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A Golden Lookback at Gophers Coach Murray Warmath (Part One) · Hangin' Out with Bob

0:07
Okay, hello and welcome to Hanging Out with Bob,
0:10
podcast hosted by me, Bob Edholm. Thanks for
0:17
joining us and let's get started. Well, I'm really
0:22
looking forward to this podcast. My guests today
0:24
are my brothers, Dave and Tom Edholm. They were
0:27
guests on my very first podcast. You guys remember
0:29
that first podcast, right? Yes. Just to refresh
0:33
our listeners' memories, my brother Dave is a
0:35
retired schoolteacher, although he does still
0:38
some substitute teaching from time to time, and
0:40
he lives in suburban Andover. And brother Tom
0:43
is an HVAC superstar and lives in suburban Ramsey.
0:47
Anyway, all three of us share a love for Minnesota
0:49
sports teams, and today our focus will be on
0:52
the University of Minnesota's football program
0:54
during the Murray -Warmath era. Wormath was head
0:57
coach of the Gophers from 1954 through 1971.
1:02
Dave and Tom, welcome back to Hanging Out with
1:04
Bob. Thanks, Bob. Thanks, Bob. Now, because the
1:12
Murray Wormath era at Minnesota lasted 18 seasons,
1:15
we're going to split this podcast into two parts.
1:18
Part one, which we're recording now, will cover
1:20
the 1954 through 1962 seasons. Part two in our
1:25
next podcast will cover the 1963 through 1971
1:29
seasons So part one here we go First just some
1:39
quick background on that University of Minnesota's
1:41
football gophers Dave and Tom do either of you
1:44
have any idea how long the gophers have been
1:47
playing football? Just take a guess I think it's
1:49
over a hundred years. Yeah, since like the 1890s,
1:52
right? I know they have a... Yeah, you're in
1:54
a ballpark. The Gophers actually began playing
1:56
football in 1882. Wow. That's five years before
2:01
Grandpa Edholm was born. Yeah. Chester Arthur,
2:04
with his big old bushy sideburns, was president
2:07
of the United States. Let's look up his photo
2:09
sometime just to see those sideburns. And the
2:12
future US president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
2:15
or FDR, was born in 1882. But I digress. Back
2:19
to Murray Wormath. According to goforsports .com,
2:23
the website for University of Minnesota Athletics,
2:27
Wormath was born the day after Christmas in 1912
2:30
and raised in Tennessee. He also played football
2:33
at the University of Tennessee, and after graduation
2:36
he served as an assistant coach at Tennessee,
2:39
Mississippi State, and Army before he became
2:42
head coach at Mississippi State in 1952. And
2:46
then, in 1954, two years later, he moved up north
2:50
to become head football coach of the Goavers.
2:53
Just a quick aside, guys. Do you know who you
2:55
tried twice to hire as their football coach,
2:59
once in 1950 and again in 1953? Even though he
3:10
had helped the Gophers or led the Gophers to
3:12
three consecutive national championships in 1934,
3:15
35, and 36, he even played gopher hockey. I didn't
3:19
know that. He had time to look it up. Bud Wilkinson
3:21
was doing quite well at Oklahoma at that time,
3:24
so understandably he declined the offer from
3:26
his alma mater. But back to Murray Wormath, who
3:29
ultimately turned out to be a very good choice.
3:31
During his 18 seasons at Minnesota, the Gophers
3:34
would become the 1960 national champions. That
3:37
was a season highlighted by the number two ranked
3:40
gophers dumping number one ranked Iowa. Our dad
3:44
went to that game by the way. Do you remember
3:45
dad talking about that? I do. Yeah. Okay also
3:48
that under Wormath's tenure the gophers earned
3:50
a Rose Bowl appearance in that 1960 season and
3:53
Wormath was named NCAA coach of the year. And
3:57
then the next season, 1961, Minnesota won a return
4:00
trip to the Rose Bowl where they defeated UCLA
4:03
21 to 3. And then also during War Math's tenure
4:07
in 1967, when Brother Tom was actually alive,
4:11
the Gophers shared co -big 10 honors with Indiana
4:14
and Purdue. But we'll be talking more about the
4:17
1967 season in part two of this podcast. So in
4:26
both parts, or in both part one and part two
4:28
of this podcast, we're going to cover these points
4:30
regarding the 18 seasons of the Murray War Math
4:33
era. First, we'll give you the Gophers record
4:35
in each season, overall record where they finish
4:38
in the Big Ten, the record at home, and the record
4:40
on the road. Second, we'll let you know which
4:43
team won the Big Ten Conference in each season,
4:46
as well as which team won College Football's
4:48
National Championship that year. Third, we'll
4:50
give you the average attendance figures for the
4:52
Gophers home games played at Memorial Stadium
4:54
in each of those seasons, as well as a home game
4:57
with the largest attendance season. And the reason
4:59
I'm doing this, guys, is you're going to see
5:00
how attendance figures... change over the 18
5:03
years. Fourth, we'll tell how the Gophers did
5:06
in their trophy games. Those are the games against
5:08
their three, excuse me, their three biggest Big
5:11
Ten rivals, which were the Michigan Wolverines
5:13
for the little brown jug, the Iowa Hawkeyes for
5:17
Floyd of Rosedale, and the Wisconsin Badgers
5:19
for Paul Bunyan's axe. Fifth, we'll give you
5:23
the names of consensus or unanimous All -Americans
5:25
that the Gophers play against in each season,
5:28
and you'll recognize many of these names because
5:30
they went on to professional football careers
5:32
in the NFL or elsewhere. Sixth, because we're
5:35
a Minnesota -based podcast, we'll list the names
5:37
of players and sometimes coaches who might have
5:40
faced the Gophers and went on to play or coach
5:43
for the Vikings in the NFL. And seventh, finally,
5:46
We'll list the names of gopher players who received
5:49
individual honors in each of those seasons from
5:51
the team's own MVP award to anyone who is named
5:55
to all Big Ten or All -American teams. Okay,
6:03
let's start with the 1954 season when a gallon
6:07
of gas was 23 cents a gallon. Dave, how did the
6:13
gophers do in their first season under Murray
6:15
Wormath? Under warm bath in the year that I was
6:19
born, they actually went 7 -2 overall, 4 -2 in
6:23
the Big Ten, which was fourth place. They were
6:26
6 -0 at home, 1 -2 on the road, and they finished
6:30
the season ranked number 20 in the nation. Not
6:33
bad at all. Who won the Big Ten in 1954? It was
6:36
won by Ohio State. They had a perfect Big Ten
6:40
record of 7 -0. They finished 10 -0 overall for
6:44
a shared national championship with UCLA. And
6:47
then Ohio State actually beat Southern Cal in
6:50
the Rose Bowl 20 -7. UCLA was actually not able
6:55
to play in the Rose Bowl because the Pacific
6:57
Coast Conference's no -repeat rule enacted after
7:01
California's third consecutive Rose Bowl appearance
7:03
in 1951 came into play. Right, right. And Tom,
7:08
how did the Gophers draw it home in the 1954
7:10
season? Well, they had six home games that year
7:13
and average just a shade under 58 ,000 per game.
7:18
Their season -high for that year was 65 -464
7:21
against Iowa. They ended up winning that game
7:24
22 to 20. So Floyder of Rosedale stayed in Minneapolis
7:28
that year. And then how did the Gophers do in
7:30
their other two trophy games, Tom? Well, just
7:33
like their contemporaries, they lost them both.
