Today's Tidbit... A Heisman Winner Makes The Call
Jay Berwanger was many things. A star football player at the University of Chicago in the mid-1930s, he became the first Heisman Trophy winner in 1935. Berwanger also was the first NFL draft pick, although he never played professional football, as he believed he could earn more money pursuing other endeavors. Still, he loved the game and remained involved by officiating, becoming a Big 10 official in 1940. He continued officiating football until 1955, other than when he was in the Army during World War II.
In 1947, the Big Ten and Pacific Coast Conference formed an alliance, allowing their conference champions to play each other in the Rose Bowl. In turn, that presented Berwanger the opportunity to become the first former Heisman Trophy winner to officiate a Rose Bowl as the field judge for the 1949 game, and it was during that game that he made what was perhaps his most controversial call as an official.
With the score tied 7-7 in the second quarter, Northwestern executed a lengthy drive, largely by running the ball. A 13-yard off-tackle run to the right by fullback Art Murakowski gave them the ball on Cal's 1-yard line. With the ball on the one, Northwestern repeated the play, the off-tackle to Murakowski, who fumbled at the goal line, with Cal recovering in the end zone.
The question on everyone's mind following the play was whether Murakowski had possession when the ball crossed the goal line. Check for yourself in the second play seen in the video. It's not clear from the video or photographs whether Murakowski still had the ball, but the officials had to make the call based on what they saw, as they always did in the years before Instant Replay.
In 1949, the only official allowed to signal a touchdown was the referee. So Berwanger, the field judge positioned on the goal line to the right of the play, walked five or six steps to approach the referee, Jim Cain. Berwanger told Cain that the ball had crossed the goal line in the runner's possession, so Cain signaled the touchdown.
Of course, the play call dominated the reporting of the evenly contested game, which Northwestern ultimately won 20-14. There was some hubbub due to a Big 10 official making a call that favored the Big Ten team, but that was the nature of things with a four-man crew with two officials from each conference. (Lest you find it odd that they allowed a former Big Ten player to act as the Field Judge for the Rose Bowl, Referee Jim Cain played for Washington in the 1937 Rose Bowl.)
Cal's coach Lynn Waldorf, who was Northwestern's mentor from 1935 through 1946, took a philosophical approach, commenting after the game:
If the officials said he was over the goal line, that's good enough for me.
'Wildcat Bobble On Scoring Bid Ideal Issue For Hot Stove Loop,' Omaha World-Herald, January 3, 1949.
Berwanger's call soon fell from the nation's consciousness but not from the minds of Cal fans, who still bring it up. California played in and lost the next two Rose Bowls before appearing for the last time in 1959, losing that game as well. Similarly, Northwestern made its second and only Rose Bowl appearance in 1996, losing that game. So, Jay Berwanger's call in 1949 arguably determined whether Cal or Northwestern claimed the most recent Rose Bowl win for 76 years and counting, which became a bigger responsibility than was imagined at the time.
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You can imagine what sports-talk radio would have made of this.
From what I can see in the video Berwanger had the best vantage point to make the call. It looks like he was correct.