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1960 • Football Clip • Norm Van Brocklin - Greatest Sports Thrill - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

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This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
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This is Norm Van Brocklin of the Philadelphia Eagles. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill.
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This is Harry Whismur. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of pro football's outstanding players and an event our special guest, Norm Van Brocklin, considers his greatest sports thrill.
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And Norm himself is here to tell us all about it. But first, here is Bill Raddick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
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In every sport, the importance of initiative cannot be overemphasized.
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Recent servicemen, be sure you take the initiative today concerning your career.
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It will really pay you to take a new look at your future in the United States Air Force. Here's why.
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The new age of space is just beginning. It will be an exciting era full of challenge and promise.
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Quite naturally, the Air Force will be on top of many new space age innovations as they're developed.
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For this reason, the Air Force needs skilled tacticians now.
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If your specialty is needed, and it may be, you'll have an important job with a guaranteed future.
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You'll find the Air Force is anxious to advance you according to your abilities.
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Remember, your service gained skills are more important now where the age of space is now, in the United States Air Force.
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See your local Air Force recruiter for full details on a great future in the new age of space.
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And now, back to Harry Wismer.
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To many people who have been there, only two unforgettable events have taken place in the history of the Los Angeles Coliseum.
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This is the stadium which has accommodated such spectacles as the Olympic Games, a 9 3 tenths, 100 yard dash by Mel Patton,
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an earthquake which shifted 90,000 fans six inches towards Santa Monica, and an escaped lion that was stalked by hundreds of deputies.
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However, by general acclamation, one of the two greatest events was the cross field sprint at a 1952 pro football game by Marilyn Monroe against the winds.
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The other occurred in a game involving the Los Angeles Rams and more specifically, Norm Van Brocklin, their second string quarterback.
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The Detroit Lions were leading 3-0 in the first period on October the 29th, 1950 when Bob Waterfield, suffering one of his rare off days,
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was replaced by his lanky, freckle-faced understudy.
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Norm Van Brocklin was nervous, he fumbled twice and passed wildly, but the Rams rallied around their sophomore relief quarterback and at half time had built up a 24-10 lead.
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For the first time since he joined the club a year earlier, the Dutchman came into his own.
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For the first time he stopped being a pale reflection of the gifted Bob Waterfield.
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The second half went like this, 31-yard pass to Elroy Hirsch, 43 yards to Glenn Davis, 30 yards to Tom Beers, 42 yards to Bob Boyd, all in one period and all for touchdowns.
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Van Brocklin later connected on a fifth touchdown pass that day, tying the club record held by the great Waterfield.
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That was in 1950, in nine years with the Los Angeles Rams, before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in the spring of 1958.
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Norm Van Brocklin was the National Football League's leading passer three times and finished second twice.
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Only Sammy Ball and Bobby Lane have passed for more yardage.
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No currently active quarterback has a higher efficiency rating in the league than Norm Van Brocklin.
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His lifetime mark of 55.3% is the third highest in history.
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Only the great Sammy Ball and Otto Graham topped that figure.
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It was mere luck that Norman Van Brocklin landed at the University of Oregon.
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He attended high school at Walnut Creek, California, not much more than passing distance from the University of California campus.
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The natural thing would have been to register at California or at least another of that state's big schools.
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But somehow he was overlooked in the scouting reports.
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In 1947, Oregon football underwent an electrifying change and an unknown from Walnut Creek, California suddenly became the most talked about athlete in the state.
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Van Brocklin led the Coast Conference in passing for two straight seasons.
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Oregon won nine of ten in 1948 and went on to the Cotton Bowl on January the 1st, 1949.
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Norman Van Brocklin reported to the Rams to find Clark Shaughnessy, the first of four head coaches he played under with the Rams, well-staffed at quarterback.
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Why Shaughnessy kept him has always been a puzzle to Van Brocklin, although Norm thinks it might have been his ability to kick.
