Introduction from The Sports Time Traveler™
My great friend the Giffer is recovering nicely from major surgery. He’s been in my thoughts and prayers for the past 6 weeks since the night he texted his group of best friends that he required an urgent operation.
When I called him later on that same night he broke the news to us, he was emphatic that I have to follow Navy’s 1963 football team. The Giffer had graduated from the Naval Academy himself and spent several decades serving our country.
So in honor of my pal of nearly 50 years, I jumped into the Sports Time Travel machine and started covering Navy’s football games week-by-week.
This week I had to travel virtually again, to Philadelphia, on December 7, 1963, to experience the Army Navy game.
For anyone who yawns at the mention of one of the seemingly antiquated armed forces football battles, take notice, this game, in 1963, was one that should never be forgotten. For the Army Navy game of 1963 was no ordinary contest.
And now I humbly tell the tale of what I experienced on this incredible virtual trip to Philadelphia in 1963.
And before I begin, I want to say, “Thanks Giffer, if not for you I might have missed one of the great stories in sports history. And please continue to get well soon.”
Navy vs. Army 1963 - A Tribute to JFK
PHILADELPHIA - December 8, 1963
I’m back in time, virtually, in the city of brotherly love, where yesterday was the 64th meeting of the Army and Navy football teams. The game was held before 102,000 at Philadelphia Stadium.
POSTPONEMENT
The game was played on Pearl Harbor Day.
This marks the first time that the Army Navy game has ever been played on that infamous day.
It was not played on Pearl Harbor Day by design, however, it was postponed from its original date on November 30th, due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22nd.
There was some doubt whether the game would be played at all due to the 30 day mourning period in effect in all Federal establishments. But a joint statement by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy on November 26th, which appeared in newspapers around the country, read as follows, “President Kennedy’s family requested the game be played. The game will be dedicated to his memory.”
So the game was played as a tribute to the fallen President.
And all the traditional festivities associated with the game were canceled.
THE LATE PRESIDENT KENNEDY
I have learned in my travels back here in time that President Kennedy had been very much looking forward to attending the Army Navy game on November 30th, the original scheduled date.
Having served in the Navy in World War II, President Kennedy was a Navy football fan.
President Kennedy had attended the last 3 Army Navy games. In 1960 he was here as the President elect and in 1961 and 1962 he attended as President.
In none of those 3 years was Navy ranked as high as they are. Navy was the clear #2 team in the country coming into yesterday’s game.
As a lifelong sports fan myself, I can imagine the sheer happiness President Kennedy would have experienced watching the Army Navy game in 1963, under these game circumstances, where a victory would earn Navy a berth in the Cotton Bowl against #1 Texas. It would be the de facto national championship game.
John F. Kennedy by the way, didn’t just serve in the Navy, he was a World War II Navy hero. During the night of August 1, 1943, the 80 foot patrol torpedo boat that he commanded, PT-109, was wrecked by a Japanese Destroyer in the South Pacific. Kennedy saved one of the crew members, tugging him along as he swam 3.5 miles to the nearest island.
THE SITUATION
From a pure football point of view, the magnitude of this game can’t be understated.
2 weeks ago, just prior to the disruption in sports, due to the assassination, the top 5 teams in the AP poll looked this:
1 - Texas 9 - 0 - 0 (45 1st place votes)
2 - Navy 8 - 1 - 0 (6 1st place votes)
3 - Mississippi 7 - 0 - 1
4 - Michigan State 6 - 1 - 1
5 - Pittsburgh 7 - 1 - 0
Since that time, #1 Texas won a come from behind thriller over unranked Texas A&M, 15 - 13. In that game, Texas was behind 13 - 3 going into the 4th quarter.
#3 Mississippi tied unranked Mississippi State in their final game 10 - 10.
#4 Michigan State was shutout by #8 Illinois 13 - 0. Illinois is led by All-American Dick Butkus.
And #5 Pitt defeated Miami 31 - 20.
As a result, the latest AP poll looks like this:
1 - Texas 10 - 0 - 0 (42 1st place votes)
2 - Navy 8 - 1 - 0 (8 1st place votes)
3 - Illinois 7 - 1 - 1
4 - Pittsburgh 8 - 1 - 0 (1 1st place vote)
5 - Auburn 9 - 1 - 0
Texas, which has played its final game, has now earned a spot in the Cotton Bowl. Navy, as the clear number 2 team, now needs to defeat Army to be assured of their invitation to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Technically, here in 1963, the National Champion will be recognized after next week’s poll comes out.
But from my perspective a Navy win would set up a true National Championship contest in Dallas on New Year’s Day.
ROGER STAUBACH - Navy’s Heisman Trophy QB
The primary reason Navy has a shot at a national title is their Heisman Trophy winning junior QB Roger Staubach. Staubach was the landslide Heisman winner receiving 517 first place votes of the 784 ballots cast. The runner up, Billy Lothridge received just 65 first place votes.
