Amazing Sports Stories
FSNNY (FSNNY) National Programming, DMA: 0
11:00PM EDT June 01 2008
Programming Type: Sports non-event

>>> the story you're about to see is true. the events have been recreated because through the passage of time this has been one of the forgotten stories of sports. it was a magical season for the university of san francisco dons. aye the football team was 9-0, the best in school history. >> we were pretty sure we would go to the sun bowl game, but when all invitations were passed out, usf found itself undefeated and uninvited. >> we had a natural letdown because we were led to believe we were in contention and the reason became clear. two of its players lacked. usf was forced to choose to play without their black teammates or stay home. >> i -- someone would each do yous not bring our black players with us. >> they had won the ho or and won the right to play. they had defeated all comers, but their biggest challenge was yet to come. next on " amazing sports stories," the true story of the 1951 university of san francisco dons, a color of courage. caption funding provided by fox sports net >>> hatred, fear, america 1951 was afflicted by a tenacious disease, intolerance, breeding segregation, but there was a beacon of hope. >> the beautiful city of san francisco has risen from the ashes of the great fire of 1906. san francisco was a bastion of tolerance and a nation besieged by racial strive, perched atop a hill in the city by the bay was the university of an francisco, a jesuit school known for its strict moral code, part of which denounced any form of racism. >> the jesuits would bring in anyone who they felt could make the grade. it didn't matter the color. it was your skill and your education that mattered. >> the football team followed the same preset. unlike schools in the '70s which still barred black player, the dons were an integrated team. a hulking linebacker joined the team in 1939. ollie math son, a lightning quick runningback arrived at usf the same year and went on to have a successful career in the nfl. >> when you're in athletics and you're on a team the color of the person's skin is not important. it's how well they perform on the field and ari and brawl re just terrific. >> no question about it, it's because they were black, it didn't make a damn bit of difference. they just fit in so well with the danger. >> it wasn't black and white. it was ridiculous. we were brothers and so we treat each other that way. race was never an issue because there was some kind of background that people had to judge each person on their own merit. usf wasn't being accepted by a lot of schools. the whole team was together. in the south they said that would never happen. >> when usf play a 1949 game in tulsa, oklahoma, vernon holly weren't so easily accepted. away from the tolerant enclave of san francisco, the team was shocked by the discrimination and segregation. while there, burl and holly enjoyed painful racial slurs and it began right away, during a taxi ride from the airport. the cab driver said get that -- out of my cab. nobody knew what was talking about. he said this cab is not going until you get that -- out of the cab. >> that had an impact as far as why -- why would people in this day and age think that way? >> it was so much different. we were just brought up to respect all races and creeds, et cetera, et cetera. it wasn't black or white and that kind of junk. we weren't used to that. >> and when the 1949 game against tulsa arrived, earl and ollie were ubjected to the intolerance of a town. >> imagine going into a city and nobody wants you there and you have to play. >> they threw bottles. >> but when the tulsa players joined in the act of taunting earl and ollie, their teammate went, they got him back. they would not tolerate how ollie and earl were treated. >> months later, undeterred, the team readied itself for the upcoming season. a few hours north of san francisco lies the olive capital of the world. for members of the 1950 usf squad, it might as well have been the pit of hell. usf's coach selected it as the site of his infamous training camp where he worked his layers twice daily in a mragz inferno. >> it was hot, it was at least 115 to 120 during the afternoon that we had a practice. we had two days and then we were up in corning where by far the hardest practice situations that i'd ever been in. >> no quitters. in my 12 years with the 49ers, nothing was as difficult as that. the coach was the architect behind the madness of corning. he arrived in usf in 1947 after a distinguished playing career at notre dame. >> we used to call him the barracuda because he would chew you up and down if you made a mistake. sweat, not race, was what mattered and he made sure all his players agreed. the coach made him tough enough that he didn't care about any difference with the teammate because you're trying to hang on by your teeth to get through the day. just to be sure

