More than a half-century later, Harry Davis Jr. remembers that day clearly.
And not just because of the pomp or the circumstance of that big game, the huge crowd, the loud band or the pig trophy, Floyd of Rosedale, waiting on the sideline at old Memorial Stadium.
Fifty-four years ago, Davis, the son of well-known civic leader and civil-rights activist Harry Davis Sr., was a sophomore at old Minneapolis Central High School. On a Saturday early in November 1960, father and son went to Memorial Stadium to watch the game of the season in college football: Minnesota vs. Iowa, both teams undefeated, Iowa ranked No. 1 in the country, the Gophers No. 3. This was a game that ended up deciding the national championship.
But here is what Davis remembers most: Sandy Stephens and Wilburn Hollis.
In the biggest game of the season, on college football's biggest stage, Davis remembers the joy of seeing two national powers being quarterbacked — being led — by black athletes.
"The nation was watching," said Davis, now a 68-year-old retired local businessman. "The Big Ten at that time was the conference. It was it. As a young African-American it made me realize, here were teams that would recruit you on your merits. It was overwhelming."
Saturday, the Gophers and Hawkeyes play at TCF Bank Stadium, the 108th meeting between the teams. None was as big as the one Nov. 5, 1960, both for what was at stake and for the game's historical importance, even if it would take years to fully appreciate it. This was 1960, a time when rosters of major schools in the south were all white. It wasn't until 1967 when the first black player appeared in a Southeast Conference game, and not until 1971 that Bear Bryant brought the first black player to Alabama's sideline.
But on the field that day at Memorial Stadium were Stephens, from Uniontown, Pa., and Hollis, a Mississippi native who came to Iowa by way of Boys Town, a home for at-risk children in Nebraska. And there were more standout black athletes. In the Gophers backfield were Judge Dickson and Bill Munsey. Iowa had running backs Larry Ferguson and Joe Williams. Bobby Bell was a Gophers sophomore lineman from North Carolina who would end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Both Stephens and Hollis would win All-America honors. Weeks later, Stephens would be the first black quarterback to win a national championship, the Gophers' last football title.
The Gophers rallied from a 10-7 deficit to beat Iowa 27-10 that day. Among the memorable moments was Tom Brown picking up an Iowa lineman and throwing him into Hollis to thwart the driving Hawkeyes in the third quarter. It's a play that haunts Hollis to this day. Bell recovering a fumble that helped the Gophers seal the game.
Hollis, who is retired and living in Marion, Iowa, will be 74 next week. Stephens died of a heart attack in 2000. The legacies of these two men have become more important than any single game or play.
"At that point in time, it wasn't seen as significant by the public in general," Dickson said. "But within the black community, it was. And the black players, we knew."
Paving the way
For Hollis, that game stands out more than any other in his playing career. The fumble near the goal line still bothers him — he still thinks he should have pitched the ball to Ferguson, who would have scored. But it was the buildup and the importance of the game that stands out.
Hollis, however, remembers the significance of the game differently; he wasn't thinking about breaking racial barriers.
"The funny thing about it is that, in that era, most of us didn't think about that," he said from his home. "We didn't think about the significance of what we were going through. It never struck me as to how significant it was until I started getting calls years later."
Over the years Hollis has heard from players such as Warren Moon and Marlin Briscoe, the first black man to start a modern pro game at quarterback, for Denver of the pre-merger AFL in 1968. It was hearing from them that made Hollis aware of how important that day was.
"They said, 'Hey, you guys are the ones who made us believe we could do what we wanted to do,' " Hollis said. "You don't think about that at the time. And I didn't know they were thinking about us. It sure made me have a second thought. Knowing that I, or Sandy Stephens, had that influence? That is so rewarding."
A couple of the Gophers saw it differently on gameday. "We knew just about every black guy on the Iowa team," Dickson said. "Because a significant number of them came from western Pennsylvania. This was a special time for me."
For Bell, who grew up in the South, it might have been more special. "All we wanted, as black players, was to have the opportunity to play the game," he said. "Let me play. That day we had two black quarterbacks playing against each other. And this at a time when people, around the country, were saying black quarterbacks couldn't win. Iowa was No. 1, we were No. 3. What else could you ask for? This was a big game everybody was watching. It was like, Bobby Bell, Sandy Stephens, Bill Munsey, Wilburn Hollis, Larry Ferguson? Holy cow."
Ray Parson grew up one house down from Stephens in Uniontown and was good friends with Sandy's younger brother, Ray. Both the younger Stephens and Parson eventually played at Minnesota, too. He remembers the whole neighborhood gathering to watch that Iowa-Minnesota game.
"We watched the game at Ray's place," Parson said. "He lived in a funeral home; his father was a mortician. They lived on the second floor and they had a color TV. Everyone came and watched the game."
Sandy Stephens and Munsey came back home to Uniontown each summer, and they always had stories. But Parson doesn't recall the older Stephens talking about his own historical significance. "He never really talked about it, but we all knew the pioneering Sandy was doing," Parson said. "Being a black quarterback at a Division I school, that was going to open the door for a lot of other black athletes. And at all positions, not just quarterback. We knew what he was doing."
Pain turns to pride
The Big Ten was a leader when it came to integrating college sports, and Iowa coach Forest Evashevski and the Gophers' Murray Warmath were at the forefront.
Bob Brooks has been broadcasting Iowa sports on the radio for nearly 70 years. Brooks, who now works at KMRY, called that game in 1960.
"During his career, Forest was asked about black athletes," Brooks said. "And here's what Forest said: 'Nobody looks at what color [athletes are] when they cross the goal line.' "
Iowa was named national champion in 1958 by the Football Writers Association of America. By 1960, the Gophers — struggling enough in the late '50s to prompt some to call for Warmath's job — were poised for a comeback season.
By November, it was clear the two teams were headed for a showdown.
Hollis' strongest memory of that day was the frustration of the loss. That crucial play. How much it hurt to have the Gophers go to the top of the rankings and the Rose Bowl. But now a lot of pride goes along with that pain.
"Guys like Sandy Stephens and myself, we had an influence," Hollis said. "That game had a lot more significance than I realized. That game impacted so many kids."
More than one of them was sitting in the stands that day.
"As a youngster, seeing that?" Davis said. "The significance of the game, the rivalry, the sold-out stadium, and the teams being led by those two quarterbacks? It was amazing."
