In 1961, someone came up with the crazy idea of having USC play against its own alumni players. That meant USC stars like Marlin McKeever and Mike Henry along with established NFL players like Jim Sears and Al Carmichael faced the current USC team.
Wide receiver Hal Bedsole, who is in the College Football Hall of Fame, played quarterback for one play and got crunched by McKeever and Henry. Two weeks later, he was in severe pain and an X-ray revealed he had three holes in his stomach. He underwent surgery that night.
USC coach John McKay never had another spring game against pro players.
Somewhere in the family war chest there is a page of autographs from that game. I was old enough to play peewee football so I also have an old leather chinstap from one of the pro players.
The only thing about spring practice I didn’t like is the length of time it took to get 15 practices in. Otherwise it is a long haul to September for football fans.
That sounds like McKeever all right… a real piece of work he and his brother Mike out of Mt. Carmel HS.
My grandfather and father took me to that game, even though I didn’t understand football. If memory serves me right, Jon Arnett also played in the game. We were in the second row, looking through a metal screen, used by the Dodgers, who were playing baseball in the Coliseum those years, because of the extremely short left field fence. The screen is visible in the picture.
Great memory…I think it is same reason they cancelled the college all star vs pros at soldiers field in Chicago…injuries
More fans showed up for a practice game on Saturday.
No real fans back then, I guess.