Abe Mickal Famous LSU Player

July 9, 1912 - Talia, Lebanon - The famous LSU halfback from 1933 through the 1935 season, Abe Mickal was born. This player performed so many amazing plays in extreme situations that he was dubbed as “the Miracle.” The National Football Foundation’s bio on Abe tells how most of his wondrous plays were done passing the football. In that era it was not a passer friendly ball like today, but it had a much wider girth and was fondly called the “melon ball”, not friendly to the forward pass much at all. Miracle Mickal though developed a style that became very effective in tossing this big leather egg down the field.

The NFF tells us that in 19,33 Abe managed touchdown heaves of 48 and 57 yards. His 27-yard TD aerial that year provided a 7-7 tie with rival Vanderbilt. As a junior in 1934, Mickal and fellow Hall of Famer Gaynell Tinsley combined for one of Southern football's greatest aerial duos, each capturing All-America mention. When the two connected on a last-ditch 65-yard TD pass to tie Southern Methodist, 14-14, they set a record for the longest scoring pass ever in the South. The record stood for several years. The Fighting Tigers finished 7-2-2 for that 1934 campaign. All told, in 32 games at LSU, Mickal played an important role in leading the Tigers to a 23-4-5 record.

Abe Mickal was a halfback from LSU who was selected for the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967.