 By the time football season arrived , Schulz 's academic problems had worsened . Contemporary reports indicated that " It is not physical conditions which are keeping the giant player from the game ( as was announced ) , but educational ones " . In early October 1908 , Schulz had " three conditions in the engineering course , more than a player can carry and continue his athletic relations " . Though " every effort " had been made for two weeks to have the conditions removed , those efforts had failed . A meeting of the eligibility board was held , and they concluded that Schulz could not play until he removed at least two of the conditions . While it was possible for Schulz to remove the conditions by the end of October by " burning the midnight oil " , it was reported that " this is an optimistic view of the situation shared by few " . 
