rbmcdonald Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 There was a tongue in check post about USC replacing the 49ers in the NFL, which got me thinking. I seem to remember that years ago (70’s?) there was a game where an all-star team of college seniors (after the bowl games) played an NFL team. Does anyone else remember that, or am I just crazy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 There was such a thing that ran for many years until 1976. In the early years, some college all-stars actually won that game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbmcdonald Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 There was such a thing that ran for many years until 1976. In the early years, some college all-stars actually won that game. 1083913[/snapback] I am not crazy, well sure I am crazy, but at least not for this!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Here ya go. Actually, the NFL used to match a college all-star team vs the NFL champs. Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, in 1934 came up with the idea of a pre-season game between the NFL champions and a team of college all-stars to benefit the newspaper's charity fund. All of the games were played at Soldier Field in Chicago. The first meeting, on Aug. 31, 1934, ended in a scoreless tie. In the early years, the college players did pretty well against the pros. The NFL champions dominated in later years, however, losing only once after 1955. In 1976, the game was suspended and finally called off because of a heavy rainstorm late in the third quarter, with the Pittsburgh Steelers holding a 24-0 lead. That was the last game of the series. There were two main reasons for the demise. First, pro football salaries had reached a much higher level, many college players who were unwilling to take part in the game for fear of injury. Second, fan interest had declined substantially because of the NFL's dominance. The NFL held a 31-9-2 edge; it started out 7-5-2 in favor of the NFL from 34-47 in favor of the NFL, and from 48-76, the pros went 24-4 vs the college players, including winning the last 12 straight and 17 of the last 18 - the all stars were shut out 4 times, held to a FG twice, and to a single td twice over the last 18 games. The quote is part of the article + my breakdown of the matchup mixed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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