7:36
They're they're only two losses of the season,
7:38
but both were shutout losses. They lost to Michigan
7:41
34 to nothing and Wisconsin 27 to nothing. So
7:45
they they didn't retain the little brown jug
7:48
or the axe that year. And those were their only
7:50
two losses of the year. And here are the consensus
7:54
or unanimous All -Americans that the Gophers
7:56
faced in 1954. And just to define my terms, Consensus
7:59
All -American is a player who was named a first
8:02
-team All -American by at least half of the recognized
8:05
lists like Associated Press, the Football Writers
8:08
Association of America, and the American Football
8:11
Coaches Association, just to name a few. There
8:13
were about seven or eight lists in all, but Consensus
8:16
mean half of them at least. And then unanimous
8:20
is just like it implies. Every one of those lists
8:23
picked it. These guys would be the cream of the
8:25
crop. that particular season. So in 1954, there
8:29
was one unanimous All -American that played against
8:31
the Gophers, and that player was Alan Amici.
8:34
He was a senior fullback from Wisconsin. Amici
8:37
went on to play six seasons with the Baltimore
8:39
Colts in the NFL. He's probably best remembered
8:42
for his role in the 1958 NFL championship game
8:45
at Yankee Stadium, often cited as the greatest
8:48
game ever played, at least in the NFL. Amici
8:51
scored the winning touchdown for the Colts on
8:53
a one -yard run in overtime. And then the Gophers
8:56
also played against one consensus All -American
8:58
in 1954, and that player's name was Cal Jones,
9:03
a junior guard from Iowa. We'll have more on
9:06
Cal Jones later. And here are some future Vikings
9:09
that the Gophers faced in 1954. First, Jerry
9:13
Reichow. He was a quarterback with Iowa, but
9:16
he was a receiver in the NFL. He played four
9:18
seasons with the Vikings, 1961 through 1964.
9:22
But stayed on with the Vikings as a scout and
9:24
consultant for a total of 59 years. Wow. As far
9:28
as I know, he's still alive, too. He's living
9:29
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He's 90 or 91, something
9:33
like that. And then the other guy was Frank Gilliam.
9:35
Remember that name? He was an end with Iowa,
9:38
but he played professionally in the Canadian
9:40
Football League. But in 1970, he joined the Vikings
9:43
where he was a scout and personnel man for over
9:46
36 years. And here's a fun fact about the 1954
9:50
season. As brother Dave mentioned a little earlier,
9:52
he was born in 1954 on November 3rd. It was a
9:56
Wednesday. Three days later, on Saturday, November
9:59
6th, the Gophers played a non -conference home
10:01
game against Oregon State and won convincingly
10:04
44 to 6. So a nice, slightly belated birthday
10:08
present for you, Dave. And there's a player from
10:13
the 54 Gophers squad that we have to mention,
10:15
and that's running back Bob McNamara. who grew
10:18
up in Hastings, Minnesota. He was a first -team
10:21
All -American that season. He was also named
10:23
to the All -Big Ten first -team, and he received
10:26
the Gophers' annual Team MVP Award. After his
10:29
playing days at the U, Bob McNamara went on to
10:31
play for Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League
10:33
for four seasons, many of which were injury -plagued,
10:37
unfortunately. But he still holds an amazing
10:39
CFL record. He scored six touchdowns in the game
10:43
against British Columbia, the BC Lions, in 1956.
10:47
And he was a true gopher, through and through,
10:49
about McNamara. Big time supporter for the U's
10:52
TCF Bank Stadium, now called Huntington Bank
10:55
Stadium, which opened in 2009 and which also
10:58
brought outdoor football back to the campus.
11:01
And McNamara passed away in 2014, the age of
11:04
82. Okay, on to the 1955 season, when a loaf
11:14
of bread was 15 cents. Tom how did the Gophers
11:19
do in their second year under Murray warmath?
11:22
Well in 55 they struggled quite a bit They were
11:24
three and six overall two and five in the big
11:27
ten to finish in eighth place They were only
11:30
two or three at home and one and three on the
11:32
road. Okay, and who won the big ten in 55 time?
11:35
Well, just like 54, Ohio State won with a record
11:38
of six and all. So the Buckeyes finished seven
11:41
and two overall and ranked number five. But Michigan
11:44
State actually had a better overall record at
11:46
nine and one and finished second ranked number
11:49
two in the nation that year. Ohio State was not
11:52
invited to the rules bowl because of the no repeat
11:54
rule that we talked about before. Michigan State
11:58
went instead. and beat at UCLA 17 to 14. Oklahoma
12:03
ended up winning the national championship that
12:06
year. Oh, by Wilkinson's team. Yeah. Okay. Thanks,
12:09
Tom. And Dave, how did the Gophers draw at home
12:11
during the 1955 season? They drew well that your
12:15
average attendance for five home games was 61
12:18
,116. Even though they, you know, their attendance
12:23
was great at home, they didn't perform very well
12:26
at home. And the silver linings at the season
12:29
high for attendance was against Southern Cal,
12:32
64 ,074, which the Gophers won 25 to 19. And
12:38
how did the Gophers do on their three trophy
12:40
games in 1955? Well, it was nice because Paul
12:42
Bunyan's axe came back to Minneapolis. The Gophers
12:45
beat Wisconsin that year at home 21 to 6. Unfortunately,
12:49
they missed out on an opportunity to regain the
12:53
jug in a 14 to 13 loss at home to Michigan. And
12:56
Floyd of Rosedale returned to Iowa City after
12:59
the Gophers lost on the road to the Hawkeyes
13:01
26 Zip. Okay. Thanks, Dave. Probably one of the
13:06
biggest highlights of the 1955 season for the
13:08
Gophers was their win at home over Southern Cal
13:10
because the Trojans were actually ranked number
13:12
10 in the nation at the time. Four different
13:16
consensus All -Americans faced the Gophers in
13:18
1955. I'm sure you've heard of some of these
13:20
guys at least. One was Ron Kramer, a junior in
13:23
from Michigan. He went on to play in the NFL
13:25
later. Earl Morrill, a senior quarterback from
13:30
Michigan State, which beat the Vikings, Vikings.
13:36
Which beat the visiting Gophers 42 to 14. Morrill,
13:40
of course, went on to play 21 seasons in the
13:42
NFL, both as a starter and a reserve. Norm Masters,
13:46
he was a senior tackle, also from Michigan State.
13:49
went on to play for a year with the BC Lions
13:52
and the CFL and for eight seasons with the Packers.
13:55
I have to admit, I don't think I know him. And
13:57
again, this is Cal Jones, who I had mentioned
13:59
earlier. He was a senior guard from Iowa. Now,
14:02
if the three of us had grown up in Iowa instead
14:05
of Minnesota and knew football as well as we
14:07
think we do now, we definitely would have heard
14:09
of Cal Jones. He's a great player obviously at
14:12
Iowa. He went on to play for a year with the
14:15
Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canada. but was killed
14:19
in an airplane crash after playing in the CFL
14:22
East -West All -Star Game in 1956. A tragic story.