Amazing Sports Stories
FSNNY (FSNNY) National Programming, DMA: 0
11:07PM EDT June 01 2008
Programming Type: Sports non-event

hat we were in great condition, we couldn't drink water on the field at practice. that was a no-no. >> you guys drank enough water? >> they had water buckets there so you wouldn't swallow it. >> drink up. >> you guys know the drill. >> they said this guy's crazy. it was based on brutal simplicity, get the ball at any cost and try to make it out of there in one piece. there was enough blood in the pit because -- the grueling experience had made them one. skin color meant little to the now formidable squad. to them, was there only the usf green and white. one, two three! >> when you came out of corning, you had that badge of honor. urvived corning. we think of what that did to bring us together and maybe we never would have been the type of team we ended up being if it hadn't been for corning. usf opened their 1950 season at home against tell us a remembering the mistreatment of ol' and earl a week later and reminded tulsa of the 2314, and still finding rith sm king. and the respectable, but not phenomenal seven and four and fifth ranked cal displayed the unified team. the stage is set for a 1959 season for all seasons won the dominance, one of sacrifice and most of all, one of cono verse, with an t?1 >>> the 1950 university of san francisco dons was an integrated football team, then forbidden in the segregated south. a grueling training camp before the 1950 season produced a unified band of brothers and a tight-knit team. after a 7-4 record, the don set their sights even higher for 1951. we are really go ng to be special. the gauge had been the california game the year before. we lost to the rose bowl team, 13-7 on the mid-air fumble. the close game against cal proved that this small, private school could challenge more pedigree programs. but to usf's dismay led to a weak, 1951 season schedule. big-name schools hear their small school rivals. these school his a lot to lose. they didn't have a lot to game play, the small private school. people don't like that we can play ball. that's why they didn't schedule it because obviously, they knew how good we were and they put you on season that we did play. and they do 40, 50 points. to be exact in usf's home opener. three more contests follow in which usf crushed their competition. next, the 4-0 dons travel to one of the world's biggest stages to showcase their talent. new york city. prior to their game against fordham university a publicist, future nfl commissioner pete rossel spread the word about his school's quietly dominant team and his secret weapon. that was the biggest game of the year if you had eye big game here you'd be all-american. that was an upset. usf beat fordham in a close game 32-26, thanks to three touchdowns by mattson who was voted an all-american. the dons returned home at 5-0 and earned two more wins to stay unbeaten. two games remained on their schedule with the toughest contest of the season against the college of the pacific or cop, up next. >> they were undefeated when we were undefeated the same time

Amazing Sports Stories
FSNNY (FSNNY) National Programming, DMA: 0
11:14PM EDT June 01 2008
Programming Type: Sports non-event

and when we were up there to start in california, we were massacred, 40-something to 14, whatever it was. the win over the college of the pacific was a critical victory in the quest for a post-season matchup. especially given that members of different bowl committees were in attendance. we were pretty sure they would go to some bowl game and at the time it was the orange bowl. we felt that it was c.o.p. and it should happen automatically. >> and the next trip was down to los angeles to play loyola. >> we all know what we have to play with. we haven't lost one yet and it's not going to start today. >> one, two, three, go! >> at 8-0, only one more game stood in the way of a for fekt season. could the little sc on the hill take down loyola who had beaten sf the year before? and more importantly, could a victory earn them a bowl? we're doing a heck of a job. >> we beat loyola 20-2 and that was a good measure ofery fine football team. >> we were all hot. we were going to a bowl game and we would show these big universities what aye the little college up on the hill can do. after that we got on the train and we were all celebrating and i wonder which one we'll go to and all this and that. we felt like we ere going the orange bowl. >> give us a standout! >> it's the only train trip from l.a. to san francisco where they ran out of here. so it was a real big celebration. >> all of the way home, they said there was a crowd to be there with they got off the train. when they got there nobody was there to greet them. >> we were kind of shocked that we thought we had all our fans there hooping and hollering. >> the shocked fans already knew what the team didn't. there was nothing to celebrate. >> and they found out that they weren't going to a bowl game. >> the dons had been handed a challenge and answered with a flawless 9-0 season. they played each game with tenacity, became a solid force with no divisions and won every time. why, then, was usf denied a post-season bowl? while some insisted that their weak schedule was to blame, the real reason was starkly different and far more disturbing. $$5 $$$$$,)$%$ >>> after finishing the 1951 season a flawless 9-0, the university of san francisco football team moved forward to a prestigious bowl game. as one of the nation's few undefeated teams, the dons felt assured of a birth. shockingly, they were uninvited. the team demanded an explanation. >> we were led to believe we were in contention and how do you confirm contention? well, maybe undefeat side one of them and we did that. >> but then the disturbing truth reached the team. they would be able to play, but only if they left their two black players ollie and burrell at home. the players called a meeting to discuss the dilemma. we were just shocked. i felt