Staubach’s image was all set to appear on the cover of LIFE magazine in the November 29th issue, but it was replaced with a picture of President Kennedy.
The day before the game, Allison Danzig of the New York Times called Staubach, “the most celebrated college player of the year, if not in all Navy football history… Staubach has been in the headlines week after week with his record-breaking performances as a runner and passer.
Danzig then provided this description of Staubach’s unique style of play, “His unruffled poise before the rush of the enemy linemen, the cleverness with which he casually evades their fierce embrace and the discernment with which he at long last finds his receiver or picks up blockers have baffled opponents and amazed onlookers game after game. He is a law unto himself and has been given a latitude in doing the unorthodox that is seldom permitted a player.”
Allison Danzig should know a great player when he sees one. He has been reporting on sports for The New York Times since 1923, making his adulations for Staubach even more impressive.
With Staubach as the field admiral, Navy has the most potent offense in the nation. They lead all college programs with 32.6 points per game.
Staubach himself had generated the 3rd most yards on offense of any player in the country, and has connected on 67% of his passes.
And Navy’s defense is not bad either, giving up just a little more than a dozen points per game.
Navy was an 11.5 point favorite to win the game. But according to James Walker in the Baltimore Evening Sun, “Take away Roger Staubach and you’ve got an even-steven football game.”
THE OPPONENT - ARMY
Army was no pushover for #2 Navy. Despite being unranked, Army sported a 7 - 2 record including 4 shutouts coming into the game.
They had beaten #9 Penn State on October 12th, holding the Nittany Lions to just 7 points.
Going back to last year, Army had been ranked as high as 10th during the 1962 season. And just a few years ago, Army was the #1 team in the nation for 2 weeks in October, 1958.
Of course, if you go back an entire generation, Army was the dominant team in college football in the war years of 1944 and 1945, when they went undefeated for 2 straight years and won back-to-back national titles.
This year Army has the 3rd best rushing attack in the nation gaining an average of 248 yards per game on the ground.
And they played tough defense, allowing an average of just 1 touchdown per game, and just 2 passing touchdowns all season. Coming into the game, Army was only allowing opponents a little less than 9 points per game.
Army QB Carl Stichweh doesn’t pass much, only 87 times in 9 games. But Danzig wrote, “Stichweh has great speed and is a dangerous runner… he is a knowing field general.”
Danzig summed up Army’s prospects against Navy, “Army is one of the few teams on the Navy schedule that can match the middies speed. The Cadet line is quick and strong. Army’s hopes rest upon the ability of the line to measure up to its full potential in blocking for its runners and putting pressure on Staubach.”
THE GAME
The game was on national TV on CBS at 1pm ET. It was immediately followed by the Packers at the Rams at 4:15pm ET.
You can watch the entire game as I did in this coach’s video that has no sound:
Here’s my recap:
At the 3:05 mark on the video watch the fascinating warm up drills by Army as they practice quickly moving from the huddle to the snap repeatedly.
At 3:45 you see the flag flying at half mast, and all 102,000 people in the stadium standing at attention for the silent tribute to President Kennedy.
The game opens with Navy receiving and Army stuffing them on 3 consecutive runs. The Army line won the first battle and Navy had to punt the ball away.
Army then engineered a long drive for a touchdown at the 11:30 mark on the video. Army QB Carl Stichweh scored the TD on a 10 yard keeper, bull dozing through 3 Navy defenders at the goal line.
On Navy’s 2nd possession, QB Roger Staubach, the Heisman trophy winner, throws an interception on his 1st pass of the game. You can see it at the 12:50 mark.
Army takes over at the Navy 40, and grinds out 5 running plays before losing the ball on a fumble at the Navy 30.
Staubach throws a sensational pass on the run at the 15:10 mark on the video that puts Navy deep in Army territory as the 1st quarter comes to a close.
ARMY 7 NAVY 0 - End of 1st Quarter
At the 17:45 mark on the tape watch as Staubach tries to run it in on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line and is stopped.
Army then takes over and is only able to get the ball out to the 20 yard line before they punt it back to Navy.
Now Staubach goes back to work and this time he is not denied. Watch at the 21:05 mark as Roger drops back from the right hash mark at the Army 32, rolls left all the way to the left hash, stops, turns and throws back across the field to the right sideline for a touchdown that ties the game at 7.
But wait! It’s called back for holding.
On the next play Staubach scrambles for 10 yards and at 23:20 on the tape Navy finally gets a TD when Pat Donnelly rushes into the end zone to tie the game for real this time.
Army then runs out the rest of the clock in the 1st half with their ground game and it’s tied at halftime.