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Using him only in spots in the first year, Shaughnessy was made to look good when the rookie pulled three crucial games out of the fire.
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Norm's 32 completions and 58 attempts was a shade higher than Waterfield's, who threw nearly five times his many passes.
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When Jim Hardy was traded to the Cardinals, the stage was set for a Waterfield-Van Brocklin battle for the number one job.
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The friendly rivalry between Waterfield and Van Brocklin took a slightly awkward turn when the understudy beat out the master in 1950 for the National Football League Passing Championship
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and also edged him on touchdown tosses 18 to 11.
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The next season it took three decimal points to separate them, Waterfield holding the edge.
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The 1952 season provided the final showdown, and Bob Waterfield Day at the Los Angeles Coliseum on December the 14th,
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with 74,000 fans out to honor the captain, Coach Hampton Poole opened the game with Waterfield at quarterback.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers were the opponents. Van Brocklin got his chance late in the first half and proceeded to steal Waterfield's game.
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He completed 17 passes for three touchdowns, sinking the Steelers 28 to 14, and clinched his second Pro Passing crown.
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That made certain the retirement of Bob Waterfield, a proud man whose lifetime record of 99 touchdowns by passing, was surpassed by Van Brocklin in 1957.
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Since 1953, the first year he had the number one quarterback position all to himself at LA, through 1957,
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Van Brocklin's passing and all around field generalship has established him as one of the outstanding quarterbacks in pro football.
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Today, the Dutchman with the rubber-like arm is a man with a grievance and a goal.
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When Los Angeles let him go, they made it known quietly that they hadn't won with him.
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Well, the Rams in 1958 didn't win without Van Brocklin, which gave him a certain amount of satisfaction.
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His goal? To win a title for the Philadelphia Eagles and coach Buck Shaw.
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Those who know Norm Van Brocklin won't take this bet at any odds.
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Now, before you meet our special guest, Norm Van Brocklin in person, in an interview from Philadelphia, and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
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here is a message of interest to all young men with an eye on the future.
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Former servicemen, did you know that some Air Force jet fighters contain 15 times as much electrical wiring as did World War II aircraft?
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It's true, and it points up the fact that today's Space Age Air Force is a highly technical organization.
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Naturally, technical experts are needed to keep the many Air Force jets, rockets, and missiles operational.
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Trained men, men like yourself, are needed right now.
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If there's an opening in your field, you'll have an important job with a guaranteed future,
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regular pay boosts, tax-free allowances for food, quarters, and clothing, and many other Air Force benefits.
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Take advantage of your experience and background now.
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And by the way, former servicewomen are also needed by the Air Force.
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So, all you recent servicemen and women, see your local recruiter about joining the Space Age Air Force soon.
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An important job in a promising career field could be your reward.
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Now back to Harry Wismer.
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Norm Van Brocklin, what was your greatest sports thrill?
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Well, Harry, I guess the ultimate in any sport is to be a champion.
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Back in 1951, when we were fortunate enough to win the Western Division, when I was playing the Los Angeles Rams,
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and we played the Cleveland Browns back in 1951 for the championship,
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and we came on and won the ballgame 24 to 17 in the last couple of minutes,
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and I was fortunate enough to throw a pass to Tom Fiers to beat him.
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In my opinion, Harry, that was my greatest sports thrill.
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What was the big difference in coaching that you noticed the most when you made the jump from the Collegians to the Pros?
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Well, in college ball, we only had about six passes we threw, and we only had about 15 or 20 running plugs.
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In the summer of 1949, Clark Shaughnessy was the coach of the Rams, and if you know the history of Clark Shaughnessy,
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he's a bug on paperwork and drawing those Xs and zeros.
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And he told me, he says, now I want you to forget everything that you did in college.
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He said, you and the other quarterback, who was a rookie that year also, Bobby Thomas,
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and he says, you meet me tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock at Room So-and-So out at UCLA campus.
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So we went out there for two weeks. All we did was study football.