14:27
On December 9, 1956, Jones had overslept for
14:31
his scheduled morning flight from Vancouver,
14:34
so he scheduled an afternoon flight to stop at
14:36
Calgary and then travel to Winnipeg. Cal Jones'
14:40
flight on TransCanada Airlines Flight 810 from
14:44
Vancouver to Calvary crashed at Salisey Mountain,
14:48
killing all 62 people aboard, including one football
14:51
official and four players from the Saskatchewan
14:54
Rough Riders. Just a tragic story. But, you know,
14:58
it sounds like he had the potential to be just
15:00
a great player. He was in college, so... Anyway,
15:03
there were no All -Americans or All -Big Ten
15:05
honors for the Gophers in the 1955 season, but
15:08
their quarterback, Don Swanson from Minneapolis,
15:12
was awarded the Gophers Team MVP Award. On to
15:20
the 1956 season, when a movie ticket averaged
15:23
about 68 cents nationwide. Dave, after the disappointing
15:29
three -win season the year before, how did the
15:31
Gophers do in 1956, their third season under
15:34
Murray Wormath? They actually bounced back very
15:37
well. They went 6 -1 and 2 overall. 4 -1 and
15:41
2 in the Big Ten, which was third place in the
15:43
conference. had a much better home record, 4
15:46
-1 -1 and 2 -0 -1 on the road, and they ended
15:50
up finishing 12th in the AP poll and 9th in the
15:54
UPI poll. Yeah, okay. Who won the Big Ten in
15:57
56 days? It was actually won by Iowa. They had
16:00
a 5 -1 record. They finished nine and one overall.
16:04
Their only loss in 56 was to Michigan, which
16:07
finished second in the Big Ten at five and two.
16:10
The Hawkeyes went on to beat Oregon State 35
16:12
-19 in the Rose Bowl and finished the season
16:14
ranked number three in the nation. Oklahoma won
16:17
the national championship again in 1956. Oh,
16:21
Iowa really had a good year. OK, Tom, how did
16:24
the Gophers draw at home in 1956? Attendance
16:27
looks like it was really good. They had six home
16:30
games. The average attendance was 62 ,109. Their
16:36
season high was again for the Iowa game at 64
16:39
,235. Gophers got dumped on that one seven to
16:43
nothing. Floyd Orozdale obviously remained with
16:46
the Hawkeyes for another year. And then how did
16:49
the Gophers do on the other two trophy games
16:51
in 1956, Tom? Well, they got the little brown
16:54
jug back, but the 20 to 7 went over the on the
16:57
road against Michigan and the Axe stayed Minneapolis
17:00
because they tied Wisconsin on the road 13 to
17:03
13. That was the tendency. It just blew me away
17:06
when I think about it. Because we remember Memorial
17:08
Stadium, but I was never in there when there
17:11
was even 50 ,000. You might have seen some games.
17:14
I saw maybe I saw 50 ,000, but certainly not
17:17
60 ,000 when they played OG it would have been
17:21
I think the fall autumn of 68 right right That
17:24
was I'm pretty sure that was a sellout, but that's
17:27
one of the only times yeah, Tom You might agree
17:30
with me because we did it attend the game in
17:33
77 when they upset Michigan. The game probably
17:36
started off with maybe 45 ,000 people in the
17:40
stands, but it almost seemed like more and more
17:42
people kept showing up. By third quarter it was
17:44
full. It was, it was. Front runners back then
17:48
too, but what's curious is the 54 and 55 season
17:56
or 56 seasons had 65 ,000 people there. where
18:02
the iwegians invading memorial like oh they they
18:06
had a lot to do with it yeah sure i'm sure i
18:08
i always credit their fans travel about as well
18:11
as anybody yes and and come up to minneapolis
18:13
it's not that big a deal right right By the way,
18:17
the other tie in the Gophers' 56th season was
18:20
at home against Northwestern 0 -0. The Gophers
18:23
had been a 14 -point favorite and moved the ball
18:26
well in the game. They would gain Northwestern
18:28
271 yards to 142, almost 2 -1. But unfortunately,
18:34
the Gophers also turned the ball over on fumbles
18:36
three times, including one at Northwestern's
18:39
goal line. It was a heavy rain that day, and
18:42
I'm sure that really, you know, screwed things.
18:44
You can imagine how that field was too. I mean,
18:46
it must have just been a mud bowl. Right. There
18:48
were not one but two unanimous All -Americans
18:52
that the Gophers played against in 1956. Again,
18:55
Ron Kramer, senior in from Michigan. Kramer was
18:59
the Green Bay Packers' first round draft pick
19:01
in the 1957 NFL Draft. He played eight seasons
19:04
with Green Bay. He was an all -pro in 1962 and
19:07
two seasons with the Detroit Lions. Then a guy
19:10
named Joe Walton, a senior in from Pittsburgh,
19:14
which lost to the Gophers 9 -6 at Memorial Stadium.
19:17
Walton was a second round draft pick by Washington.
19:19
He went on to play eight seasons in the NFL,
19:22
four with Washington and then four with the New
19:23
York Giants. He eventually went on to become
19:26
head coach at Robert Morris University for 20
19:28
seasons. After that, I've never heard from him
19:30
until I researched this. And again, future Viking
19:35
scout Frank Gilliam. this time his senior year
19:37
at Iowa, played against the Gophers. He was named
19:40
the second team All -Americans. What position
19:43
did Gilliam play? Well, it just listed his end,
19:46
but remember that back then? That was single
19:47
platoon football. Maybe he was like a receiver
19:49
when they had the ball, and then maybe he was
19:52
a line edge rusher, or maybe he was a linebacker.
19:55
I don't know. It's curious. It didn't really
20:00
specify what he played, but most players are
20:02
two -way. Right. And for the Gophers there are
20:05
a couple of individual honors to mention regarding
20:07
the 1956 season. Tackle Bob Hobart from Minneapolis
20:12
was named a first -team All -American and first
20:15
-team All -Big Ten. Hobart went on to play seven
20:18
seasons for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the
20:20
Canadian Football League and his team won the
20:23
Great Cup, the CFL's version Super Bowl, in 1958.
20:27
Now here's the name I'm going to throw out at
20:28
you guys. Quarterback Bobby Cox out of Olympia
20:33
Washington Not to be confused with the former
20:35
Atlanta Braves manager, Bobby Cox. He was awarded
20:38
the Gophers Team MVP award. And I'll be honest
20:41
with you guys, I was three years old during the
20:44
1956 season. I had never heard of Bobby Cox until
20:48
I started my research for this podcast. Had either
20:50
of you guys heard of that name before? I had
20:53
heard of him, but only because of, you know,
20:55
a book that dad may have had that kind of highlighted
20:58
some Gopher seasons, but I had heard of him.
21:02
I would find it interesting that they recruited
21:05
a guy from Olympia, Washington. It'd be interesting
21:08
to do a deep dive and find out a little bit more
21:13
about recruiting back then because, yeah, that
21:16
seems like a long distance for somebody to come
21:19
here. Yeah, I don't think it was one of those
21:21
deals where he was a senior in high school and
21:23
he said would you like to play at Minnesota?
21:25
I have a feeling he might have been with some
21:26
other teams. That's a good question. I'm sure
21:28
that a book I'm going to allude to later might
21:31
explain a little bit more about his background.
21:32
But the interesting thing about it was Bobby
21:34
Cox was actually on the cover of Sports Illustrated
21:37
on November 4th, 1957 with a caption that read,
21:40
Bobby Cox of Minnesota, best college quarterback.
21:45
And he's right on the cover. He's wearing one
21:47
of those classic gopher helmets with the numbers
21:49
on the side. Yeah, no face mask. And it was just
21:55
classic look. But honestly, I'd never heard of
21:58
the guy. But he never did win All -American or
22:01
did he? No, no. He wouldn't. He won the team's
22:04
MVP award. I think he had flashes of brilliance,
22:07
but it wasn't like he could put a whole season
22:08
together. So that made a good podcast for me
22:11
just in the future. Talk about this guy. He stayed
22:13
in Minnesota. I think he had like a travel agency
22:17
or something and he lived to be, you know, in
22:19
his late 60s. He died the beginning of the like
22:22
2003. So anyway. On to the 1957 season. when
22:32
a post -it stand cost three cents. Okay, Tom,
22:37
how did the Gophers, how did things go for the
22:39
Gophers during their fourth season under Murray
22:41
Wormath? Well, they took a bit of a step back
22:43
that year. They were overall four and five, three
22:46
and five in the Big Ten for an eighth place finish.
