Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Unveils Otto Graham Wildcat Honor Roll
9/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- When Northwestern unveiled the Otto Graham Wildcat Honor Roll Saturday, it paid homage to a man who spent his life blurring the line between legend and myth.
The Wildcat Honor Roll is located on the upper deck's west facade of Ryan Field; it will list all of Northwestern's football All-Americans, Big Ten championship teams and bowl appearances.
The signage was produced by Ze Design, the same company that provided the signage and graphics in the lobby and corridors of Welsh-Ryan Arena last year.
"One of the things that struck me last year about Ryan Field was that there is nothing in the stadium that provides a sense of the tradition or history of Northwestern football," said NU Director of Athletics Mark Murphy. "When Otto Graham passed away last winter, we wanted to do something to memorialize all that Otto did for Northwestern and our athletic program, as well as for football in general. As we discussed different options, the Wildcat Honor Roll had the most appeal because it would be so visible and help our football program, as well as serve as a fitting tribute to Otto."
To say that Graham was one of the greatest athletes in Northwestern history is an egregious understatement. In truth, he remains one of the greatest athletes in American history.
Graham was born in Waukegan in 1921, and from the moment he arrived he was setting records. His recorded weight at birth was a staggering 14 pounds, 12 ounces--the Illinois state record for largest male.
The son of music teachers, he learned to play the piano, violin and cornet; in one of the finest examples of diversity, at age 16 he not only led his conference in scoring in basketball, he was also Illinois state champion in the French horn.
(Graham did have one weakness, however. As Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jack Clarke wrote in 1961, "he could make the saxophone throb until cats climbed the nearest telephone pole, dogs crawled under the board walk, and neighbors frantically phoned for the police. But in a football uniform, he was a joy to behold.")
An all-state athlete in two sports in high school, Graham was recruited for his athletic prowess by just two schools--Northwestern and Dartmouth, of the Ivy League.
The Wildcats won out, and so he arrived on campus in the fall of 1940--on a basketball scholarship. The man who would go on to one of the most prolific football careers in history got his start on the intramural fields of Evanston with the Alpha Delta Phi team.
As he led his intramural team to the fraternity title, word spread of his deeds on the gridiron. Soon, head football coach Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf was inviting him out to a spring tryout.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In his first varsity game, he returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown (a record that still stands at Northwestern) and completed five-of-nine passes for another 95 yards. In 1943, he scored four touchdowns and three extra points against Wisconsin, a scoring record that also still stands at Northwestern.
Ironically, even with "One-Man Band" Graham at quarterback, the Wildcats did not have incredible success; in 1941 they went 5-3 (4-2 Big Ten), but fell on hard times in 1942 and went 1-9 (0-6) despite his 1,092 passing yards (a school record that would last 20 years). The lone victory? A 3-0 decision over a Texas team that would go on to win the mythical national championship.
Graham's senior season under center was a dream, though. In addition to that incredible performance against the Badgers, he set every Northwestern and Big Ten passing record and led the 'Cats to a 6-2 record (5-1 Big Ten). At the end of the season, Graham was honored with the Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, and also finished third in the Heisman voting.
Lest we forget, however, Graham came to Northwestern to play basketball, and he did that with equal aplomb. As a Football News reporter wrote in 1985--more than 40 years after his hoops career ended--"I watched Otto play basketball at Northwestern while in the USMC V-12 program there, and I will testify that I have never seen a better playmaker--even in today's pro game." When Graham graduated, he did so as the program's all-time leading scorer.
Interesting story: Graham earned All-America in 1944 in basketball, something that is relatively well-known. What is not so well known, however, is that he was listed with two different schools--Northwestern and Colgate.
With World War II raging in Europe, Graham graduated from Northwestern early--leaving a 7-1 team that struggled to a 12-7 final mark without him--and went to Colgate to enroll in a newly formed Naval Flight Preparatory School at the University.
