May 26

In this episode we discuss an opinion of a legendary coach on a Big Fight, the price of a game ticket in 1930 and learn about the tales of one of the biggest legends of the early twentieth century gridiron! We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This daily football history segment features the Great events, Franchise formation anniversaries as well as the birthdays of notable Hall of Fame players, coaches or anyone else in our great game and many more  Legendary stories of the Gridiron.

The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the day comes from the Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee where they had at the top of the Sports Page:

Wide Fight Reaction

Of course this was in reference to the big boxing title fight on May 26, 1965 between Cassius Clay, who would soon change his name to Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
When asked about Muhammad Ali's knockout of Sonny Liston in the first round the day before, USC head football coach John McKay said, "I thought it would never end." The fight was indeed controversial as personalities from all areas and sports including football put their two cents worth on the one sided boxing match. Many declared it as the end of boxing as a sport, but what they didn’t realize was that Ali was in fact that good of a fighter.
 

We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This daily football history segment features the Great events, Franchise formation anniversaries as well as the birthdays of notable players, coaches or anyone else in our great game.

The price of admission

If you would have bought a ticket to a a major college football game on this day in 1930 you would have paid $2 all the way up to $3. The average American family was bring home approximately $60-$70 per week, that is if they were working. Remember the Great Depression was going on at this time in history!

May 26, 1887 - Exeter, New Hampshire - Princeton’s tackle from 1908 to 1911, Ed Hart was born.  He had to play his first couple of seasons at Princeton with a steel and leather neck brace on due to an accident he suffered in his very last high school game when he ran into the goal post according to the FootballFoundation.org. That devastating injury would not deter Ed though as he earned All-America  honors in 1911 the season he was finally able to shed the neck brace. The top gridiron journalist of the day, Grantland Rice called him "one of the greatest tackles of all time."  Ed Hart was honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 after the National Football Foundation tabulated their votes. Hart was a brave hero as his distinguished military record shows that he was a captain in the Army in World War I and a Major in the Marines in World War II. Ed must have truly been a treat to be around as his history is filled with interesting stories of great athleticism on display. This colorful 208 pound powerhouse has some interesting tales of his strength that have lasted till this day. One such story has him and about 40,000 soldiers attending the Circue de Paris when a local strong man issued a challenge. The feared French showman would wrestle anybody in the crowd and guarantee to pin his man in 60 seconds. The Strongman’s claim might have been good on any other day but not when Ed Hart was in attendance. Hart came out of the large audience to face the strong man, and in a matter of moments Hart pinned him much to the shows embarrassment and to roars from the crowd of Allied servicemen. Another story from a different instance had Ed bet that three men from an Army football team could block him and knock him down, even if he stood on just one foot. With great strength, balance and determination Hart won that bet!  The legend of Ed’s feats of wonder didn’t stop at those during his brilliant time overseas. Once a 195-pound buddy of his yelled "Catch me, Eddie!" and then proceeded to jump from a second-floor balcony at a Paris hotel.  Just as requested, the amazing Ed Hart caught his friend before he could hit the ground.  

May 26, 1895 - Bethany, West Virginia - Ira Rodgers, West Virginia’s fullback/quarterback from the years 1915 to 1917 and then again in 1919 arrived into this life. The National Football Foundation shares that Ira held the title of the fastest player of the Mountaineers. Rodgers led the Mountaineers to eight victories in 10 games that season, scoring 147 points to lead the nation in a personal crusade which put West Virginia on the comeback trail following World War I. The WVU football program like many others was suspended in the fall due to the World War in 1918. Play resumed in 1919 and a big question was if West Virginia could regain some of its moxy it showed in the final games of the 1917 season where they came on strong. Rodgers and the other Mountaineer eleven were quick to answer that question, as they recorded one sided victories over Marietta (61-0), Westminster (55-0), Bethany (60-0) and Ohio Wesleyan (55- 0). Even the traditional powerhouses of Maryland and Princeton fell in the wake of Mountaineer landslides, also. The only losses on their schedule were to Pittsburgh (26-0) and a close one against Centre College  by the score of 14- 6. Besides using his speed and quickness to gain yardage on the ground, Rodgers also was among the nation's premier early passers. This was showcased at a 1917 game against West Virginia Wesleyan, when Ira tossed the oversized mellon shaped ball of the time  51-yard pass - in the air to an awaiting receiver. Ira Rodgers received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957. After school was over, Ira later returned to West Virginia as the Blue and Gold's head coach, and posted an 11-12-2 record for three seasons.

May 26, 1902 - Paris, Illinois - Bernie Shively the University of Illinois guard from 1924 to 1926, was born. The NFF’s bio on Shively points out that he was one of the men in the trenches who blocked for Red Grange at Illinois. Grange’s talent for long runs was greatly enhanced by  the agile, athletic guard who was quick and powerful. Bernie Shively played varsity football three years at Illinois, two with Grange and one afterward. That year, 1926, Bernie won All-America honors. This recognition of Shively's skills says, "doing an outstanding job on offense and defense." The National Football Foundation selected Bernie Shively for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982. 

1949- Dan Pastorini  was an NFL Quarterback for the Oilers, Raiders, Rams & Eagles during his long career. Houston drafted him in the 1971 NFL draft as the 3rd QB in what was touted as "the Year of the Quarterback", as Jim Plunkett and Archie Maning were drafted ahead of him. Dan was tough nosed as player as he played through injuries including a puntured lung. Pastorini made the AFC Pro- Bowl team in 1975 and guided the Houston Oilers to the AFC Title game where they lost to Pittsburgh in a controversial pass play to wide out Mike Renfro.

1965- Greg Lloyd was an All Pro Outside Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1988 until 1997 and then played the 1998 season with the Carolina Panthers. Lloyd played college ball at Fort Valley State and was a 3 time All Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection as well as a 3 time Defensive MVP for his school. These accolades didn't give many in the NFL ranks to notice his talent as he was not invited to the NFL Combine with others eligible for the 1987 NFL Draft. The Steelers finally drafter Greg in the 6th round ( 150th overall). He fought through injuries early in his career and finally cracked the starting lin up in the 1989 season. Mr. Lloyd went on to be named to five Pro Bowls and 3 NFL All-Pro teams during his career.

See all the football players born on May 26th at Pro Football Reference

See something that happened on this date that we missed? Please let us know via email at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com. 

The picture in the banner above and in the HOF birthday below is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by Bain News Service circa 1910 and is titled " Ed Hart, Princeton ."