Vike Francis, Cowboy Roy Petsch, Harry Hopp, Ray Prochaska, Warren Alfson... all key players on Nebraska's Rose Bowl team that played Stanford on New Year's Day, 1941.Their autographs adorn a white and red silk scarf commemorating the game, the last Rose Bowl before America's entry into World War II.
There's one other autograph on that scarf that I clearly recognize.... It belongs to my son, Geoff Rosen. He wasn't on that team, but his autograph is on the scarf along with most other members of that team.
And that's my story....and that's also why I need your help.
You see, when my son was old enough to write his name, he did just that on my most valuable Cornhusker artifact.
That's correct, he defaced the scarf....a scarf (now framed) that has been in my family ever since an uncle rode the train with that great Cornhusker team to Pasadena and gathered the signatures.
Don't ask me what my then four-or-five year-old was thinking other than that he decided to add his autograph -- in pencil -- to the silk scarf.
Since the scarf commands a significant presence on a wall at my home, I look at it every day and think about those players.
And that's where I need your help.
What happened to those Nebraska players as America nearly 12 months after that Rose Bowl game plunged into World War II? How many fought in the war, and how many perished? What were their stories and memories about that game, which ended in a 21-13 defeat to a great Stanford team. While we take Nebraska bowl games for granted today, that 1941 game marked Nebraska's only bowl game appearance until the mid-50's.
Do you have any stories to share about that game, or the players on that team? I'd like to hear from you. Add your comments here or share them with me via email
--Steve Rosen
HuskerOnline's Big Red Business reporter
sbrosen1030@gmail.com.
There's one other autograph on that scarf that I clearly recognize.... It belongs to my son, Geoff Rosen. He wasn't on that team, but his autograph is on the scarf along with most other members of that team.
And that's my story....and that's also why I need your help.
You see, when my son was old enough to write his name, he did just that on my most valuable Cornhusker artifact.
That's correct, he defaced the scarf....a scarf (now framed) that has been in my family ever since an uncle rode the train with that great Cornhusker team to Pasadena and gathered the signatures.
Don't ask me what my then four-or-five year-old was thinking other than that he decided to add his autograph -- in pencil -- to the silk scarf.
Since the scarf commands a significant presence on a wall at my home, I look at it every day and think about those players.
And that's where I need your help.
What happened to those Nebraska players as America nearly 12 months after that Rose Bowl game plunged into World War II? How many fought in the war, and how many perished? What were their stories and memories about that game, which ended in a 21-13 defeat to a great Stanford team. While we take Nebraska bowl games for granted today, that 1941 game marked Nebraska's only bowl game appearance until the mid-50's.
Do you have any stories to share about that game, or the players on that team? I'd like to hear from you. Add your comments here or share them with me via email
--Steve Rosen
HuskerOnline's Big Red Business reporter
sbrosen1030@gmail.com.