22:49
They were three and two at home, but only one
22:51
and three on the road. Okay. And then who won
22:53
the Big Ten in 1957? It sounded like a broken
22:57
record here, but Ohio State won again with a
22:59
7 -0 record and finished nine and one overall.
23:02
They went to the Rose Bowl, beat Oregon ten to
23:05
seven and shared the national championship with
23:08
Auburn. Oh, Auburn. Okay. Okay. And then how'd
23:11
the Gophers drop Memorial Stadium in 1957, Dave?
23:14
They drew well in spite of, you know, relatively
23:18
average or mediocre year. The average, six home
23:21
games, 62 ,954 was the average. And that was
23:26
the highest average per home game in Wormass,
23:29
18 seasons. Season high for attendance was a
23:33
game against Purdue, 64 ,629. And the Gophers
23:38
won that one. 21 to 17. Okay. And then how did
23:42
they do on their other trophy games in 1957?
23:45
Gophers went 0 for 3 that year. They lost at
23:47
home to Michigan. They lost on the road to Iowa.
23:51
And they lost at home to Wisconsin. Okay. Okay.
23:55
Tradition. Yeah. Three consensus all Americans
24:00
faced the Gophers in 1957. First one was Alex
24:03
Karas. Then a senior tackle from Iowa, who went
24:09
on to play for the Detroit Lions from 1958 to
24:12
1970 and was elected posthumously to the Pro
24:15
Football Hall of Fame. Another player, Walt Kowalczyk,
24:19
a senior halfback from Michigan State, which
24:21
beat the visiting Gophers 42 to 13. Kowalczyk
24:25
went on to play three years in the NFL, first
24:28
with the Eagles and then with the Dallas Cowboys
24:30
and then one season with the then AFL Oakland
24:33
Raiders. I don't remember that name. Again, I
24:36
was four years old. And then Dan Curry, a senior
24:39
center, also from Michigan State, who went on
24:42
to play nine seasons in the NFL, seven with the
24:45
Packers and two with the Los Angeles Rams. There
24:47
was at least one future Viking that the Gophers
24:50
faced in 1957, and that was Dale Hackbart, then
24:54
a sophomore quarterback with Wisconsin. He was
24:57
a defensive back in the NFL and played 12 seasons
25:00
there. five with the Vikings. I remember him
25:03
really well. Number 49? He had kind of a tough
25:07
sounding name and as I recall he was a pretty
25:09
hard hitter too. Well I have no idea he was a
25:12
quarterback because the way he played defense,
25:15
the tackles he means, he's never pictured him
25:17
being a quarterback. Very hard -nosed. Yep, and
25:21
you'll be hearing more about Hackbard as we go
25:22
along that couple seasons. So no jug, no Floyd,
25:27
no axe in the Gophers trophy case after the 57th
25:30
season. They played only one non -conference
25:32
game that year, the season opener at home against
25:34
Washington, and the Gophers won the game 46 -7.
25:38
In fact, the Gophers started out 3 -0. They also
25:41
beat Purdue at home and Northwestern on the road,
25:44
but went 1 -5 the rest of the way, and that one
25:47
win was at home over Indiana. No All -American
25:50
or All -Big Ten honors for the Gophers in 1957,
25:53
but the quarterback by the name of Dick Larson
25:55
from Minneapolis was awarded the Gophers Team
25:58
MVP Award. Think Dick Larson went on become like
26:02
almost like a graduate assistant I think he was
26:04
involved with the Gophers like when they won
26:06
the national championship He was one of those
26:08
guys just after college stayed on and helped
26:11
out So seems like there's been a few players
26:13
that are from the city of Minneapolis It'd be
26:15
kind of fun to figure out or to know where they
26:17
went to high school Like what part of the city
26:20
they came from. Right, like I tried looking up
26:22
Hobart. I don't know where he was from. The only
26:24
one I know about and we'll talk to him later
26:26
is Tom Brown. I know where he went to high school.
26:28
But we'll get to that in a couple seasons. On
26:34
to the 1958 season when the average yearly income
26:39
was $4 ,650. This is fun looking up this information.
26:46
I remember you have to adjust for inflation.
26:48
I mean that's what season tickets cost. Okay
26:53
so back to 58 Dave, how did the Gophers do during
26:56
their fifth season under Warmath? You know that
26:59
had to be just about the low water mark for Murray
27:03
Warmath because they really struggled. They were
27:06
one and eight overall, one and six in the Big
27:08
Ten and they finished in ninth place. Their lone
27:11
victory was a 39 -12 win at home over Michigan
27:14
State, which actually finished last in the Big
27:17
Ten. They went 0 -4 on the road. And who won
27:20
the Big Ten in 58 days? Iowa, which is kind of
27:26
a surprise. I did not realize that they were
27:28
that successful at all during the 50s. But they
27:31
won the Big Ten with a 5 -1 record and finished
27:33
8 -1 -1 overall. They went on to beat Cal. 38
27:38
to 12 in the Rose Bowl and they were named national
27:41
champions in 1958 both by the Football Writers
27:44
Association of America But LSU was voted national
27:48
champs by the AP and the UPI Those I get the
27:52
feeling that those polls probably meant more
27:55
As far because I've never heard people refer
27:57
to Iowa's national champions in 1958 mm -hmm
28:00
you know the poll did have number one, but LSU
28:04
is probably what you'd see listed mostly for
28:06
that year. Okay, Tom, and then how did the Gophers
28:08
draw it home in 58? Well, they only had five
28:12
home games in 58. They averaged 56 ,446. Their
28:16
season high was again against Iowa, 63 ,726,
28:22
and they got dumped on that one 28 to 6. And
28:26
then how did they do in their other two trophy
28:28
games in 58? Well, they were 0 -4 in those as
28:31
well. They lost in Michigan 20 -19 and Wisconsin
28:35
27 -12, both on the road. So 0 -4 -3 in the trophy
28:39
games again. Well, 1 -8. Okay, here are the unanimous
28:45
or consensus All -Americans if they go for space
28:47
in 1958. And this is one I'm embarrassed. I've
28:50
never heard of this guy. I have to talk about
28:52
him. Randy Duncan. Senior quarterback from Iowa,
28:56
a unanimous All -American. He led the Hawkeyes
28:59
to one of their best seasons ever, obviously.
29:01
He finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.
29:04
He lost to a guy named Pete Dawkins, quarterback
29:07
for Army in 1958. We heard of Pete Dawkins only
29:10
because he won the Heisman. Yeah, second in height
29:13
and drove him. And Duncan was the first pick
29:16
in the 1959 NFL Draft. by the Packers. He was
29:20
overall the number one pick. But get this, remember
29:22
this is 1958 or 59, I guess. The Packers offered
29:26
Randy Duncan, the overall number one draft pick
29:29
in 1959, a two -year, $12 ,000 a year contract.