ARMY 7 NAVY 7 - Halftime
On the opening possession of the 2nd half, Navy’s defense shut down Army.
Navy then went on an 80 yard, 12 play drive. At the 34 minute mark on the tape Navy scored the go ahead touchdown.
When Army got the kickoff, Navy stuffed Army’s offense again, and Staubach led another long drive.
Watch a classic Roger “The Dodger” play at the 37:32 mark. Staubach drops back to pass, gets in trouble and scrambles. Just as it looks like he’s going to be sacked, he spins and laterals the ball for a 10 yard gain to the Army 32.
But at the 37:57 mark Staubach’s improvisation failed him and he was intercepted.
With the ball back in Army’s hands, Stichweh led the team on its first sustained drive since the opening quarter.
But on the Navy 8 yard line, Army lost the ball on downs.
During Army’s romp to the Navy 8, the 3rd quarter expired.
NAVY 14 ARMY 7 - end of 3rd quarter
Staubach led the team from the Navy 8 all the way to the Army 20. Then at 43:35 on the tape Staubach handed off to Pat Donnelly who ran it in for his 3rd TD of the game and gave Navy a big 14 point advantage with 10:32 to play in the game.
NAVY 21 ARMY 7 - 10:32 left to play in the game
But Army was not finished.
At the 44 minute mark on the tape, Army took the kickoff back almost to midfield.
At the 47:15 mark Stichweh ran the ball in for his 2nd TD.
Army was successful on a 2 point conversion and closed the deficit to 21 - 15.
NAVY 21 ARMY 15 - 6:19 to play in the game
Watch next at the 47:30 mark as Army gets the ball right back on an onside kick. And guess who comes up with the ball. It’s Stichweh playing on special teams!
Now things got very interesting. Stichweh commanded an Army drive that efficiently grinded down the clock as they picked up 3 first downs and edged closer and closer to the end zone.
Watch at the 49:50 mark on the tape as Stichweh makes a rare throw from his 20 that gets Army down to the Navy 7 yard line again.
Now with 1:37 left in the game and 1st and goal from the 7, it appeared that nothing could stop Army from scoring the winning touchdown.
Allison Danzig of The New York Times wrote, “The crowd was mad with suspense and excitement. So great was the din that Stichweh held up his arms several times and called for time out until the noise subsided and the signals could be heard.”
Army was all out of time outs. Stichweh was asking for official time outs and they were being granted.
At the 50:15 mark, Army ran for 2 yards, setting up 2nd and goal from the 5. There were now 45 seconds to play.
Keep watching as Army runs for another 2 yards. It’s now 3rd and goal from the 3.
At this moment, the roar of the crowd was so deafening again that Stichweh’s signals at the line of scrimmage could not be heard. Stichweh called for another official’s time out until the crowd could be quitted down.
On 3rd down Army picked up another yard.
There was time for one more play in the game. Army needed 2 more yards to score the touchdown. The extra point would be the game winner.
The crowd was deafening again, and time was running out. Stichweh stood up on the line and asked for another officials time out.
This time the time out was not granted.
The clock ran out.
Navy won it 21 - 15!
Navy had not touched the football in the last 10 minutes of the game, yet held on to win it.
Thousands of fans raced onto the field. “The goalposts went down in nothing flat,” wrote Danzig in the Times.
Navy coach Wayne Hardin said, “I feel awful humble. You can’t gloat over a game like this.”
Although Navy had won it 21 - 15, statistically the game was nearly even with Navy gaining 289 yards of offense to 274 for Army.
ON TO THE COTTON BOWL
Navy has now punched their ticket to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for a New Year’s Day showdown with #1 Texas.
POSTSCRIPT
It struck me after watching Navy hold on to win the game, that perhaps President Kennedy, if he had been alive, would have gone to see the Cotton Bowl game on New Year’s Day 1964.
I did some further time traveling back in time to 1961, the last time that Navy was invited to a bowl game, to see if President Kennedy had attended that game. Sure enough, on January 2, 1961, President elect Kennedy (he would be inaugurated 3 weeks later) attended the Orange Bowl game to see #4 ranked Navy take on #5 Missouri.
The Miami Herald reported, “With a loyalty born of his own combat Navy service… Kennedy pulled hard (for Navy),” in that Orange Bowl game, which Missouri won 21 - 14.
This makes me certain that had he lived, President Kennedy would have traveled to Dallas again, 6 weeks after his last trip, to root for Navy to win a national title.
To watch Navy compete for a national title, during his time as President, would have been one of the great moments in the life of John F. Kennedy.
Think about that. In that same city, Dallas, TX, where President Kennedy had the worst day of his life, he really should have experienced one of the best days of his life. He really deserved to experience one of the best days of his life.
As a sports fan, I have a profound sadness as I ponder this “should have been” case.
Navy vs. Army 1963 - A Tribute to JFK