"I got to Colgate, and they immediately sent me to Buffalo," he once told The Navy Times. "I said `why Buffalo?' and they said `because the pre-flight team is playing a basketball game tonight, and you're going to be in it.'"
It was not just any game. The Red Raiders were playing New York University, at the time one of the most powerful programs in the country, as part of a doubleheader. Graham scored 19 points to lead Colgate to a 53-49 victory in that game, and a New York Times reporter would write of his "masterful" performance, "possessor of an amazing no-arch, one-handed shot, which he fired from either side at all angles, Graham was the big difference in the game." It was the first of four games Graham would play for the Red Raiders to end that season.
"I always think that game was the reason I made All-America that year," a typically self-effacing Graham would say years later; in truth, he was probably a lock for the honor. After all, he was voted the second best college player in the country that season by the National Basketball Coaches and Writers Association behind another Chicago college legend, DePaul's George Mikan.
Another story that is not so well known: Graham lettered twice in baseball at Northwestern. The reason the greatest quarterback in NU history hit the diamond? "I went out for baseball to get out of spring football," he admitted years later.
Following his college exploits, Graham began his professional career on the hardwood. He played for the Rochester (N.Y.) Royals, who won the National Basketball League title in his one year on the team (this will become a theme, by the way). He then went to the War as a naval aviation cadet.
In 1945, he was contacted by Paul Brown about playing for Cleveland in the newly formed All-American Football Conference (AAFC).
"If you sign a two-year contract with me, I'll give you a $1,000 bonus and $7,500 a year as soon as the war is over," said Brown, who knew Graham also had been drafted by the Detroit Lions of the established National Football League (NFL). "I'll also give you $250 a month as long as the war lasts."
"Where do I sign?" said Graham, at the time earning $75 a month as a cadet. Thus was born the most prolific teaming in pro football history.
During his 10-year career with the Browns, Graham played in 10 championship games and won seven of them. The first four came in the AAFC; in 1950, the Brown jumped to the NFL and made an immediate impression by destroying the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener, 35-10, as Graham threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns. At the end of that year, they would win the NFL title 30-28 against the Los Angeles Rams, and play in the next five title games (winning two) before Graham retired in 1955. The Browns' record during his career was 114-20-4.
Interesting story: In a 1953 game, San Francisco linebacker Art Michalik smashed Graham in the face just before halftime. Browns doctor Vic Ippolito sewed 15 stitches into the inside of his mouth during the break.
"I did the work without a pain killer," Ippolito told The Cleveland Plain Dealer years later. "I didn't expect Otto to play anymore that day." Of course, he was wrong--Graham completed nine-of-10 passes in the second stanza to lead the Browns to a 23-21 victory.
From then on, Brown had Graham play with plastic bar across his face; it was the first facemask in football history.
A few years after his retirement from pro ball, Graham found his way to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., where he became head football coach and athletics director. He also was appointed a reserve commander by President Kennedy, then later captain. He left the Academy briefly in 1966 to coach the Washington Redskins, but was fired after compiling a 17-22-3 record in three seasons and replaced by Vince Lombardi.
"My biggest claim to fame isn't that I was an All-America in football and basketball in college, or that I'm in the College and Pro Football Hall of Fames," he joked to The Daily Northwestern in 1980. "My biggest claim to fame is that it took Vince Lombardi to replace me as coach of the Washington Redskins."
Following his firing, Graham spent a year "as the highest paid gardener in town" as the Redskins honored the final year of his four-year contract, then returned to Coast Guard in 1969 where he stayed until his retirement in 1984. He spent the last years of his life in Sarasota, Fla.
Even in retirement, Graham stayed active in those things that were important to him. He was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 1978 and had surgery to remove it; he spent the rest of his life as a spokesman for cancer research. He also was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2001, but ultimately it was a tear in his aorta that killed one of American's legends last December 17 at the age of 82.
In addition to the new Wildcat Honor Roll, a case filled with some of Otto Graham's trophies and memorabilia sits in the lobby of the Nicolet Football Center.
