These quotes help to sum up the significance of what I witnessed that
day in 1971:
The cerebral types... will keep
playing it into the ages and wondering whether it was the greatest collegiate
football battle ever. Under the agonizing conditions that existed, it well may
have been - Dan Jenkins
They can quit playing now, they
have played the perfect game - Dave Kindred
Oh, man, woman and child, I never
thought I would live this long to see this kind of a football game. - Lyell
Bremser
It was Thanksgiving Day, 1971 and
we were at my Great Grandmother’s, Alma Sellars, for Thanksgiving as was our
tradition.
After a large meal the “men”, as
was the tradition at the time (sorry femes) to tune in some football. Somewhere in that room laid my Dad, my grandfather, my Uncle
Wally, my brother and Mr. Gibson who was my great grandmother’s boyfriend at
the time.
I would be seven years old at the
time and we had moved to town, as us country boys called it, two years
earlier. The significance in that is
although I remember some things when I was younger than five, it was like when
we moved into a neighborhood with other families and other kids it seemed liked
that is when my life truly woke up.
Being in a neighborhood with
other kids you naturally start doing things neighborhood kids did back
then. We rode bikes, played ball
(football, basketball, baseball, whiffle ball, kick-ball), had some awesome
hide and go seek games at night time, played kick the can and freeze tag. The neighborhood was alive and vibrant, and I
cherish those memories.
So back to Thanksgiving Day
1971. I am sure I had watched football
games I just do not remember any games before that day (I do remember watching
the 1971 World Series and a fleeting outfielder name Clemente) but on that day
in 1971 Nebraska played Oklahoma, it was the 51st edition of the rivalry and
one of several labeled as a "Game of the Century." I have no idea how many actual games that
were played have a Wikipedia Page but this one does:
This is excerpts from the Wiki
page:
The teams combined for 17 of 22
first-team All-Big Eight players. Nebraska had the nation’s top-ranked defense.
Oklahoma had the nation's most productive offense with their wishbone averaging
over 472 rushing yards per game, a NCAA record.
The cover of Sports Illustrated
(November 22) prior to the game included photographs of Nebraska linebacker Bob
Terrio and Oklahoma running back Greg Pruitt, nose-to-nose, beneath the
headline: "Irresistible Oklahoma Meets Immovable Nebraska."
The Husker
"Blackshirts" defense included seven first-team All-Big Eight
selections, four players who would earn consensus All-America recognition
during their careers and two Outland Trophy winners. That group were joined in the starting lineup
by end Willie Harper a two-time All-American.
The Sooners' record-setting
wishbone attack was led by All-American QB Jack Mildren who rushed for over
1,000 yards but was also a very good passer.
His weapons were Heisman candidate HB Greg Pruitt, who averaged a
stunning 9.5 yards per carry and speedy split end Jon Harrison. Future College
Football Hall of Famer Tom Brahaney was the anchor at center.
The Husker offense was led by
junior flanker Johnny Rodgers, a future Heisman Trophy winner, senior
quarterback Jerry Tagge, and bullish senior tailback Jeff Kinney; the latter
two were first round picks in the 1972 NFL Draft. The Sooner defense was
anchored by all-Big 8 defensive tackle Derland Moore, a future All-American and
NFL Pro Bowler.
ABC-TV broadcast the game
nationally to an estimated 55 million viewers (at the time the largest
television audience ever for a college football game).
Conference game
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Date
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November 25, 1971
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Location
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Nebraska by 1 [1]
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Attendance
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61,826
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As you can see the hype was
unreal and if you read about the game, not just on the WIKI page but find the
writing that was done by multiple sportswriters the game lived up to all the
hype and to this day is one of the greatest college football games ever.
So, for me do I remember every
play? I do not, but what I saw and
remember was a guy, Flanker Johnny Rodgers, run back a punt 78 a yards for a TD
early in the game (he finished with 4 rushes for 27 yards and caught 5 passes
for 61 yards. That play, Rodgers play
the rest of the day and refences to position players as Flankers, Tailbacks and
Split Ends along with seeing the Wishbone run to perfection by the Sooners had
a major mark on me from that day forward.
I was officially a College Football Fan and my team was Nebraska. I do remember at that point when I was
pretending to play football when by myself or playing with my friends for about
a year I was Johnny Rodgers.
It came to pass (or run)
Which leads me to the next part
of the story. Now I am a fan and from
that point forward I am enamored with College Football. In 1971 Bear Bryant installed the Wishbone
offense at Alabama. This is detailed in
the link below. In the 2nd
and 3rd link is information on the historic USC at Alabama and how
it led to integrating college football in the South (something Bear knew would
be the result of this 1970 game).
It is now 1972, I am eight years
old and sports is really starting to register in my young mind. I am an Oakland A’s fan the next three years,
really loving baseball also (playing Pee Wee League), and a Red Sox fan the
next three (see a pattern here for a young kid).
