"Pro football gave me a great sense of perspective to enter politics. I'd already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded, and hung in effigy." Jack Kemp, former American Football League QB, then Congressman and vice-presidential candidate
Odd Football Facts
Bobby Layne
January 1, 1946 – Cotton Bowl, Dallas TX
10th-ranked Texas, champions of the Southwest Conference, hosted the 10th Cotton Bowl in Dallas against
Big 6 champion Missouri. (Colorado and Oklahoma A&M would join later to form the Big 8, forerunner
of today's Big 12.)
A crowd of 45,000 witnessed the most productive
game in bowl history by one player: sophomore tailback Bobby
Layne of the Longhorns.
Layne ran for three touchdowns, passed for two more,
caught a 50y TD pass, and kicked four extra points.
He accounted for all his team's points in the 40-27 victory.
Layne also won Most Valuable Player in the 1948 Sugar Bowl.
He went on to 15-year career in the NFL for the Chicago Bears,
New York Bulldogs, Detroit Lions,
and Pittsburgh Steelers.
He is a member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
Tiger Den
Profile: Y. A. Tittle - VII
Tittle finally became the starting QB of the 49ers.
En route to a 9-2 season, … Ole Miss met Arkansas in Memphis on Nov. 16, 1938. [Coach Harry] Mehre's Notre Dame Shift proved too much for the Razorbacks, who fell, 20-14, in a game marked by savage hitting.
In a play that Ole Miss (and Arkansas) fans still talk about, "Wild Bill" Schneller, junior QB from Illinois, intercepted an Arkansas pass and raced up the sidelines untouched for a score. As he approached the 20y line, Schneller turned in mid-stride, placed his thumb on his nose, and wriggled his fingers at the nearest Arkansas pursuers in an unmistakable gesture. He thumbed his nose again as he crossed the goal line. The Arkansas crowd was furious. In the bitter scrimmaging that followed, Winky Autrey, the Ole Miss C, tackled Zack Smith so hard that the Arkansas back had to be taken to the hospital.
L: "Wild Bill" Schneller; R: Schneller after intercepting against Arkansas
"When the gun sounded," Tad Smith recalls, "the fans poured out on the field to fight. It was wild. People were fighting everywhere. I got behind the bench, out of the way, looked down, and there was Winky Autrey, hiding under the bench!"
Bonnie Graham
The last game of the season was also played in Memphis, against Tennessee, which was Orange-Bowl-bound with one of its most powerful teams. … Tennessee had a pretty easy time with us and rolled up a 38-0 score in the first half. By this time, Tennessee was emptying their bench. … Mehre was playing everybody he could to stop them. Bonnie Graham, an end who had a bad knee and hadn’t practiced much, saw Mehre looking down the bench. Bonnie slid behind the man next to him, but Mehre spotted him and said, "Graham, get in there!" On the first play, the third-string Tennessee tackle floored Bonnie. On the second play, he did it again. The third time as Bonnie was getting up, he said, 'Look, fellow, y'all have us 38-0, how about taking it easy?' The tackle said, 'I can't do that – if I look good today, maybe they'll give me a letter.' Bonnie replied, 'If you ease up, maybe both of us will get one!'"
