Bill Text: MS SC597 | 2013 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognize 1962 Ole Miss Football Team on 50th Anniversary of National Championship.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2013-03-25 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC597 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-SC597-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Burton, Tollison, Watson, McDaniel, Parks, Hopson, Blount, Butler (38th), Fillingane, Jackson (11th), Kirby, Stone, Jackson (32nd)
Senate Concurrent Resolution 597
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE 1962 OLE MISS REBELS FOOTBALL TEAM ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON.
WHEREAS, the 1962 Ole Miss Rebels Football Team certainly has a lot to celebrate. Coached by the legendary Johnny Vaught, the 1962 team not only claimed a 10-0 season, they also brought home an SEC crown and a national championship title, defeating Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl 17-13; and
WHEREAS, the Rebels 1962 Team was awarded the National Championship by the Billingsley Report, Litkenhouse and Sagarin Ratings; and
WHEREAS, the Rebels 1962 Team also holds the honor of being the only football team in Ole Miss history to complete the season untied and undefeated. For his efforts, Coach Vaught was named SEC Coach of the Year for the 6th time that same year; and
WHEREAS, Glynn Griffing and Louis Guy both served as Co-Captains of the 1962 Ole Miss Rebels; and
WHEREAS, the team held its 50-year reunion September 14-15, 2012, at The Inn at Ole Miss; and
WHEREAS, members of the undefeated and untied Ole Miss Football Team of 1962 recalled their triumphs during an open-panel discussion with ESPN Writer Wright Thompson in the Overby Center; and
WHEREAS, the Rebels' undefeated season was set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement taking place on their own campus as James Meredith, aided by the United States government, was attempting to be the first black student to enroll at the university. In spite of the school's near self-destruction over integration, the team managed the most remarkable season seen in Oxford before or since. It was the team that made a generation of Mississippians love football. It was also an under-reported team, just a quick story here and there; and
WHEREAS, the 1962 Ole Miss Rebels Football Team Roster was: No. 72 Walter P. (Bo) Aldridge, Right Tackle; No. 16 Robert C. (Bobby) Boyd, Quarterback; No. 80 Allen Brown, Left End; No. 88 William L. (Billy) Champion, Left End; No. 20 William F. (Buddy) Crosby, Wingback; No. 89 Willis N. (Woody) Dabbs, Right End; No. 81 Curtis Reed Davis, Left End; No. 71 William. J. (Joe) Dean, Left Tackle; No. 67 Donald Dickson, Right Guard; No. 50 Kenneth D. (Kenny) Dill, Center; No. 78 James K. (Jim) Dunaway, Right Tackle; No. 10 Perry Lee Dunn, Fullback, Outside Linebacker; No. 25 Dave Finley, Tailback, Outside Linebacker Tailback; No. 70 Cecil A. Ford, Right Tackle; No. 15 Glynn Griffing, Quarterback; No. 32 Louis Guy, Wingback; No. 73 William Whaley Hall, Left Tackle; No. 19 James B. Heidel, Quarterback; No. 30 A.J. Holloway, Wingback; No. 87 Billy Carl Irwin, Left End; No. 21 David Sullivan Jennings, Tailback; No. 33 Larry Leo Johnson, Wingback; No. 61 Fred T. Kimbrell, Jr., Left Guard; No. 44 Frank M. Kinard, Jr., Fullback; No. 90 Frank Lambert, Punter, Left End; No. 83 Lewis R. Lanter, Right End; No. 69 Thomas Edwin Lucas, Right Guard; No. 64 Rodney Mattina, Left Guard; No. 23 Charles A. Morris, Tailback; Hugh Murray; No. 60 Sam Walton Owen, Left Guard; No. 84 Thomas J. (Joe) Petty, Left End; Travis Powell; No. 41 George M. (Buck) Randall, Fullback; No. 42 Fred F. Roberts, Jr., Fullback; No. 76 James B. Roberts, Left Tackle; No. 68 Bobby Dewitt Robinson, Left Guard; No. 54 Richard D. Ross, Center; No. 22 Thomas Larry Smith, Wing back; No. 86 Louie Wesley Sullivan, Right End; No. 24 William W. (Billy) Sumrall, Tailback; No. 36 James M. (Mitch) Terrell, Tailback; No. 43 Douglas W. Tillery, Fullback; No. 75 George Tupman, Left Tackle; No. 52 Robert K. Upchurch, Center; No. 12 James D. (Jimmy) Weatherly, Quarterback; No. 82 Joseph T. Wilkins III, Right End; and No. 65 Donald W. Windham, Right Guard; Coaches: Johnny Vaught, Head Coach; Johnny Cain, Quarterbacks Coach, Running Backs Coach; Eddie Crawford, Assistant Coach; Roland Dale, Wide Receivers Coach, Tight Ends Coach, Linebackers Coach; J.W. (Wobble) Davidson, Assistant Coach; Junie Hovious, Secondary Coach; Frank (Bruiser) Kinard, Offensive Line Coach; Jim (Buster) Poole, Defensive Line Coach; Ray Poole, Assistant Coach; and Tom Swayze, Assistant Coach; and
WHEREAS, Johnny Vaught, a Line Coach under Head Coach Harold (Red) Drew and a former All-American Guard at Texas Christian University, remained in Oxford as Head Coach in 1947 and led the Ole Miss program to national prominence over the next 24 years. Vaught's squads, however, didn't stop at just winning league titles, as the Rebels claimed a share of 3 National Championships in 1959, 1960 and 1962. Under Vaught's guidance, Ole Miss made Hemingway Stadium (later named Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) one of the toughest places in the nation for opposing teams to play. In his 24 seasons at the helm, Vaught's teams compiled an impressive 57-6-2 record in Oxford for an astounding 89.2 winning percentage. From 1952-1964, the Rebels put together an incredible 34-game homefield unbeaten streak (33-0-1), including 21-straight victories from 1952-1959; and
WHEREAS, it is historically relevant that we honor the members of this great 1962 team, who played a role in alleviating the events that took place on the Ole Miss Campus and throughout Mississippi, and who symbolize the pride that Ole Miss fans take in the school's football program to this day:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby pay tribute to the members of the 1962 Ole Miss Rebels Football Team on the 50th Anniversary of their National Championship Season and extend the best wishes of the Legislature to these players and coaches and their families on this occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to representatives of the 1962 Ole Miss Football Team, transmitted to the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