29:35
But he also was offered $14 ,000 a year, plus
29:39
a $2 ,500 bonus to go to Canada. He took the
29:43
money to play in the CFL. Again, 1959. Duncan
29:47
played just three seasons of pro football, two
29:50
with the BC Lions in the CFL, and one with the
29:53
Dallas Texans of AFL, who became the Kansas City
29:57
Chiefs. I guess the reason he retired was Hank
30:00
Strand became the coach, and he wanted Lenny
30:03
Dawson to be his quarterback. So Randy said,
30:06
see ya. So he retired, and he went on to operate
30:10
a successful law practice in Des Moines. That's
30:13
a name I never heard of until I researched this.
30:15
Never heard of him either. Okay another consensus
30:18
all -american or a consensus all -american was
30:20
Sam Williams, senior in from Michigan State.
30:24
The only team to go for his beat in 1958, but
30:26
Williams went on to play nine seasons in the
30:28
NFL. Then a guy named John Guzik, a senior guard
30:33
and linebacker from Pittsburgh, which would go
30:35
for his beat at Memorial Stadium 13 -7. A consensus
30:39
all -american, he played three seasons of pro
30:41
football, two in the NFL and one in the AFL.
30:44
Three future Vikings faced the Gophers in 58,
30:47
again, Dale Hackbart. He was a junior that year.
30:51
All he did against the visiting Gophers in 1958
30:53
was run for one touchdown, throw for another,
30:57
and pick off three Gopher passes as a badge of
31:00
safety. And just for trivia, a guy named Jim
31:03
Reese was a Gopher quarterback. He was from Long
31:06
Island, and he transferred to Minnesota when
31:08
Fordham dropped its football program. The second
31:12
guy, now this guy I know you've heard of, Ed
31:14
Scherachman. Cornerback with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
31:18
He played all 12 seasons of his NFL career with
31:21
the Vikings. And one of his teammates in that
31:24
game, not a future Viking, but we certainly will
31:26
recognize the name, Mike Ditka. Wow. Cool. And
31:31
then the third guy, which I guarantee you've
31:33
heard of, is Bill Boom Boom Brown. Nice. Running
31:36
back with Illinois, which beat the Gophers at
31:38
Memorial Stadium 28 -8. He played his rookie
31:41
season with the Chicago Bears, but had a wonderful
31:43
13 -year career with the Vikings. So 1958 for
31:48
the second straight year, no little brown jug,
31:51
Floyd Rosedale or Paul Bunyan's axe to display
31:53
in the Gophers trophy case. But a couple of individual
31:57
honors were awarded. A center named Mike Svensson
32:00
from Minneapolis. was named to the All Big Ten
32:03
First Team Center, okay? And a guard named Everett
32:06
Geertz out of Dodd Center, Minnesota was awarded
32:10
the Gophers Team MVP award. On to the 1959 season
32:21
when the federal hourly minimum wage was one
32:25
dollar. Tom, was the 1959 season any better for
32:31
the Gophers, their sixth under Murray Wormath?
32:34
No, unfortunately not. Their overall record was
32:38
two and seven, one and six in the Big Ten for
32:41
last place. Their lone Big Ten win came at home
32:45
against Indiana, and they also won a non -conference
32:48
game at home against Vandy. And who won the Big
32:54
Ten in 59? Uh, Wisconsin actually won the big
32:57
10 with a five and two record and finished seven
32:59
and three overall. They, they got beat soundly
33:04
by Washington and the Rose bowl 44 to eight.
33:07
Oh, it was a good day. Yes. They finished it.
33:14
Wisconsin finished the season ranked number six.
33:17
And Syracuse, then an independent school, they
33:21
didn't become part of the Big East until 91,
33:23
won their only national championship in 59. And
33:27
Dave, how did the Gophers do for attendance in
33:29
59? Well, attendance started to fall off a little
33:32
bit in 59. They only averaged 51 ,208. And just
33:37
to interject something, as I was looking at these
33:40
stats from 59, I do recall Royce writing a column,
33:45
sometime in the 50s, where the students on fraternity
33:49
row hung Murray Wormath in effigy. I don't know
33:52
if that was this year, but I would guess that
33:55
there was a lot of unrest among Gopher fans.
33:59
That's a good point. So they averaged $51 ,208
34:03
in five home games. They did have $56 ,000 for
34:06
Michigan, and the Gophers lost that one 14 to
34:10
six. And then they had the other two trophy games,
34:13
Dave. They lost at Iowa 33 -zip and they lost
34:16
at home to Wisconsin 11 -7. So once again, they
34:21
didn't have any of the traveling trophies. All
34:24
right, and here are the unanimous or consensus
34:26
All -Americans that the Gophers faced in 1959.
34:29
First one, Dan Lamphere, a senior tackle from
34:33
Wisconsin, unanimous All -American selection
34:36
in 1959, went on to play two seasons with the
34:39
Oilers in the AFL. Two seasons, you wonder if
34:42
it was like injuries or something. Another player,
34:46
Ron Burton, senior halfback from Northwestern,
34:49
which beat the Gophers six to nothing that year.
34:52
He played six seasons in the AFL with the then
34:55
Boston Patriots. And then a guy named Bill Burrell,
34:59
senior guard and linebacker from Illinois, which
35:01
beat the visiting Gophers 14 to six. A consensus
35:04
All -American, Burrell went on to play five seasons
35:07
with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in the CFL.
35:10
And the future Viking that played against the
35:13
Gophers in 59, thankfully the last time, was
35:16
Dale Hackburt. In the Badger's 11 -7 win at Memorial
35:20
Stadium, he ran for the go -ahead touchdown in
35:23
the fourth quarter and then completed a pass
35:25
for the two -point conversion. Oh, and he intercepted
35:28
a pass in the last play of the game. I'd love
35:31
to find out where Hackbart was from, too. I would,
35:34
you know, if he was a native of Wisconsin. He's
35:37
still alive. He's 86. Wow. It'd be fun to just
35:40
talk to him. No All -American or All Big Ten
35:43
honors for the Gophers in 59, but a receiver
35:45
named Tom Mowell from Edina was awarded the Gophers
35:49
Team MVP Award. Not exactly a fun fact here about
35:53
the 59 season, but in my research, and Dave,
35:55
you kind of mentioned this before, Ormath came
35:58
under some serious fire after three state losing
36:01
seasons, during which the Gophers finished a
36:03
combined 6 -20. Fans were throwing garbage on
36:08
the lawn of Ormath's home. I'm not laughing because
36:11
there were some people that were pretty fed up.
36:14
And he was hung in effigy outside a campus dorm
36:18
at the U. And some Gopher boosters were saying
36:22
that the U should just buy out the last two years
36:23
of his contract and move on. Wasn't looking good
36:27
for warm math at the end of the 1950s, was it?
36:31
On to the 1960 season, the year in which Loomer
36:38
McCann's for soft drinks were introduced for
36:41
the first time. There's a reason for that phrase,
36:45
it's always darkest before the dawn, though.
36:47
Dave, here's a fun question. You get to answer
36:50
this. How did things go for the Gophers in the
36:52
1960 season? Well, after the three straight losing
36:56
seasons, they made a dramatic turnaround in 1960.
36:59
They went eight and two overall. Six and one
37:02
in the Big Ten. Tied with Iowa for first place,
37:05
although they ended up beating Iowa that year.
37:08
They went five and one at home and three and
37:09
one on the road. So it was very successful. Yeah,
37:13
that was it. That is a turnaround. That's a real
37:14
turnaround. And how'd they do at home for attendance,
37:17
Tom? Well, they had six home games in 60 and
37:21
average just a shade over $57 ,000 per game.
37:24
Their season high attendance again was against
37:28
Iowa. They had over $65 ,000 there for that one.
