They are being honored Saturday . Schiano said in his presser they may be the best rutgers team ever . I vaguely remember this season , but never saw them play . Any old timers around that can share some stories ?
1961 team
- Thread starter Plum Street
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Great year for a kid from New Brunswick back then as the Yanks had a spectacular season too. My dad took me to Princeton that year and virtually every other year in my childhood. Can't remember any other games in 1961 for sure as the years the games were played blend into each other. But Mudie, Speranza, Steve Sims, Thompson, the great line etc were heros to me as much as Mantle and Maris. Listened to Tony Marano on WCTC. During the pregame, another announcer would give a few details of games played between RU and that week's opponent in prior years. Guys played both ways back then and the QB and defensive captain called most of the plays. Bateman was the coach but most players were recruited by John Steigman who left RU to go to Penn because he always wanted to coach in the Ivy league. When Bateman was hired I wondered why in the hell anyone would hire a fat guy to be the head coach.
I went to all but two (@Bucknell + @Colgate) RU football games that most memorable 9-0 season.
In the final game vs. Columbia on November 25, we were behind 19-7 going into the 4th quarter, in which RU scored 25 unanswered points to win 32-19. Simply unforgettable!
That game was 60 years ago. 60 years before that was 1901!
In the final game vs. Columbia on November 25, we were behind 19-7 going into the 4th quarter, in which RU scored 25 unanswered points to win 32-19. Simply unforgettable!
That game was 60 years ago. 60 years before that was 1901!
Not 100% sure (and now I'll never know) it was 1961, but my Father very well may have been at the Columbia game with his Cub Scout Pack...
Just found this:
Just found this:
Old New Brunswick guy here, and was at the Columbia game, as well as attending other games that year. Hung out in a bar on Easton Ave,, and would see some of the players there, from the Fiji house. Played City League basketball against Frauenheim, and Curley.
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Sorry to admit that I wasn't going to RU FB Games during the early sixties.Was up to my ears with an HC friend of mine's H.S. FB team.They too played on Saturdays back then.Mea Culpa.
1961 was also the second year of Rutgers helmet decals (the earliest known school to use them). Rutgers led the nation in interceptions in 1961 and Frauenheim led the way individually with 7 picks.
Did Rutgers, not Ohio State, start helmet stickers in college football? Here's proof
Having Chris Schenkel announcing is pretty cool too!
Talk about old — 1961 was the first season after I graduated. I saw most of the games the previous four years. (You could drive same-day to most them.) But the Selective Service System had other plans for me in ‘61.
But if I remember correctly , RU beat Princeton in the season opener all four of my years on campus, the first time I think and an omen of good things to come the next year And all those games were at Princeton.
In the “times change” department — we always wore suits and ties to the games!
But if I remember correctly , RU beat Princeton in the season opener all four of my years on campus, the first time I think and an omen of good things to come the next year And all those games were at Princeton.
In the “times change” department — we always wore suits and ties to the games!
Good times there keywestRU. The games were almost always held at Princeton because Rutgers Stadium seated 23,500 (capacity could be expanded to 30,000+). The games were almost always more than that heading into the 1960s.
W - 9-27-1958 Rutgers 28 Princeton 0 Princeton, NJ Palmer Stadium 26,000
W - 9-26-1959 Rutgers 8 Princeton 6 Princeton, NJ Palmer Stadium 36,000
W - 9-24-1960 Rutgers 13 Princeton 8 Princeton, NJ Palmer Stadium 30,000
W - 9-30-1961 Rutgers 16 Princeton 13 Princeton, NJ Palmer Stadium 43,000
I was at a few of the games in 61 but do not remember anything about them. I was a 5 years old and my Dad always talked about the undefeated season. I finally could take him to another undefeated season when we went to Giants Stadium to see RU beat Colgate in 1976. I do remember running around the top part of the stadium and we would climb into the bushes in the corners and get yelled at.
Went to a couple games in ‘61. The Lehigh game and another (maybe Delaware). One was with my dad and one with the cub scouts. I had a Rutgers pendant that was on my wall as a kid—don’t know what happened to it. I actually liked the old stadium very much—small but fun and kind of cool.
Talk about old — 1961 was the first season after I graduated. I saw most of the games the previous four years. (You could drive same-day to most them.) But the Selective Service System had other plans for me in ‘61.
Even though we were locals, we always wore jacket, and tie to the Princeton, Ru game. In those days you could walk in with a 6 pact. Since the Columbia game was a sell out, some of us manage to become ushers for the game. We worked in jacket, and tie, with an arm band. In those days, even though the tickets were not that expensive, we took pride in getting in without paying
I wasn't born yet, but my Parents, Uncle & Cousin were at that Blizzard game up at Colgate in November
I would hear about it every year.
I would hear about it every year.
Re bringing in a six pack, I remember in the ‘70s and maybe early ‘80s coming in with a jug of screwdrivers on a regular basis. Different times for sure.
1961: The Gold Standard
I use this perspective all the time.
If I were to address the Montclair high school football team today and tell them about how we broke the Westfield winning streak at 50 games in 1973.
It would be the same as some old guy addressing our 73 team and telling us about a game in 1923.
However, in 1923 with leather helmets and no Facemasks it was a different game.
Our 73 team would beat the current one, and on film it looks like modern football
On my wall at home. Not a reproduction.
I'm only 50, it was given to me by another Rutgers collector who was downsizing.
I'm only 50, it was given to me by another Rutgers collector who was downsizing.
that 1961 team was a helliva team. Certainly top 4 in franchise history. The maris/mantle race was just watch every night on YES
RU lost all four games during my years, and they were all at Princeton! The nationally-televised 29-0 win 2 years after that last loss was sweet revenge!