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And at the end of about 15 minutes, he lost me, and I didn't come through for about a month.
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They have a glossary of expressions here in pro ball, and they do more with the game than I had been used to in college,
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and it was quite a jump for me.
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Do you recall the first game you ever played with the Los Angeles Rams?
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I sure do. Since I was a little kid, I always read about Sleg and Sammy ball.
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The first ball game I got in with the Los Angeles Rams, the coach told me, he said,
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now I want to play Bob Waterfield today, and if he doesn't get a touchdown the first couple of times, he gets in there.
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He says, you're going in there, kid. So I said, okay.
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So Bob didn't move the ball club in the first play I was in there. I was real nervous, and I fumbled the ball from center.
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The Redskins recovered in the first play Sammy ball threw for a touchdown, and we were down seven to nothing.
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Fortunately, we were able to come back and win the ball game,
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but I feel very good about Mr. Shaughnessy having confidence in me and putting me back in there.
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Norm, as the quarterback, do you run the team in the field, or do you take suggestions from your teammates from time to time?
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We do both, Harry. I get my best suggestions from ends and tackles and centers and guards and remaining backs.
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They're the fellows that tell you how the fellows play them over them.
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If a tackle is charging real hard, well, usually that would indicate that we get trapped.
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If he's playing soft, well, we feel we can double team him real good and go off tackle, say.
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Or an end can come back and tell me, give me a corner, give me a pose, give me a hook.
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I've got a pigeon over here, feed me today, and things like that. Those are the kind of things that go on all the time in the huddle.
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Norm, does a quarterback ever change a play from the time you leave the huddle until the ball is snapped at the line of scrimmage?
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Yes, we have several audible, we call them audible signals. We give them audibly on the line of scrimmage.
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Some ball clubs use colors and then a number, and some ball clubs just use names.
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The Rams used to use names and colors together. With the Eagles, we used numbers.
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I'll give you an example. We were playing the Chicago Cardinals here in Philadelphia, and they were shooting seven men at us.
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They came in there and got us. Next time I came up there, and they not only shot seven, but they brought a defensive halfback up there.
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I said, this is getting a little ridiculous. They're shooting everybody with a coach up here.
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So I rubbed off with an audible signal, swung the two remaining backs and peaks, clearance peaks.
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Our fullback was fortunate enough to get through the line. I popped him a little short pass, and he ran all the way for touchdown.
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There was nobody left. They gambled on getting me before the receiver got off the line of scrimmage.
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Norm, is there a game in your pro career you wish you could play over again if you had the chance?
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I sure do. In 1955, we were playing those same Cleveland Browns for the championship out in Los Angeles.
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We had two weeks to get ready for them. As we went on the field, I would have sworn we were going to beat these guys real good.
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We would have gone out and beat 38 to 14. I had five passes intercepted. That night, I had never felt so badly in all my life.
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It was probably the most embarrassing day I ever spent, especially when about 50 million people watched it all over the United States.
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Norm, what is the funniest thing that ever happened to you on a football field?
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The funniest thing that ever happened to me on a football field took place in Philadelphia in 1950.
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We were playing Philadelphia Eagles. I was then a Ram. The World Series between the Yankees and the Phillies were on.
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We played over at Municipal Park instead of Shide Park or Connie Mack Stadium.
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There were about 15,000 people in that great big stadium out there. We came to town 6-0 leading the league.
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The Eagles had a pretty good football club, too. They had a middle guard named Piggy Barnes.
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Piggy was tearing our center up pretty good. Our statuto from Notre Dame.
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He kept hitting the statuto and he was half-knocking me down and doing a good job on the statuto.
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We came out of the huddle one time and lined up. The statuto said, if you don't quit throwing that forearm, I'm going to knock your teeth out.
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Piggy had a rubber mouthpiece and he pulled it out and he said, go ahead. He said, somebody already beat you to it.
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Thank you very much, Norm Van Brockland of the Philadelphia Eagles.