37:32
And the Gophers won convincingly 27 to 10. 1960
37:36
was also the last year for four. Forrest Eveshevsky
37:40
as the head coach of Iowa. He had a real good
37:45
run. They talk about him a lot when they talk
37:48
about he and Hayden Fry and, no, Ferenz, I mean,
37:51
his longtime successful coaches. Then Tom, how
37:54
did the Gophers do in their other two trophy
37:56
games? They actually did really well. They won
37:59
at Michigan 10 -0 and at Wisconsin 26 -7. So
38:05
the Gophers won their sixth and it's still their
38:07
most recent national championship in 1960. Murray
38:15
Warmath was named NCAA Coach of the Year. The
38:18
Gophers finished first in both the AP and UPI
38:21
polls. The voting was held prior to the Rose
38:23
Bowl, which is a good thing because the Gophers
38:25
lost to Washington 17 -7 in the Rose Bowl on
38:29
January 2, 1961. That's funny when you think
38:32
about it. voted championships based on regular
38:35
season. The bowl games were kind of like, oh
38:37
well, that's a nice thing. Let them go in the
38:39
sun, in the warmth. But the regular season was
38:42
the key, rather than now, they wait till, well
38:45
now they actually have a national championship.
38:47
Right. I don't know for certain if it's still
38:50
up, but that game against Washington, the Rose
38:54
Bowl game is actually, at least it was a few
38:57
years ago, was actually on YouTube. You can actually
39:00
see the game in its entirety. It was interesting
39:05
to watch. Well, guard Tom Brown from Minneapolis
39:09
Central High School, just like Prince. Could
39:13
you have more contrast and student body? Not
39:16
at the same time, obviously. He was named a unanimous
39:19
All -American and the Big Ten's most valuable
39:22
player. Also, along with Brown, end Tom Hall
39:26
from Wilmington, Delaware. and center Greg Larson
39:29
from Minneapolis were named to the All Big Ten
39:32
first team. More honors for Tom Brown, but he's
39:35
still alive. He's 88 years old as of, you know,
39:39
May of 2025. He was awarded the Outland Trophy,
39:42
which is given to the best college football interior
39:45
lineman in the nation. He finished second in
39:47
voting for the Heisman Trophy, a lineman. And
39:50
then he received the Gophers team MVP award.
39:55
Consensus are unanimous All -Americans who played
39:57
against the Gophers in 1960? Actually, none.
40:01
You know, Brown was unanimous from the Gophers,
40:03
but the Ohio State had a junior fullback named
40:06
Bob Ferguson. I remember that name. He was unanimous.
40:10
Tom Brown, of course, went on to play professional
40:12
football for seven seasons with the BC Lions
40:15
and the CFL. He's a member of the Canadian Football
40:18
Hall of Fame as well as the College Football
40:20
Hall of Fame. Which is all well and good, but
40:23
it is wild to think the Tom Brown of Minneapolis
40:26
the unanimous all -american Outland Trophy winner
40:30
runner -up in the Heisman went to Canada to play
40:33
football He was drafted by the Colts and the
40:36
New York Titans later the Jets in the AFL, but
40:40
he was offered more money I can remember dad
40:42
telling us that we were little boys said the
40:45
CFL was actually paying more for players than
40:48
the NFL was at the time. Again, this is like
40:51
1960. Look how things have changed. And then
40:56
you guys remember Tom Moore. He didn't play for
40:59
the Vikings, but he was an assistant head coach
41:01
with the Vikings in 1991 under Burnsy and then
41:04
a wide receivers coach in 93 -94 under Dennis
41:07
Green. Well, he was a backup quarterback for
41:10
Iowa in 1960. But in the game, the Gophers won
41:13
at home 27 to 10, Moore kicked a field goal and
41:17
an extra point. He was their kicker. 86 now,
41:20
technically still involved in the NFL as an offensive
41:23
consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom
41:27
Moore. And I just want to add a couple things
41:30
going off my script, but 1960 was really the
41:33
first season that... Well, I think you and me
41:35
both got into sports. I couldn't tell you anything
41:38
prior to that, but I remember dad was so excited
41:40
about the Gophers that it rubbed off on us. I
41:43
mean, we just, every week. And I remember when
41:45
he went to that Gopher game against Iowa. I just
41:48
remember we were playing, you know, as little
41:50
boys do, but I remember he came home and he was
41:51
all pumped up because I couldn't even tell who
41:54
he went to the game with. But he just said, you
41:56
know, it was packed and exciting. And it was
41:58
cold that day, too. It was like in the upper
42:00
teens or 20s. I remember it was kind of a gray
42:03
day. And they used to show these games, Tom,
42:06
on Channel 2. They'd show the football games,
42:09
I think it was maybe like one or two cameras,
42:12
and it was just some guy, you know, just calling
42:15
the shots. But they had it on Channel 2. You
42:17
could watch it if you wanted. Such a different
42:19
time, such a different time. That's kind of what
42:22
got me going with Minnesota Sports, I think,
42:25
that season. Because the Twins came the next
42:27
spring and that. As I recall, too, that was the
42:30
first heartbreaking loss that I can ever remember.
42:33
I mean, I was just a kid at the time, but I remember
42:35
being very disappointed that they lost. And,
42:37
you know, I should have viewed that as a sign
42:40
of things to come. I didn't mention it before
42:42
because it wasn't a rivalry game, but they actually
42:44
lost to Purdue. Yes. Like the second to last
42:47
game after they beat Iowa. I think it was close
42:50
to that time. Tell them who Purdue's quarterback
42:52
was. The future second baseman of the twins,
42:54
Bernie Allen. And Purdue wasn't even that great.
42:58
I mean, the record wasn't great, but they just...
43:00
They couldn't stop Bernie Allen, I remember.
43:03
But as Dad explained it to us, every other team
43:06
that was highly ranked... also lost that week.
43:09
So they didn't really lose any ground, you know,
43:12
as far as that goes. Did you remember the Uncle
43:15
Joe story? Yes. This will come as no surprise.
43:20
He was living in Iowa, right? He lived in Des
43:22
Moines. Yeah. And I don't know exactly what he
43:24
was doing, but I mean he had a couple of kids,
43:29
a few kids at the time, but he ended up, he went
43:32
to see the game on closed circuit TV in a crowded
43:36
theater in Des Moines. And knowing our Uncle
43:39
Joe, he wasn't going to shrink from standing
43:42
up and cheering for the Gophers. I think he was
43:45
lucky to have gotten out of there in one piece.
43:49
Oh, I can just imagine. Because I know how I
43:53
hate it when visiting fans come and talk trash.
43:57
Oh, yeah. On to the 1961 season. The same year
44:07
in which Erin Moran, who played Joni Cunningham
44:09
on the sitcom Happy Days, was born. I can't just
44:16
keep giving gas prices and bread prices. You're
44:19
really digging. I always thought she was cute.
44:23
Maybe just me. Well, the Gophers' 1960 National
44:27
Championship season was going to be a tough act
44:29
to follow, you would think. But Tom, tell us
44:32
how the Gophers did in 61, their eighth season
44:34
under Murray Wormath. Well, they had another
44:36
great season in 61. They finished 8 -2 overall,
44:40
6 -1 in the Big Ten, good for second place. They
44:43
went 4 -2 at home and 4 -0 on the road. And then,
44:47
who won the Big Ten then? Ohio State one of that
44:50
year 6 -0 record finished 8 -0 in one overall.
44:55
They tied TCU 7 -7 in their season opener. That
44:59
was their only blemish. The Buckeyes also were
45:04
named national champions by both the football
45:07
writers association or by the football writers
45:10
association but BAMA was voted national champs
45:14
by the Associated and United Press International.
