Chicago College All-Star Game


The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the College All-Star Football Classic.
The game was contested annually — except for 1974, due to that year's NFL strike — and was played in July, August, or September. In the 42 College All-Star Games, the defending pro champions won 31, the All-Stars won nine, and two were ties, giving the collegians a.238 winning percentage.
The second game, played in 1935, involved the hometown Chicago Bears, runner-up of the 1934 season, instead of the defending champion New York Giants. The New York Jets played in the 1969 edition, although still an American Football League team, as once the AFL-NFL Championship was introduced the Super Bowl winner was the professional team involved, regardless of which league the team represented.

History of the game

The game was the idea of Arch Ward, the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and the driving force behind baseball's All-Star Game. The game originally was a benefit for Chicago-area charities and was always played at Soldier Field, with the exception of two years during World War II, 1943 and 1944, when it was held at Northwestern University's Dyche Stadium in Evanston.
The Chicago game was one of several "pro vs. rookie" college all-star games held across the United States in its early years. Chicago's game had the benefit of being the highest profile, with the NFL champions facing the best college graduates from across the country as opposed to the regional games that were held elsewhere. Because of this, the game survived far longer than its contemporaries.
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The inaugural game in 1934, played before a crowd of 79,432 on August 31, was a scoreless tie between the all-stars and the Chicago Bears. The following year, in a game that included University of Michigan graduate and future president Gerald Ford, the Bears won 5–0. The first all-star team to win was the 1937 squad, coached by Gus Dorais, which won 6–0 over Curly Lambeau's Green Bay Packers. The only score came on a 47-yard touchdown pass from future Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh to Gaynell Tinsley. Baugh's Washington Redskins lost to the All-Stars the next year, but he did not play due to injury.
In the 1940s, the games were competitive affairs that attracted large crowds to Soldier Field. The college all-stars had the benefit of being fully integrated, since the NFL's league-wide color barrier did not apply to the squad, meaning black players such as Kenny Washington were allowed to play in the game. As the talent level of pro football improved, the pros came to dominate the series.
The qualifying criteria for the College All-Star squad was loose, as the 1945 game featured Tom Harmon, who had begun his professional career in 1941 but had been interrupted by military service. The all-stars last won consecutive games in 1946 and 1947, and won only four of the final 29 games. The Philadelphia Eagles fell in 1950, the Cleveland Browns in 1955, and the Detroit Lions in 1958. The last all-star win came in 1963, when a college team coached by legendary quarterback Otto Graham beat Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers, 20–17.
In 1949, Ward, who by this time had founded the competing All-America Football Conference, attempted to have that league's champion - the perennially winning Browns - play that year's game instead of the NFL champion, but after the NFL threatened legal action, the Tribune board overruled Ward and renewed its agreement with the NFL.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, enthusiasm for the game started to erode as NFL coaches had become increasingly reluctant to let their new draftees play in the exhibition due to their being forced miss part of training camp, and their draftees being at considerable risk for injury.
As early as 1949, these concerns had been raised after Dick Rifenburg suffered a serious knee injury practicing for the game, effectively ending his professional career before it began, and prompting Rifenburg's move into broadcasting.
A player's strike forced the cancellation of the 1974 game: although the league went forward with the rest of its preseason, they needed access to as many rookies as possible for replacement players to replace striking players and players who defected to the World Football League, leaving them unable to spare players to field a team to play the college all-stars.
Further, the NFL was also withdrawing from competition against teams that were not members of the league at this time; the College All-Star Game remains, as of 2020, the last time an NFL team played a team from outside the league.
Only two other games, a 1969 split-squad match against a Continental Football League team and a 1972 split-squad match against a Seaboard Football League team, both major blowout wins for the NFL teams, were played in this time.
The final game took place in during a torrential downpour at Soldier Field on July 23. Despite featuring star players such as Chuck Muncie, Mike Pruitt, Lee Roy Selmon, and Jackie Slater, the all-stars were hopelessly outmatched by the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of consecutive Super Bowls. The star quarterback for the College All-Stars was Steeler draft pick Mike Kruczek of Boston College, but he left in the first quarter due to a thigh injury, and after backup Craig Penrose of San Diego State suffered a broken finger, Jeb Blount of Tulsa played most of the game.
With 1:22 remaining in the third quarter and the Steelers leading 24–0, high winds and lightning prompted all-stars coach Ara Parseghian to call for a time out. Fans subsequently invaded the field and began sliding on the turf, and with the rain continuing to fall heavily, the officials ordered both teams to their locker rooms. Despite the efforts of officials, security and Chicago Police, all attempts to clear the field failed, and a group of drunk fans tore down the goalposts at the southern end of the stadium. However, by this time, the torrential rain had left parts of the field under of water, meaning it would have been unplayable in any event.
At 11:01 pm CDT, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the Tribune announced that the game had been called. The news was greeted with jeers, and numerous brawls broke out on the flooded field before order was finally restored. Joe Washington of Oklahoma was selected MVP of the final College All-Star game.
While Chicago Tribune Charities had every intention of staging a 1977 game, a combination of NFL coaches being increasingly unwilling to let their high draft picks play, rising insurance costs and higher player salaries meant the game was no longer viable. The Tribune announced on December 21, 1976 that the game would be discontinued.
In the 42 College All-Star Games, the defending pro champions won 31, the All-Stars won nine, and two were ties, giving the collegians a winning percentage.
One aspect of the College All-Star Game was later revived: the concept of the league champion playing in the first game of the season was adopted in 2004 with the National Football League Kickoff game. Since then, the first game of the regular season is hosted by the defending Super Bowl champion.
The game raised over $4 million for charity over the course of its 42-game run.

