Question: Old Timers: College Senior All Stars vs. NFL Champs??

[UAME]

With Senior Bowl week upon us, I am reminded of a story often told to me by my Dad. Apparently, instead of dividing college all stars into two teams, each year the best college players used to play the NFL champions?

Dad's favorite story is about Lee Roy Jordan (as a college all-star) facing some great NFL power back (maybe for the Green Bay Packers?) The story is that the RB was a punishing runner who had made a habit of running defenders over in the NFL, but in a classic collision with Jordan, the Alabama LB got the best of him.

Can some of you more "seasoned" Tidefans members shed more light on this story or on the details of the game in general? I would guess this game was discontinued by the NFL due to the potential for injury during an exhibition?

 

[dvldog]

Maybe Jim Taylor. 1963 All Star Game. He played at LSU and went on to start w/the Packers. College All Stars won the game.

 

[FitToBeTide]

IIRC, it (1963) was the last game the All Stars won. Lee Roy should have been MVP but QB Ron VanDerKelen of Wisconsin won it. I watched it in BW tv, and remember how Lee Roy rang Taylor's bell with a head to head lick that sent him straight backward. Lee Roy had a great game.

Interesting that the MVP of the 1973 game was a punter named Ray Guy, which many on here might remember, from So. Miss. Last game in July 1976, called off in the 3rd quarter due to heavy rain.

 

[ALA2262]

What I remember about that series is that Otto Graham always coached the All Stars. Apparently Coach Bryant either filled in for or assisted him the year that Bill Curry was a senior. Curry tells the story about Coach Bryant "taking him under his wing".

 

[TommyMac]

It was Jim Taylor and Lee Roy stuffed him. Next to Jim Brown, Taylor was regarded as the 2nd best power back in the league. I personally thought it might have been a tossup.

 

[dvldog]

Taylor ran hard thats for sure. The great GB teams remind me a lot of this year's Bama team. Atheletic O line; hard nosed backs, effective and efficient QB and a D that would hit you in the mouth and make you like it.

 

[UAME]

So, was the game usually pretty competitive? I'd think that the NFL Champions (after being together from fall camp all the way until the end of the season) would mop up any team (regardless of talent level) thrown together with just a few days to practice as a unit.

 

[GrayTide]

Soldier Field in Chicago, usually played in early August every year. It was in fact Jim Taylor who met head on with Lee Roy. Most of the games were won by the professional team since the All Stars had never played together or had much time to prepare, and yes Otto Graham always coached the All Star team. Do not know when the last game was played suspect early 70's. TV, early college starts, and expansion of NFL exhibition games doomed that game.

 

[UAME]

Soldier Field in Chicago, usually played in early August every year... Do not know when the last game was played suspect early 70's. TV, early college starts, and expansion of NFL exhibition games doomed that game.

So the NFL team was the previous year's champion, and the college team was made of All-Stars that were still in school and about to start their college season?? Were the collegiate players seniors only?

 

[BamaDaddy]

The college all stars were players that had just graduated from college and were headed to teams in the NFL. The game was always in Chicago because it was the brain child and always sponsored by the Chicago Tribune.

Basically it was dropped because attendance started dropping and also because coaches didn't like having their newly drafted college all stars missing the beginning of preseason training--and also the possibilities of injuries.

In the 40+ years that the game was played, the college all stars won 9 times.

 

[Relayer]

From a great site ( Super Bowl Cartoon Art and Sports History ) for more info on this game, plus lots of other great and interesting historical info.

The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game

The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game

1934-1976

"On Aug. 31, 1934, a year after sponsoring Major League Baseball's first All-Star Game, Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward presented the first Chicago College All-Star Game at Soldier Field. A crowd of 79,432 turned out to see an all-star team of graduated college seniors battle the 1933 NFL champion Chicago Bears to a scoreless tie. The preseason game was played at Soldier Field and pitted the College All-Stars against the defending NFL champions (1933–1966) or Super Bowl champions (1967–75) every year except 1935 (the NFL runner-up Bears were the professional representatives) until it was cancelled in 1977. The NFL champs won the series, 31-9-2."



Here are the scores from the games.