45:17
Alright, thanks Tom. Just to show you how major
45:19
college football has changed over the years,
45:22
at The Ohio State University in 1961, there had
45:26
been a growing conflict between academics and
45:28
athletics over Ohio State's reputation as a quote
45:33
-unquote football school. The result? A faculty
45:37
council at OSU voted to decline an invitation
45:41
to the Rose Bowl, resulting in much public protest
45:44
and debate. In other words, you know what hits
45:47
a fan at Ohio State. And because the Gophers
45:50
finished second in the Big Ten behind the Buckeyes,
45:53
they got to go back to the Rose Bowl for a second
45:55
straight year. More on that Rose Bowl in a minute.
45:58
Do you think today, guys, that an Ohio State
46:01
faculty council or the faculty council at any
46:04
school in America with a major college football
46:06
program would vote to decline an invitation to
46:09
the Rose Bowl because of concerns that they were
46:12
turning into a football school? Or say thanks
46:15
but no thanks to a college football playoff game?
46:21
I don't think so. No. But back to the 61 season,
46:25
Dave. How did the Gophers draw at home that year?
46:28
The average attendance was good that year. They
46:32
averaged 60 ,322. Season high for attendance
46:36
was a game against Purdue where they had 66 ,284.
46:41
And that was the largest crowd ever recorded
46:43
at Memorial Stadium. And the Gophers won that
46:46
game 10 to seven. And the team finished the season
46:50
ranked number six in the nation. Okay, and then
46:53
how did they do in their three trophy games?
46:56
They ended up winning two out of three. They
46:58
beat Michigan in a thrilling game at home 23
47:00
to 20. They beat Iowa on the road 16 to 9. It
47:04
happened to be Jerry Byrne's first season as
47:07
head coach at Iowa, but they lost a close one
47:09
at home to Wisconsin 23 to 21. Thanks, Dave.
47:14
I think the 1961 season was just as impressive
47:17
as the national championship season, actually.
47:19
For one thing, in 61, the Gophers didn't sneak
47:21
up on anyone. They lost a close 6 -0 game at
47:24
home to Missouri in the season opener, which,
47:27
by the way, featured cold, rain, wind, even snow
47:31
flurries on the 20th of September. I actually
47:35
can remember that. Yeah, in September. They lost
47:38
by two points at home to the Badgers in the final
47:40
game of the regular season. And in between those
47:42
two games they won seven straight. First Oregon
47:46
in non -conference and then six games against
47:48
Big Ten opponents. The 61 gopher squad finished
47:51
sixth in the nation both in the AP and coaches
47:54
polls. And just like in 1960 there were no consensus
47:58
of unanimous all -americans who played against
48:00
the gophers in 61. However for the second straight
48:03
year Bob Ferguson, now a senior fullback from
48:07
OSU, was named a unanimous all -american. Interestingly,
48:11
Ferguson went on to play just two seasons in
48:13
the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the
48:16
Vikings, which I don't remember. But he had some
48:20
kind of head injury. He must have had concussions
48:22
or something. It hampered his career. He didn't
48:24
play long. And you mentioned a little bit just
48:27
a moment ago, Dave, in 61, he didn't play for
48:30
the Gophers, but it was the first year for Jerry
48:32
Burns as head coach at Iowa. Burns, he had served
48:35
as an assistant. to Forrest Eveshevsky from 54
48:39
to 60, and then he was head coach for five seasons
48:42
at Iowa. And of course, we Viking fans will always
48:45
remember Bernsey as the team's offensive coordinator
48:47
for 18 seasons and six seasons as head coach.
48:51
And I think it's pretty well. understood that
48:54
he is the one who invented the West Coast offense,
48:56
not Bill Walsh. No matter what people say. He
49:00
was pretty innovative. He was the coach that
49:02
was always up in the head, in the booth too,
49:04
wasn't he, when he was coordinator? Yes. He's
49:06
always up there. He saw things. He made it interesting.
49:09
So let's go back to the Rose Bowl for just a
49:12
second. It was played on January 1st, 1962. I'm
49:15
happy to report that the Gophers went on to beat
49:17
UCLA 21 -3. And they played a great game. They
49:25
made up for that frustrating loss to Washington
49:27
the year before in that Rose Bowl. Quarterback
49:30
Sandy Stevens, from Uniontown, Pennsylvania,
49:33
was named a Consensus All -American, the Big
49:36
Ten's most valuable player, and the Rose Bowl
49:39
MVP. Tackle Bobby Bell, out of Shelby, North
49:43
Carolina, was also named a Consensus All -American
49:46
in all Big Ten. By the way, Sandy Stevens, for
49:49
whom we could in I probably should record a podcast
49:53
someday about his playing days with the Gophers
49:56
finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.
49:58
He was also awarded the Gopher Team MVP award.
50:02
Sadly, Sandy Stevens passed away on June 6, 2000
50:05
of a heart attack. He was 59 years old, but his
50:09
jersey number, number 15, was also retired on
50:12
November 18, 2000. On to the 62 season, the same
50:21
year in which a hamburger at McDonald's cost
50:23
15 cents. Dave, how did the Gophers do in 1962,
50:29
their ninth season under Wormath? They were successful
50:32
that year. They went 6 -2 -1 overall, 5 -2 in
50:37
the Big Ten, which was good for second place
50:40
in the conference. They went 4 -1 -1 at home,
50:44
2 -1 on the road. One of those home victories
50:47
included a 21 -zip shutout of Navy. The first
50:52
and only times those two football teams have
50:54
faced each other. The team finished the 1962
50:58
season ranked number 10 in the nation. Okay,
51:01
and Dave, who won the Big Ten in 1962? Wisconsin
51:04
won the Big Ten with a 6 -1 record and finished
51:07
8 -2 overall. Although, it's a little bit contentious
51:11
about how they actually won it. I do remember
51:13
a little bit about that. The Badgers finish the
51:16
season ranked number two in the nation. And Southern
51:18
Cal, which won the national championship in 1962,
51:23
also beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in a high
51:26
-scoring game 42 to 37. I actually remember watching
51:30
that game. I think we lived in Heights at that
51:34
time. I was skating up at the rink and people
51:37
would watch the game. I remember it was a really
51:38
exciting game. High -scoring. I remember a player
51:41
named Hal Bledsoe for the Trojans and was Ron
51:45
Vanderkellen. That's about all I remember, but
51:49
I'm sure you've got some editorial comments on
51:53
how they lost that game. Yeah, there's some good
51:56
stuff I had. Good stuff I had. Tom, how did the
51:58
Gophers draw at home in 62? Well their average
52:01
attendance for their six home games was 61 ,367
52:05
but again their high seeded the high water mark
52:09
for that season was against Iowa where they drew
52:12
over 65 ,000 and the Gophers actually won that
52:15
game 10 to nothing. Okay and then how about their
52:18
other two trophy games then? Well the Gophers
52:20
won in Michigan 17 to nothing but lost to Wisconsin
52:23
14 to 9. A tough loss for the Gophers because
52:27
both the Gophers and Wisconsin had five -and
52:29
-one records in the Big Ten going into that final
52:31
game of the season. Had the Gophers defeated
52:34
Wisconsin in that game, they would have won the
52:36
Big Ten championship. Thanks, Tom. I want to
52:39
share something with you, Tom, because it's about
52:42
you, but I'm coming up to this now. It's not
52:44
bad. It's a cute story. When the Gophers lost
52:47
that heartbreaking game of Wisconsin on November
52:49
24, 1962, you'd been born just four days earlier
52:54
on November 20. Dave, you can corroborate or
52:57
correct me on this, but I believe that you and
53:00
I were with dad. Were we listening to that game?