I remember the excitement of the Columbia game well. It was the first college football game I had ever been to and the first time I was on the Rutgers campus. I was 15–ended up a freshman there 3 years later—4 years after that started grad school at the arch-enemy’s campus, but felt no guilt in cheering wildly in front of the TV the RU beat down of PU in 1969!
Two days after Rutgers completed its first undefeated season, more good news came in the November 27, 1961 Daily Home News, “Captain Alex Kroll of Rutgers is one of eight senior lineman named winners of the annual Scholar-Athlete Award by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame… The presentation will be made at the annual Awards Dinner of the foundation here (New York) Dec. 5 at which time President Kennedy will receive the Gold Medal Award. Kroll is a Phi Beta Kappa with an average of over 92 per cent in advanced English studies.”
Starting in 1958, the National Football Foundation began awarding a Gold Medal annually to individuals for excellence in the qualities of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and also those promoting amateur football. According to the November 3, 1961 Daily Home News, President John F. Kennedy would receive the fifth Gold Medal. “Kennedy is expected to attend the banquet with his brother Robert, former Harvard player and now the attorney general as well as a touch football aficionado, and Byron (Whizzer) White, former Colorado All-American halfback and now an assistant to Robert Kennedy.”
According to the December 6 edition, the affair was attended by that season’s undefeated football staff at Rutgers. In addition to former coach and current NFF executive director, Harvey Harman, other Rutgers attendees included President and Toastmaster Mason Gross; head coach John Bateman and assistants Dewey King, Matt Bolger, Warren Schmakel and Franks Burns; athletic director Albert Twitchell; trainer Hy Copleman; dentist Joel Fertig; and staffers Tom Kenneally, Bob Naso, Bob Ochs, Harry Rockafeller, Andy Sivess, Mike Stang and Les Unger. While Robert Kennedy didn’t attend due to illness, President John F. Kennedy noted in his speech, “It looks more and more as if our great national sport is not playing at all – but watching. We have become not a nation of athletes, but a nation of spectators. The result of the ‘spectation’ is all too visible in the physical condition of the population.”
Starting in 1958, the National Football Foundation began awarding a Gold Medal annually to individuals for excellence in the qualities of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and also those promoting amateur football. According to the November 3, 1961 Daily Home News, President John F. Kennedy would receive the fifth Gold Medal. “Kennedy is expected to attend the banquet with his brother Robert, former Harvard player and now the attorney general as well as a touch football aficionado, and Byron (Whizzer) White, former Colorado All-American halfback and now an assistant to Robert Kennedy.”
According to the December 6 edition, the affair was attended by that season’s undefeated football staff at Rutgers. In addition to former coach and current NFF executive director, Harvey Harman, other Rutgers attendees included President and Toastmaster Mason Gross; head coach John Bateman and assistants Dewey King, Matt Bolger, Warren Schmakel and Franks Burns; athletic director Albert Twitchell; trainer Hy Copleman; dentist Joel Fertig; and staffers Tom Kenneally, Bob Naso, Bob Ochs, Harry Rockafeller, Andy Sivess, Mike Stang and Les Unger. While Robert Kennedy didn’t attend due to illness, President John F. Kennedy noted in his speech, “It looks more and more as if our great national sport is not playing at all – but watching. We have become not a nation of athletes, but a nation of spectators. The result of the ‘spectation’ is all too visible in the physical condition of the population.”
Anthony Simonelli was a junior on this team starting at both offensive and defensive tackle. He went on to be the captain of the next year's team. After college, he became a physical education teacher in the Edison School District where he coached Football, Track & Field and Wrestling. As head football coach of J.P. Stevens High School, he won back-to-back state championships in 1984 and 1985. After he stopped coaching, Tony became the Athletics Director. Unfortunately, Coach Simonelli passed away during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Tony was lifelong avid fan of Rutgers Football. After he stopped coaching, I know he had season tickets and attended as many games as he could (health problems made it difficult as he got older). There isn't a person who grew up in north Edison that didn't have Tony Simonelli as a teacher or coach at some point in their life and I've never heard anyone ever say an unkind word about him.
J.P. Stevens' win over East Brunswick (27-26) in the 1984 State Championship game might be one of the biggest upsets in state history.
Tony was lifelong avid fan of Rutgers Football. After he stopped coaching, I know he had season tickets and attended as many games as he could (health problems made it difficult as he got older). There isn't a person who grew up in north Edison that didn't have Tony Simonelli as a teacher or coach at some point in their life and I've never heard anyone ever say an unkind word about him.
J.P. Stevens' win over East Brunswick (27-26) in the 1984 State Championship game might be one of the biggest upsets in state history.
I was a sophomore and was at that game and all the other home games as well as Princeton. Columbia had an outstanding qb, Archie Roberts. I think there was a long punt return by Dave(?) Brody, a former 150 pound team player, that helped to break the game open. The crowd was delirious at the end. It was pretty spectacular.
I subscribe to Central Jersey Historic newspapers ($26. Per 6 mos) it is a great source for reading old newspapers.
I remember my hs gf getting hammered on screwdrivers at a RU home game around that time.
Does anyone remember RU FB referring to Interceptions as “Jerichos” during that time frame?
In this article today is also team captain Alex Kroll's 2014 speech on members of the team. Quite a group of men on the field and in their life's works.
Thanks for sharing but I think he was wrong when he said their final ranking of #15 was the best ever before or SINCE. Did he not remember 2006? Also, love seeing RU62 mentioned in his speech.
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Yes, I saw that too. I think we can cut him a little slack for the hyperbole
when appreciating the larger picture that is/was the 1961 undefeated Rutgers Scarlet Knights.