks a string of three consecutive married captains and his election returns Harvard to the tradition of backfield captains, which has been broken only three times since 1929. Isenberg is probably the first defensive specialist to be elected captain.

Offense Next Year

Isenberg saw very little action on offense last season and none this year. A vicious tackler on defense, and a capable runner and blocker, he will probably play a great deal as offensive quarterback next fall, Valpey said yesterday.

As a freshman, Isenberg played guard and right halfback, but Valpey converted him to the backer-up position in 1948 in order to utilize his defensive abilities. Isenberg was a fullback at the Loomis School, Windsor, Connecticut.

Isenberg, 19 years old, five test, ten inches tall, 172 pounds, won the 175-pound title in the University boxing championships during his freshman year. He did not enter the University tournament last year, but went into the House tourney and took the 175-pound crown.

A pro medical student he plays second violin in the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra.

The Crocker award was established last spring by a group of former Harvard football players in honor of the popular 155-pound end of the 1932 team who was killed while serving on a destroyer in 1944.

The annual award, a replica of an original to be hung in Dillon, goes to the varsity letterman who, in the opinion of his teammates, possesses initiative, perseverance, courage, and selflessness.

Davis, regular left tackle, ended the season with more playing time than anyone else on the squad. To fill in for injuries to Houston and John Coan, he played a few minutes at running guard and worked at right guard in the Yale game.WILBUR M. DAVIS '50 holds the Frederick Greeley Crocker plaque, awarded for the first time yesterday. It goes to the football team's most valuable player.