As for football, for the NFL I am
a Dolphins fan starting w/ their Super Bowl loss to them Cowboys, get a Bob
Grise Jersey and Dolphins uniform for Christmas and ride that train through the
1974 season and I discover a guy named Stabler.
I cannot say I was still a
Nebraska fan at that point, I am now 10 years old, I just do not remember. I do remember that two things happened around
that time, Stabler led me to on a path to be an Alabama fan and I started
realizing there were allot of players who played for the Crimson Tide in the
NFL. I have also at this point
discovered the University of Kentucky football program and a running back named
Sonny Collins from Madisonville, KY (41 miles south of my hometown) and of
course was a fan of the Cats also (at this same time I am exposed to UK
Basketball who also goes on a great run from 1974 to 1984 and learn that Bear
Bryant once coached at UK).
In the mid 70’s I remember the
USC Teams with Pat Haden, JK McKay, Anthony Davis, Ricky Bell,
Vince Evans and
Charles White, at Texas Ham, Jam and Lam Jones as they were called and guys
like Archie Griffin, Leroy Selmon and Roosevelt Leaks just to name a few (allot
of those names I knew from the old Bob Hope Xmas show where he had the All
American Team on the show).
By 1975 I am following the Tide
and I remember QB Richard Todd and remember Bama beating Penn State in the
Sugar Bowl that year which was a clash of two of the titans of college football
(Bama lost their opener and won all the rest of their games that season).
Move on to 1976, there is no ESPN
and for college football we are getting whatever Big 10 game the local network
is showing and for SEC games or national games, it seemed like Bama was on
every week, and then Sunday Mornings were spent with Lyndsey Nelson and Notre
Dame. My influence now is Bear and Bama
and when I am in the backyard pretending to play football, I am now Jeff
Rutledge running the triple option and pitching the ball to Tony Nathan,
handing it off to FB Johnny Davis or pulling out of the option and throwing to
TE Ozzie Newsome. Without a doubt the
attraction to me was the Wishbone and those uniforms. I remember watching allot of Bama, Oklahoma
and Nebraska football games because they were two teams who stuck to the
wishbone offense and I still love the option!
Also in 1976 when UK Basketball or UK Football
is playing, I am huddled around the radio with my Mom listening to the
legendary Cawood Ledford call the games.
Listening to those games with my mom back then is still why today my
preference is to listen to games on the radio vs. watch them on TV, which I
still do often.
In 1982 I join the Navy and I am gone from
Kentucky until late in 1986. During that
time period I did not watch allot of college football, the focus became college
basketball, and I got to see the ACC up close and personal when that conference
had a collection of talent that has not been seen in College Basketball
since. I did pay attention to College
Football it was just hard to be in front of a TV and see the games.
The 1992 College Football Season was when my
passion for College Football returned and it is no coincidence that Bama won
the National Championship that season. In 1994 my wife and I relocated to
Louisville and my fandom for College Football, Alabama and Navy Football
continued to grow. Then in 1996 Kentucky
Football hired the gun-slinger aka Hal Mumme.
Kentucky played a crazy brand of football during
the Mumme days and Mumme’s imprint on college and pro football has grown over
the years. We attended a few games in
1996, 1997 and 1998 and decided in 1999 we would give football season tickets a
shot (those were some fun times).
To be clear I am in no way denying being a fan
of Kentucky Football, I grew up in a UK household and I attended games there
for 18 years, but for those who tailgated with me know that I always showed up
at the tailgate in either my Navy Football Jersey or my Kenny Stabler #12 Bama
football jersey.
There are people who have said to
me, “you just jumped on the Saban bandwagon,” which is not true, but with Saban
and Bama doing what they have on the field since he arrived I can understand
why people would think that about me (For my birthday in 1995 my wife bought me
the NIKE sideline gear that the Bama Players wore prior to games and I still
have both the hat and the jacket she ordered through the Bama Football Office)
but my fandom for Bama football goes way back and has further evolved over the
years. Bama football had some rough
years after Stallings left but I still followed that team (for the record I
think Mike Shula should have gotten another year but if he does there is no
Saban).
So yes I am a Bama fan, have been
a Bama fan for a long time and I do not see that changing. My wife and I love SEC sports and part of
retirement relocation is focused around being in the heart of SEC Country so we
can travel to Tuscaloosa, Oxford, Starkville, Nashville, Baton Rouge, Athens,
Fayetteville and Lexington when we want to go to a Baseball, Basketball or
Football game of interest. We will be fixtures every year at the SEC Baseball Tourney and if we move where we think we will then I will also be following Northern Alabama as well.
There are three things in life
that I have proudly become related to sports, a college football junkie, a golf
junkie and St Louis Cardinals junkie.
Those things occupy allot of my free time and they are the type of
things everyone needs to take that edge off in life!
How come College Basketball is
not on that list? A story for another
day…….
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