When you see a face mask in the Super Bowl think of Johnny Bright.
There is a football game tomorrow. There was a political rally at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa last week. It is timely to speak of Johnny Bright.
At the start of the football season Drake University’s quarterback was the odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He would have been the first African American to win the trophy, ten years before Syracuse’s Ernie Davis got that honor.
Going into the conference game against conference rival Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University), Drake was 5-0 and their senior quarter back lead the NCAA in rushing, total offense, and scoring. In the two prior years Bright had lead the nation in total offense.
Oklahoma A&M envied in state rival Oklahoma’s reputation as a football power. A&M had recently and reluctantly integrated. Two years earlier Bright was the first African American to play on the A&M football field. There had been no problem, but this year rumors were rampant that the Drake quarterback would not make it thorough the game. There was some indication that there may have been racial animus; as in reports the head coach’s mantra leading up to the game was “Get the n***** “. Pregame an Oklahoma A&M was overheard saying “We’re going to get that n*****.”
Anticipating an incident the Des Moines Register sent cameramen John Robinson and Don Ultang to the game in order to document any attacks on Bright. In the first seven minutes he was knocked out three times. (Concussion protocols at the time consisted of if you could stand you could play.) The third time A&M lineman Wilbanks Smith smashed a forearm into his face as Bright stood watching the halfback carry the ball five yards downfield. His jaw broken, he returned to the game to throw a 61 yard touchdown. He could not return for the second quarter and only played in one more game that season.
Robinson and Ultang captured the injury in a series of photos which graphically demonstrated the hit was intentional and meant to cause harm. They were awarded the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for photography. [Click on link to see the photos and sports page]
No foul was called on the play. After Drake University saw that Oklahoma A&M was not going to sanction Smith they protested to the Missouri Valley Conference which also took no action. Drake then severed all athletic ties with A&M and withdrew from the conference.
In 1952 the NCAA made it mandatory that ball carrying players must wear face-guards and added a suspension to the 15 yard penalty for flagrantly rough play.
Johnny Bright finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy ballot for the year, and was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles. He chose to play in the Canadian Football League.
Sarcastic comparison of Johnny Bright Incident and Trump Impeachment below
Over the years there has been a witch hunt against Wilbanks Smith. All of the evidence is second hand information and fake news from biased sources!!! If the origins of these charges are biased on bias and slander the whole thing is invalid.
The campaign was stoked by the FAKE NEWS Des Moines Register. A homer rag for all things Iowan with a raging bias against Oklahoma. They have never gotten over the loss of the liddle darling Drake (or as some say FAKE University) to Oklahoma A&M in what many say was the greatest victory in college football history!!! Even before the game started the RAGister planned on sending a team of the most one sided slanted people to produce unverified “evidence” slandering A&M student athletes. Men who were asked to find Oklahoma on a map. It is worth noting that Rhode Island is NOT Oklahoma.
In spite of the RAGister’s reckless allegations there is no proof Mr. Smith broke there quarterbacks jaw. The jaw may have been broken before the game even started. Who can say?
What is known is NO PENALTY was called during the game by the expert (possibly the finest in history) officials. The officials on the field have the best view and are trained to spot illegal plays. They are BIGLY concerned about player safety.
An intensive investigation by respected officials at A&M revealed that nothing bad happened.
Even after all of the FAKE NEWS and snowflake whining the Missouri Valley Conference proved that the play by A&M was PERFECT in every-way!! How can anyone say Mr. Smith did or could do anything wrong?
Not satisfied with just attacking the players, it has been claimed the coach encouraged dirty play to take a player out of the game. If that is true how could it be that “He was a self-proclaimed Southern gentleman with a reputation that would get him voted Sportsman of the Year by the Oklahoma City Quarterbacks Club in 1952.”?
Some people pretend to read minds and say it was an illegal act by Mr. Smith must remember, as any Harvard Law professor knows, a player’s MISSION is to win games. Mr. Smith’s action, if any, was taken with the purpose of winning the game, and Oklahoma A&M WON THE GAME!! Even if was a mixed motive if any part of the motive is to satisfy the mission all of the actions are proper!!! Get OVER IT!!!
Afterword:
One of Bright’s children, Deanie Bright-Johnson, was 29 when her father died. She does not recall that the incident weighed on Bright.
“The first time I ever heard about the incident was when I was in college when he gave me a book with the pictures that won the Pulitzer,” Bright-Johnson said. “I had to do my own research to learn about [the incident] because he didn’t talk about it. One lesson I learned from my dad was if something [negative] happened, to not dwell on it and keep moving forward.”
*Cover photo purchased for noncommercial use Order number 1178675