The 1951 Los Angeles Rams-11th Naval District Tripleheader
We're approaching Week 8 of the CFL's 21-week season, college football teams will soon start camp, and the first NFL preseason game arrives on August 1. Nowadays, CFL teams play only CFL teams, colleges play other colleges, and NFL teams play one another, but that was not always the case. Pro teams occasionally crossed the border and periodically faced amateur teams, particularly those representing the U.S. military.
Previous stories on games involving teams from different levels include:
Fort Ord's 1954 games with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers
NFL and Canadian exhibition games in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s
Each story involves matchups that seem bizarre today despite no one batting an eye at the time. Newspaper accounts then acknowledged the talent mismatches while covering the games matter-of-factly, seldom mentioning the oddity of the matchups.
The newest example of such a game involves the 1951 Los Angeles Rams. They lost in the 1950 NFL Championship game and won the 1951 NFL Championship at the season's end, so they were a good ball club. Their roster included the likes of Bob Waterfield, Tom Fears, Elroy Hirsch, Norm Van Brocklin, Tank Younger, Glenn Davis, and a rookie, Andy Robustelli. Despite having an all-star roster, their first exhibition game played for the benefit of the Naval Relief Society before 20,000 fans in San Diego's Balboa Stadium came on August 3, 1951. Nevertheless, the Rams had to replace several offensive linemen in 1951, so there was trepidation leading up to the game.
NFL exhibition games often occurred at neutral sites back then, but you would think that a night tripleheader against military teams from the 11th Naval District would raise an eyebrow or two. It did not. That evening, the Rams played three 20-minute periods against the San Diego Marines (aka Camp Pendleton), the San Diego Naval Training Center (NTC), and the San Diego Marine Recruiting Depot.
It wasn't as though the 11th District teams did not have talent; they were just thin in that department. Camp Pendleton had a handful of former and future NFL players. Cloyce Box was a second-team All-Pro with the Detroit Lions in 1950, but the Marines activated him due to the Korean War. Discharged from the Marines in 1952, he was a first-team All-Pro player in 1952. Walt Szot of the Pittsburgh Steelers served three years with the Marines during WWII and had five NFL years under his belt before being similarly called up for duty in 1951. Joe Bartos and Bob Mirth each played a season or two in the NFL, while Chuck Dellago was an NFL draftee.
The Rams planned on giving their rookies and backups extended playing time that evening, which proved a good idea. The brass put their veteran Camp Pendleton team in for the first period, but they gave up a 36-yard touchdown run on their first defensive play, and things only got worse. Bob Waterfield threw two touchdown passes that period before an errant Rams handoff resulted in a safety for Camp Pendleton, making it 21-2 when the first period ended.
The Naval Training Center team came next, quickly giving up 21 points to the Norm Van Brocklin-led Rams. NTC rallied with several consecutive completed passes but could not take the ball across the goal line.
Finally, the Marine Recruiting Depot took their turn and provided an admirable performance, twice forcing the Rams to turn the ball over on downs. They gave up a late Waterfield TD pass to Bob Boyd for 13 total points, resulting in a 55-2 overall tally.
The U.S. Armed Forces no longer field football teams outside of the service academies, and today's NFL wouldn't play military teams if they were still around. The football world has seen so much change that you'd think your grandfather's cheese had aged too long if he told you he'd played for a Marine or Navy in a tripleheader against the Los Angeles Rams. Still, if your grandpa ever told you a tall tale like that, check the team rosters below. He might have been telling the truth.
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