Today is the 40th anniversary of arguably one of the worst sports decisions ever made - Pete Rozelle's decision to play the full slate of NFL games two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - A rare silence, as tangible and goosebump-inducing as the brisk autumn air, enveloped Franklin Field as the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins formed a circle in the faded brown grass near midfield that Sunday afternoon, Nov. 24, 1963.Read the full article.The players held tightly to the helmets in their hands and focused their eyes on a lone bugler who, raising a horn to his lips, blew a particularly mournful "Taps."
Then the 60,671 football fans, many of them clutching fedoras to their hearts, joined in a stirring National Anthem unaccompanied by music. On the song's final notes, that group of large men in shoulder pads had been reduced to a circle of tears.
"Listening to that music," recalled Eagles wide receiver Tommy McDonald, "it just tore a hole in my heart. I stood there and bawled like a baby. Here we were, big, tough football players. Yet when you looked around the circle, you noticed tears in almost everyone's eyes."
Just two days earlier, President Kennedy had been assassinated. At that very moment, his body lay in state in Washington D.C.'s Capitol Rotunda, just 130 miles south of the West Philadelphia stadium.
But while the rest of the nation remained halted in a collective stupor, watching the events unfold through television's nonstop coverage, life went on in the National Football League.
Commissioner Pete Rozelle had forsaken the advice of several league owners, including Eagles president Frank McNamee, and decided that, even though virtually every college football game the previous day had been canceled or postponed, Sunday's seven scheduled contests would be played.
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Comments (1)
I was a 10-year old at Clev... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Dan | November 23, 2003 5:58 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I was a 10-year old at Cleveland Stadium with my dad that afternoon, for a game with the Cowboys. I recall the "moment of silence" before the game started, and then at some point early in the game, a guy standing up a few rows in front of us and yelling out "Somebody just shot Oswald!". From that point a buzz went through the stadium as the word spread. The game was a non-event. I remember reading years later that the Browns won that day. I have no recollection of my own of that piece of trivia.
1. Posted by Dan | November 23, 2003 5:58 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on November 23, 2003 17:58