Richard Wells (1932-1935)
Dick Wells was a backfield teammate of Dick Messinger for four years under Coach Charlie McGuinness. He, too, was one of the original "Magicians." Wells was the quarterback in the double wing formation Marblehead used at that time. He was stationed behind the inside
guard in an unbalanced line. Quarterbacks were not then stationed directly behind the center as they are now. Either the tailback or the quarterback could be the spinning back in the deceptive plays Marblehead used. Wells was in a position to be both a spinning back and a blocking back.
Tom Jordan, a former member of the Marblehead Board of Selectmen and a member of the 1932 and 1933 MHS football squads, recalls, "Wells was the real reason for Marblehead becoming known as the 'Magicians' by 1934. I was on the team for two years and I never
knew where the ball was when Wells did the ball handling!"
Elliott Roundy, who played regularly for Marblehead in 1933 and 1934, says that Wells was very shifty. He weighed about 150 pounds as a senior, had a very compact build and was a deadly tackler, Roundy remembers. During the years that Dick Wells was quarterback, Marblehead's attack was so deceptive and intriguing to watch that it attracted spectators from miles away.
Wells scored one point after touchdown in 1933, then went onto register ten touchdowns in 1934, twelve touchdowns and two points after in 1935 for a career total of 135 points. In a 1934 thriller with Gloucester, Marblehead overcame a 20-6 deficit to top the Fishermen 24-20. Wells scored two touchdowns in that Magician victory. Later in 1934, in the post-season game at Miami, Wells contributed to Marblehead's 52-12 trouncing of Miami Edison by scoring two touchdowns and passing for another. In the 1935 game with Miami Edison at Joel W. Reynolds Playground in Marblehead, Wells rushed for a touchdown and passed for another, contributing to Marblehead's 21-13 victory. In a 1935 post-season game at Thompson Stadium in New York City, in which Marblehead stunned Curtis High of New York 29-0, Wells made touchdown runs of 27 and 70 yards. He went from Marblehead High School to Princeton University where he played varsity football.
Dick Wells played high school baseball as well as football. He was the third baseman for MHS and also for the Marblehead Post 32 American Legion baseball team. During World War II Wells served in the U.S. Air Force. He then had a successful career with the Chrysler Corporation and lived in Fairfield, Conncticut.
