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Keep the history alive! |
Back in the day, college football had its beginning on November 6, 1869, when Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University) matched up at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey to play the first game. Twenty five years later, it found its way to Fayetteville with the formation of the Cardinals under a full time Latin professor and part time coach John Clinton Futrall.
Their first season consisted of playing Fort Smith High School in two games (winning both 42-0 and 38-0) and traveling on Monday, November 26 by train to play the Longhorns of the University of Texas in Austin. Having won their first two games by large margins, the Cardinals surely felt that they would be as lucky in this game. However, their luck had run out as they lost before a crowd of 1,500 who paid a total of $700 to watch Arkansas go down in defeat by a score of 54-0. Luckily there were few Cardinal fans present. Thus was born one of the greatest rivalries in college football.
The Arkansas-Texas rivalry had grown from the beginning season and culminated at its peak on December 6th of the 100th year of college football. When #1 Texas would again play #2 Arkansas in the "Game of the Century" (15-14 loss). No one on that first team would ever imagine a matchup like this one.
This month I received a comment from Paul Campbell who is the great nephew of LeRoy (corrected by Paul to be Lee Roy) Campbell. Campbell was a tackle and one of the original 14 Cardinals in 1894. From this email I decided that this would be a good hawg-tales and so now I'm going to pass along some of the GOLDEN information with you that he shared with me.
Campbell was born in Van Buren on December 6, 1874 (significant month and day in Hog football history) and died 92 years later on July 31, 1966, in Sikeston, MO as the last living member of the 1894 team. Had he lived for three more years he would have celebrated his birthday on the 100th year of college football, #1 playing #2 in the "Game of the Century" with Arkansas versus Texas, and the longest living member of the original 14.
One of Lee Roy’s grandchildren wrote this football-related comment for the family history:
“When I was about 8 years old, I went with my parents, Granny, and Grandad to Fayetteville for a University of Arkansas Homecoming. Grandad was the last survivor of the first football team U of A had in 1894. He was honored at half-time and given a white letter sweater with a large red "A" on the front. He said in 1894 Arkansas played Texas and they nearly killed them. Grandad got a broken nose, ribs, and a toe. He said those Texas boys were really mean (laughingly).”
Their first season consisted of playing Fort Smith High School in two games (winning both 42-0 and 38-0) and traveling on Monday, November 26 by train to play the Longhorns of the University of Texas in Austin. Having won their first two games by large margins, the Cardinals surely felt that they would be as lucky in this game. However, their luck had run out as they lost before a crowd of 1,500 who paid a total of $700 to watch Arkansas go down in defeat by a score of 54-0. Luckily there were few Cardinal fans present. Thus was born one of the greatest rivalries in college football.
The Arkansas-Texas rivalry had grown from the beginning season and culminated at its peak on December 6th of the 100th year of college football. When #1 Texas would again play #2 Arkansas in the "Game of the Century" (15-14 loss). No one on that first team would ever imagine a matchup like this one.
This month I received a comment from Paul Campbell who is the great nephew of LeRoy (corrected by Paul to be Lee Roy) Campbell. Campbell was a tackle and one of the original 14 Cardinals in 1894. From this email I decided that this would be a good hawg-tales and so now I'm going to pass along some of the GOLDEN information with you that he shared with me.
Campbell was born in Van Buren on December 6, 1874 (significant month and day in Hog football history) and died 92 years later on July 31, 1966, in Sikeston, MO as the last living member of the 1894 team. Had he lived for three more years he would have celebrated his birthday on the 100th year of college football, #1 playing #2 in the "Game of the Century" with Arkansas versus Texas, and the longest living member of the original 14.
One of Lee Roy’s grandchildren wrote this football-related comment for the family history:
“When I was about 8 years old, I went with my parents, Granny, and Grandad to Fayetteville for a University of Arkansas Homecoming. Grandad was the last survivor of the first football team U of A had in 1894. He was honored at half-time and given a white letter sweater with a large red "A" on the front. He said in 1894 Arkansas played Texas and they nearly killed them. Grandad got a broken nose, ribs, and a toe. He said those Texas boys were really mean (laughingly).”
Sadly, Campbell is not listed on the roster of the 1896 football team picture. However, the University has indicated that the 1896 team picture is the earliest one that they have for the football program.There are no pictures for the 1894 or 1895 teams.
"...the last living member of the 1894 team."
Click to enlarge
As best as I can determine, Campbell may have graduated in the 1895 class, which by the way, is missing from Senior Walk. However, he is listed on the 1894 team roster, but not on the 1895 team which leads me to believe that he may have graduated in the spring of 1895. Because of this, I was not able to get a picture of him since the earliest Cardinal yearbook that the University has is the 1897 issue. Although he only played for one year, Campbell was a very significant part of the team that became the foundation of what is now the present day football program. Thanks, Paul for leading me down this path!
Join us next month, as we once again recall tales of the games, players, and coaches from the past.
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