Burt Glinn/Magnum Photo
For a lot of USC fans who witnessed Trojan football in the 1950’s, there was not a finer player than halfback Jon Arnett. An All-American, Arnett was a two-time winner of the Voit Award, which went to the best player on the Pacific Coast. He was the No. 2 pick in the 1957 NFL draft and selected by the Los Angeles Rams, where he was a five-time Pro Bowl. He also is in the College Football Hall of Fame. And today, Arnett celebrates his 82nd birthday.
Remember having his Nfl card.. The Ram Helmet looked cool on him too.
I think we had the same card, Peter.
Never forget it do you Michael ? Pretty simple being a fan in those days. Many times a transistor radio was like being there.
Transistor radio! Bingo, Peter. That’s the way I experienced USC’s (and John McKay’s) come from behind 20-17 victory over undefeated Notre Dame (while supposedly “working” stacking books at the W.L.A Public Library).
And the Cardiac Kids 26-24 come from behind win over Stanford in 1969.
We could be in for one or more of those type games in 2017, G.T. And with the PAC 12 network being what it is, I may be looking for my trusty old, Akron’s transistor radio.
Thanks so much for this post, Scott. I have vivid memories of Los Angeles Ram Jon Arnett running wild against the Bears at the Coliseum. To this day, I haven’t seen anybody who matches him when it comes to weaving in and out of defenders on the way to the end zone. Happy Birthday, Jon!
Interesting. He was a beast.
I wonder if he would be able to play in today’s football?
Jon would be one of the few who would make it in any era — strong willed, hard working, intelligent and athletic. It’s a joke and a shame he’s not in the NFL Hall of Fame.
None finer, I think he was a gymnast with a football,watched every home game he played in,and heard all the others; he and CR Roberts were a handful;too bad about PCC penalties,he might have won the Heisman He is my 2nd most favorite right after Al Carmichael,1952 all American and first season I went to all home games.Frank Gifford is 3rd favorite in case you were wondering .
Happy B-day
You can say Frank Gifford was a class act as a USC tailback. But for us growing up in SoCal during the 50’s/60’s, Jon Arnett was the golden boy.