Amazing Sports Stories
FSNNY (FSNNY) National Programming, DMA: 0
11:21PM EDT June 01 2008
Programming Type: Sports non-event

nsulted that someone would even ask us to not bring our black players with us. that was ridiculous. >> i don't know if anybody else feels the same way i do, but earl and ollie don't play, i don't play. >> we spoke unanimously and said no way that we were going do this. >> it's not right. so if we don't play as a team, then we don't play at all. >> you take the whole team or we don't go. period. >> we knew it was the right thing to do. we didn't sit down and take a piece of paper and take a ballot on it it. it was automatic. it was not acceptable if it meant to leave the two black players at home. it was unacceptable. >> we all said we're not going. my thought at first, i was a little bit disappointed because we really wanted to how the u.s. who we were and he said if we didn't prove to them who we were by now, they'd never know. >> this team was 9-0, undefeated. let's put our hands in here. >> one, two three, dons! despite the disappointment of not being able to play in a bowl game, the team was at peace with their decision. publicly, the orange bowl committee offered usf's weak schedule as the reason for passing them over. it had nothing to do with that. it had everything to do with mattson. the weak schedule was a scapegoat and had to do with two black players. there was no other reason why they didn't go to the bowl game. >> finally, sam wolfson of the gator bowl committee evealed the hideous truth. according to san francisco sportswriter ira blue, wolfson confessed that the gator, sugar and orange bowl committees had formed a pact to ban all teams with black players. more than just a slight to the 1951 team, the racist exclusion was a death blow to the entire usf football program. they coached the chicago cardinals of the nfl and tragically, usf was forced to drop its football program due to lack of funding. a deficit and it would have been erased with earnings from the bowl, but the dons certainly found a stirring swan song in their 1951 team. the squad produced nine nfl players and three hall of famers, ollie matheson, gino markety and bob sinclair. he's the commissioner and he' in the hall of fame who is our publicist. >> that's just a testament to how great the program at usf was. it was a great bunch of human beings and how they stayed together because they could have eased into the bowl game and left. and then my father brought it home, but they wouldn't do that. >> the dons' courageous decision s not forgotten in the nearly 60 years since their final, undefeated season. in 2006, at usf's graduation ceremony, members of the 1951 team were bestowed with honorary doctorates. >> the men we are today have integrity. they refused to compromise their values. once the word got out, the story really touched people very, very deeply. >> indeed, their stand against racism would not soon be forgotten. in 2008, at thes to fit owes if i aeft bowl, the living members of the 1951 team will remain close friends to this day, were introduced to a resounding applause. >> after 57 years, the dons finally got their bowl game. >> it was awesome. it was awesome. anybody that wasn't touched has no feeling at all. >> that was probably the most impressive ceremony i've ever been a part of, it's a tears in the eyes kind of celebration, and it was amazing. >> it gets you choked up. you don't meet people like that, that are willing to go to for you and o everything for you. the wonderful. >> they could have jumped at the chance for one more win and yet they stood their gnd. it was a game they had to forfeit advance the cause of justice. the post-season win would have been no victory at all. >> it would have just been another game and so we would have been 10-0 and everyone, over the times would have forgotten about it. >> those guys that have dreams and were kept alive and that's why i was sitting here today because their dream lived. they lived for the day that everybody could play in a bowl game based on their record instead of basesed on their skin color. that's the legacy. that's the issue and all of the guys are so proud that what we did because it was the right thing to do. >>> >>>. get grilled flavor like never before. new ultimate grill pizzas only from pizza hut. savor premium grilled steak, tender chicken, or grilled veggies all on a pizza hut pizza. get a medium now for just $10.99. america's favorite pizza. pizza hut. order online. (announcer) these new yorkers know great pasta. it's really good. i love it! (announcer) but they didn't know it was tuscani pasta from pizza hut. three pounds of restaurant quality pasta with breadsticks delivered for just $11.99. now get pasta from pizza hut.

Amazing Sports Stories
FSNNY (FSNNY) National Programming, DMA: 0
11:28PM EDT June 01 2008
Programming Type: Sports non-event

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