53:02
I don't think it was on TV. We were listening
53:03
to the game. Okay, and Tom, I think he came home
53:07
from the hospital that day. It was a Saturday.
53:09
I'm not sure it was that day, but he had obviously
53:12
come home. It hadn't been long, though. Hadn't
53:14
been long. He's four days old. From Swedish Hospital
53:17
that morning. Anyway, he was sleeping in his
53:20
little bassinet or whatever. No, it was his bassinet.
53:23
As I recall, I thought his bassinet was in what
53:26
became the den or the dining room. I think that's
53:29
where we're listening to the game. I think the
53:31
first two or three years of my life, that was
53:34
my room. That may have been. Yeah. Anyway, here's
53:37
what went down on that Saturday afternoon on
53:39
November 24th, 1962. Like he said Tom, Wisconsin
53:43
beat the Gophers 14 -9 in Madison to win the
53:46
Big Ten Championship. They did it by scoring
53:49
a touchdown on a drive that was extended after
53:52
a controversial roughing the passer penalty on
53:55
Bobby Bell. On that controversial play, the Gophers
53:58
initially thought they were on their way to another
54:00
Big Ten title after Gophers linebacker Jack Perkovich
54:04
had intercepted a tipped pass by Bobby Bell with
54:07
just a few minutes left in the game. Bell said
54:09
after the game that he thought he had gotten
54:12
his hand on the ball as he hit Wisconsin quarterback
54:14
Ron Vanderkellen. But one official saw things
54:17
differently and flagged Bell for roughing the
54:19
passer, which gave the ball back to the Badgers.
54:23
Wormath himself got an unsupportable like penalty
54:26
after that play because he pulled on the sleeve
54:29
of another official by the sidelines to ask why
54:32
that penalty was called on Bobby Bell. Can't
54:34
pull on the sleeve of an official no matter what's
54:37
going on. So instead of the Gophers having the
54:40
ball at midfield late in the game, that roughing
54:43
the passer and unsportsmanlike penalty gave the
54:47
Badgers the ball on the Gophers 13 -yard line.
54:51
Wow. Now, in Sen, Wisconsin then completed what
54:55
was an 80 -yard scoring drive with a two -yard
54:57
touchdown run to take the lead with a minute
55:02
37 left in the game. Gophers tried to put one
55:05
last drive together, but it passed some quarterback
55:08
Duane Blaska, an Anoka guy. He was intercepted
55:12
in the Wisconsin end zone. So they tried. So
55:17
I don't recall that. In other words, they drove
55:19
it all the way down the field and actually he
55:22
was intercepted. He threw the ball in the end
55:24
zone, but it got intercepted. That's how it ended.
55:26
And the reason I'm rehashing that painful memory,
55:28
at least from the perspective of gopher fans,
55:30
is that you, Tom, just a few hours short of being
55:33
four days old, woke up crying just as that game
55:36
was ending. It had to be because of that final
55:39
result, right? It wasn't because you were hungry
55:41
or four days old. But it's just so funny. You
55:44
and I and Dad are all super disappointed and
55:47
then Tommy's just crying. Tommy starts crying.
55:50
Well, I've been crying over Minnesota sports
55:53
now for six to four years. I got on that road
55:57
early and I've never left it. Three consensus
56:04
All -Americans faced the Gophers in 1962. There
56:06
was Pat Richter, a senior tight end from Wisconsin,
56:10
who went on to play eight seasons for the Washington
56:12
Redskins. And after his playing days, he was
56:15
named Athletic Director at Wisconsin. His most
56:18
famous hire, of course, was Barry Alvarez in
56:21
1990 as head football coach there. Also, a guy
56:24
named George Simes, a senior fullback from Michigan
56:28
State, which the Gophers beat on the road 28
56:30
to seven. Sines went on to play 10 seasons in
56:33
the pros as a defensive back. Full disclosure,
56:36
I've never heard of him either. Finally, a player
56:39
named Jack Saverchko, senior guard from Northwestern,
56:43
which beat the Gophers 34 -22 at Memorial Stadium.
56:47
Saverchko was drafted by the Packers in 1963,
56:50
but a chronic injury prevented him from ever
56:52
playing in the NFL. Saverchko. I had to look,
56:57
I got the spelling, but I thought, how do you
56:59
pronounce that? It was C -V -E -R -C -K -O. Saverchko.
57:04
Now, despite that heartbreaking loss at Wisconsin,
57:07
lots of individual Gopher players were honored
57:09
in the 62 season. Bobby Bell was a unanimous
57:12
All -American. He was also the first, also named
57:15
first team All -Big Ten for a second straight
57:17
year. Gard, Julian Hook for Robbinsdale, Minnesota.
57:21
and John Campbell from Wadena, Minnesota, were
57:25
also named to the All Big Ten first team. In
57:28
addition, junior tackle Carl Eller from Winston
57:32
-Salem, North Carolina, and senior defensive
57:35
end Bob Prodzic, a Chicago guy, were named to
57:39
the All Big Ten second team. You know, I read
57:42
a story where Eller, who was with Murray Wormath
57:45
in the days before his former coach died in 2011
57:49
at age 98, He said Wormath was still heartbroken
57:53
over that Wisconsin loss in 1962. Wow. Eller
57:56
said that Wormath never forgave the officials
57:59
for not roughing the pass or penalty on Bobby
58:01
Bell, and it haunted Wormath for the rest of
58:03
his life. Wow. Back to Bobby Bell for a second.
58:08
Like Tom Brown two years earlier, Bell was awarded
58:11
the Outland Trophy in 1962 and received the Gophers
58:14
team's MVP award. Bell, of course, would go on
58:17
to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL
58:20
for 12 seasons, including the season when the
58:22
Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl
58:24
IV in 1970. He was also elected to the Pro Football
58:28
Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of
58:30
Fame. And here's a fun story about Bobby Bell.
58:35
He left the U just 13 credits short of a degree
58:38
to go play for the Chiefs. At the age of 74,
58:42
He completed his college degree at Minnesota
58:45
by finishing the three remaining courses he was
58:48
required to take. He graduated on May 14, 2015,
58:52
more than 50 years after leaving college to play
58:55
pro football. He said he did it to honor his
58:58
father, who many years before had given his son
59:01
a gold watch so he would never be late for class.
59:04
And this is the part I love. Bell wore that same
59:07
gold watch 55 years later. during his graduation
59:10
ceremony. Cool. Is that a great story? Yeah,
59:12
it's a great story. I actually got choked up
59:15
reading that, so. And that 1962 season for the
59:23
Gophers, during which they finished number 10
59:25
in the nation in both the AP and coaches polls,
59:28
will take us to the end of part one of our podcast
59:31
on Gophers football during the Murray -Warmath
59:33
era. In part two, we'll talk about the seasons
59:36
from 1963 to 1971. Dave, Tom, this is fun, isn't
59:41
it? Lots of fun. Talking about go for football.
59:44
Great to get together again with you guys to
59:46
record another podcast. So thanks a lot, both
59:48
of you guys. Thank you. And again, to our listeners,
59:55
thanks for hanging out with me, Bob at home,
59:57
and my brothers, Dave and Tom at home. Be sure
59:59
to catch part two of the Murray War Math. podcast,
1:00:04
the former head coach of the Gophers, wherever
1:00:06
you listen to your podcasts. And until then,
1:00:09
bye!