Game results

All games played at Soldier Field in Chicago, except for the 1943 and 1944 games, which were played at Dyche Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.
1 Game was called with 1:22 left in 3rd quarter because of lightning storm and torrential rain.

Franchise records

Listed by number of appearances
The Most Valuable Player award was given from 1938 through 1973 and was always awarded to a player on the College All-Stars
YearPlayerPositionCollege
1938Cecil IsbellRunning backPurdue
1939Bill OsmanskiRunning backHoly Cross
1940Ambrose SchindlerRunning backUSC
1941George FranckRunning backMinnesota
1942Bruce SmithRunning backMinnesota
1943Pat HarderRunning backWisconsin
1944Glenn DobbsRunning backTulsa
1945Charley TrippiMultipleGeorgia
1946Elroy HirschRunning backWisconsin
1947Claude YoungRunning backIllinois
1948Jay RodemeyerRunning backKentucky
1949Bill FischerOffensive linemanNotre Dame
1950Charlie JusticeRunning backNorth Carolina
1951Lewis McFadinMultipleTexas
1952Babe ParilliQuarterbackKentucky
1953Gib DawsonMultipleTexas
1954Carlton MasseyDefensive endTexas
1955Ralph GuglielmiQuarterbackNotre Dame
1956Bob PellegriniLinebackerMaryland
1957John BrodieQuarterbackStanford
1958Bobby MitchellHalfback/Wide receiverIllinois
1958Jim NinowskiQuarterbackMichigan State
1959Bob PtacekRunning backMichigan
1960Jim LeoEndCincinnati
1961Billy KilmerQuarterbackUCLA
1962John HadlQuarterbackKansas
1963Ron Vander KelenQuarterbackWisconsin
1964Charley TaylorWide receiverArizona State
1965John HuarteQuarterbackNotre Dame
1966Gary LaneQuarterbackMissouri
1967Charles "Bubba" SmithDefensive endMichigan State
1968Larry CsonkaRunning backSyracuse
1969Greg CookQuarterbackCincinnati
1970Bruce TaylorDefensive backBoston University
1971Richard HarrisDefensive endGrambling State
1972Pat SullivanQuarterbackAuburn
1973Ray GuyPunterSouthern Mississippi