Bedsole to speak at Pasadena QBs Club on Friday
NOTE: Just to clarify, former USC All-American Hal Bedsole will speak at the Pasadena QBs club on Friday. I originally wrote to make it seemed like it was today. I hope this didn't inconvenience anyone.
PASADENA - Hal Bedsole was an All-American receiver at USC and played three seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.
PASADENA - Hal Bedsole was an All-American receiver at USC and played three seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.
He'll forever be linked, though, to the 1963 Rose Bowl Game, which might be the most storied encounter in the history of "The Granddaddy of Them All."
Bedsole, now retired and living in Palm Desert, will relay his memories of USC's 42-37 victory Friday when he speaks at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club at Brookside Golf Club.
The weekly luncheon, which begins at 11:45 a.m., also will feature Rosemead High School football coach Matt Koffler. Cost for lunch is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers.
"It was an honor to play in that game," Bedsole said of the 1963 Rose Bowl.
"But I thought we were vastly the superior team. It's a little frustrating after, because the way the game turned out we were treated like we lost."
Bedsole, who was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame in 2001, was a two-time all-conference receiver for the Trojans, earning All-America honors in 1962. He keyed USC's run to the 1962 national title, which was the first of four for legendary Trojans coach John McKay, with 33 receptions for 827 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also was the first Trojan to eclipse 200 yards receiving in a game; he accomplished the feat against Cal in 1962.
All memories, however, collide with the 1963 Rose Bowl, which featured No. 1 USC against No. 2 Wisconsin.
The Trojans, behind two touchdowns
receptions
from Bedsole, dominated early and led 42-14, but Wisconsin's Ron Vander
Kelen rallied the Badgers by throwing three touchdown passes in the
fourth quarter before USC held on for the 42-37 victory in darkness at
the Arroyo Seco.
"I thought we should have smoked them," Bedsole said. "But (coach) John McKay was young and we took out our starters, and by the time he figured it out we lost momentum. It was terrible. I don't think McKay ever coached that way again.
"But looking back, it was frustrating because we won the Rose Bowl, won the national title and everyone treated us like we lost."
Bedsole went on to play three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings (1964-66) before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams. He was forced to retire, though, because of a knee injury. Then he was a radio broadcast sales manager and got into business marketing before retiring.
Koffler is 73-34 in nine seasons at Rosemead. He guided the Panthers to a Mission Valley League title and the CIF- Southern Section Mid-Valley Division final in 2008, where it lost to Paraclete.
He was a reserve quarterback at USC in the early 1990s and holds the school record for longest pass play from scrimmage, a 97-yard touchdown pass to R. Jay Soward against Illinois in 1996.
His Panthers are 4-2 this season and play at Arroyo Friday night at 7 in a game that likely will decide the Mission Valley League title.
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Steve Ramirez covers college football.
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This page contains a single entry by Steve Ramirez published on October 21, 2010 12:30 PM.
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Pac 10: USC, UCLA to be in Pac-12 South, but will still play Cal, Stanford every season is the next entry in this blog.
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