Today's Tidbit... John Wayne's Football Career At USC

Marion Morrison at USC. (USC Archives)

I've written a few times recently about the mid-1920s USC teams. Two days ago, I wrote about the 1926 team using its heads and losing and gave them a passing mention in an article about the 1925 Washington State team. In the latter article, I mentioned that Marion Morrison, known by his stage name, John Wayne, was on some of those teams. Still, I had never looked into whether Morrison/Wayne played a bit part or had a leading role on those USC teams, so I thought I'd mosey into the archives to find out about Duke's football career.

The search began with the 1925 Glendale High School (CA) yearbook. Marion Morrison shows up as the senior class president and a starting but undistinguished guard on the football team as a 170-pound senior.

(1925 Glendale HS (CA) yearbook)

Despite what appears to have been an average athletic career at Glendale High, the story goes that Morrison earned a football scholarship to USC. He played freshman football, starting at tackle, though he missed at least one game due to an ankle injury.