1934 Chicago Bears 0, All-Stars 0
1935 Chicago Bears 5, All-Stars 0
1936 Detroit 7, All-Stars 7
1937 All-Stars 6, Green Bay 0
1938 All-Stars 28, Washington 16
1939 NY Giants 9, All-Stars 0
1940 Green Bay 45, All-Stars 28
1941 Chicago Bears 37, All-Stars 13
1942 Chicago Bears 21, All-Stars 0
1943 All-Stars 27, Washington 7
1944 Chicago Bears 24, All-Stars 21
1945 Green Bay 19, All-Stars 7
1946 All-Stars 16, LA Rams 0
1947 All-Stars 16, Chicago Bears 0
1948 Chicago Cards 28, All-Stars 0
1949 Philadelphia 38, All-Stars 0
1950 All-Stars 17, Philadelphia 7
1951 Cleveland 33, All-Stars 0
1952 LA Rams 10, All-Stars 7
1953 Detroit 24, All-Stars 10
1954 Detroit 31, All-Stars 6
1955 All-Stars 30, Cleveland 27
1956 Cleveland 26, All-Stars 0
1957 NY Giants 22, All-Stars 12
1958 All-Stars 35, Detroit 19
1959 Baltimore 29, All-Stars 0
1960 Baltimore 32, All-Stars 7
1961 Philadelphia 28, All-Stars 14
1962 Green Bay 42, All-Stars 20
1963 All-Stars 20, Green Bay 17
1964 Chicago Bears 28, All-Stars 17
1965 Cleveland 24, All-Stars 16
1966 Green Bay 38, All-Stars 0
1967 Green Bay 27, All-Stars 0
1968 Green Bay 34, All-Stars 17
1969 NY Jets 26, All-Stars 24
1970 Kansas City 24, All-Stars 3
1971 Baltimore 24, All-Stars 17
1972 Dallas 20, All-Stars 7
1973 Miami 14, All-Stars 3
1974 No Game (NFLPA Strike)
1975 Pittsburgh 21, All-Stars 14
1976 Pittsburgh 24, All-Stars 0*
*Downpour flooded field, game called with 1:22 left in 3rd quarter.

 

[MasterShake]

My friend's dad was on the last All-Stars team to win in Chicago. Not sure was his first name was but he was an All-American from LSU last named Estes. He tries to get as much information from this game as possible and is dying to find a recording of it. He managed to find one still shot from the game in a newspaper that involved his dad.

 

[Relayer]

From the link The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game you can click on 1963 All Stars 20 Green Bay 17 and see a write up of the game. There is also a link to a video clip of a TD pass.

Clicking on All Star Roster near the top goes to:

Sure enough, there's 70--Estes (La. St.) .......T

 

[TommyMac]

Taylor ran hard thats for sure. The great GB teams remind me a lot of this year's Bama team. Atheletic O line; hard nosed backs, effective and efficient QB and a D that would hit you in the mouth and make you like it.

Dang, what does a guy have to do for you to consider him great? Bart Starr was one of the best QBs in NFL history and it's biggest winner, 5 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls, both of which he was the MVP. He was the football equivalent of Bill Russell in the NBA, he didn't pile up flashy stats, he just WON. Although his stats stack up very well with anyone's, he just didn't throw it a bazillion times a game. Plus, he called his own plays.

 

[FitToBeTide]

My friend's dad was on the last All-Stars team to win in Chicago. Not sure was his first name was but he was an All-American from LSU last named Estes. He tries to get as much information from this game as possible and is dying to find a recording of it. He managed to find one still shot from the game in a newspaper that involved his dad.

That would be OL Don Estes.

 

[PaulD]

Wouldn't you have just loved to have been on that 1963 Green Bay team that lost to the College All-Stars? I bet Coach Lombardi was rather fierce in practice the next week.

 

[bama_fan01]

I remember watching those games. I - and it doesn't sound like I'm the only one - truly enjoyed them. I can understand coaches being concerned about injuries, though, especially with the salaries that they pay high draft picks now.

 

[chris]

Jerry Kramer & Fuzzy Thurston..........student body right!

 

[GrayTide]

I attended this game in August of 1961 (I was 2 years old) . The QB for the Eagles was Sonny Jurgensen and the QB's for the College All Stars were Norm Snead from Wake Forest and Billy Kilmer from UCLA. When Kilmer was in they ran what was called in those days the short punt formation with a direct snap to Kilmer the QB lined up about 5 yards deep. Sounds kind of like the current spread set.

The irony of this game was that later in their careers both Jurgensen and Kilmer were teammates on Lombardi's Washington Redskins.

 

[Tidetwin]

I remember that Pat Sullivan had a particularly good game against the Cowboys in the 1972 game.He led a pretty spirited 4th quarter comeback that almost won the game and was named MVP.