"We Have Lost A Great Mustang"

[smuheritagehall]

From SMU Heritage Hall --

Former SMU tackle John Hamberger has passed away. John was a great lineman for the Mustangs on the 1947 and 1948 SWC Champions. John played high school football here in Dallas at Sunset High School in the early 1940ΓÇÖs. He then went to the University of Texas and played on the freshman team. WW II started and he enlisted in the Navy and served for four years. When he got out of the Navy he decided to enroll at SMU to be closer to his family. His first year back was the 1947 season where he joined the great Doak Walker. There were a lot of guys on that team who had just gotten out of the service who had also been playing some football while in the service. The Mustangs suddenly became a veteran team and the Mustangs soon caught the fancy of the nation. Don't forget these were the days when the guys played both ways, The Mustangs went undefeated and met Penn State in the January 1st, 1948 Cotton Bowl game . Things were a little different in those days and after the game was over both teams showered and headed to the SMU Campus and shared dinner together in the old Student Center. Penn State had an All-American guard by the name of Steve Suhey and SMU countered with All-American tailback Doak Walker. Doak finished 3rd. in the Heisman voting that year as a sophomore. John Hamberger made all SWC at tackle and helped clear the way for many of DoakΓÇÖs great runs.
John was a true gentleman and family man and loved SMU. Please pray for his family. He is a true Mustang.

Gerry York
SMU Heritage Hall

[BUS]

God's peace be with the family.

[Chesterton]

Thank you for sharing. Will be praying for his friends and family.

[Water Pony]

Thank you for sharing. He is part of a wonderful tradition he and his teammates helped create.

Pony Up has additional meaning!

[Nacho]

A Great Man.

[peruna81]

Praying for peace and comfort for his family...Godspeed, John.

[mustang addict]

He's a Great Mustang. I always look forward to seeing him and his son Steve at SMU games. Praying for this great SMU Family.

[mr. pony]

Still With Us
SMUΓÇÖs John Hamberger, A Rare Survivor Of 40s Mustang Glory
By Rick Atkinson, cusa-fans.com (2011)

UNIVERSITY PARK - In college, he blocked for Doak Walker and Tom Landry. He was an All-Southwest Conference tackle back when tackles blocked and tackled the whole game. He was an SMU Mustang during one of the schoolΓÇÖs greatest sports eras: two seasons, two titles, no league losses and back-to-back Cotton Bowl games for the only time in school history.

WeΓÇÖre talking 1947-48 and it was grand.

On Monday, in front of CiscoΓÇÖs Grill in Snider Plaza, near SMUΓÇÖs campus, John Hamberger relived much of it ΓÇô with humor and appreciation.

ΓÇ£I was just fortunate,ΓÇ¥ he said. ΓÇ£Played with Doak. Played with Tommy. What more can you ask?ΓÇ¥

Hamberger and the Mustangs played against TexasΓÇÖ Bobby Layne, BaylorΓÇÖs Adrian Burk and UCLAΓÇÖs Tom Fears. ΓÇ£They had good teams,ΓÇ¥ he said, ΓÇ£but we were able to beat them.ΓÇ¥

And at 86, Hamberger is still able to back the Mustangs.

He traveled to Hawaii in 2009 with son Steve to watch SMU play its first bowl game in 25 years. HeΓÇÖs also a regular at home basketball games, perched in Moody ColiseumΓÇÖs northwest corner.

Last Friday, Hamberger attended SMUΓÇÖs gala 100th anniversary celebration in front of Dallas Hall. He called the event ΓÇ£very positiveΓÇ¥ and marveled at the schoolΓÇÖs progress since 1911.

Hamberger should know. He has ties to SMU dating back to 1924, when his grandfather was professor on The Hilltop.

Today Hamberger lives in Irving with his wife of 62 years, Sarah, whom he met at SMU.

Street-Car Recruit

An all-state lineman for Dallas Sunset High in 1941, Hamberger attracted plenty of recruiting attention, though nothing like the hub-bub of today. When SMU coach Matty Bell called, Hamberger simply grabbed three cents and rode a street car out to the school.

Though Bell and SMU had won a national championship in ΓÇÖ35 and tied for the SWC title in ΓÇÖ40, Hamberger wasnΓÇÖt overly smitten with his visit.

When Texas came calling, he listened. Impressed with UTΓÇÖs new dormitory and other big school accoutrements, including loads of all-state players, Hamberger chose the Longhorns.

On that ΓÇÖ42 freshmen Shorthorn team was running back Tom Landry.

But World War II would interrupt HambergerΓÇÖs Texas career, eventually forever. Called into service in ΓÇÿ43, he served with a Navy amphibious unit communication team based out of Hawaii. His unit participated in D-Day-plus-1 action on Saipan and Okinawa.

When his tour ended in February ΓÇÖ46, Hamberger decided to stay closer to home and enrolled at SMU. He played for the Mustangs that fall.

ΓÇ£It turned out to be a pretty good deal,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger said.

Indeed. A year later, Doak Walker - back from his second military tour ΓÇô returned to SMU a sophomore.

ΓÇ£They were just kind of waiting on that,ΓÇ¥ said Gerry York of SMUΓÇÖs Heritage Hall, ΓÇ£because ΓÇÖ46 had been kind of a so-so year. All of sudden, things just gelled early in ΓÇÖ47.ΓÇ¥

Coach Bell had also hired offensive guru Rusty Russell from Highland Park High in ΓÇÖ45 to install the single-wing. By ΓÇÖ47, it was ready for takeoff.

ΓÇ£It had so many variations,ΓÇ¥ York said. ΓÇ£Guys were spinning around and handing off and taking direct snaps. It really kind of caught everybodyΓÇÖs imagination.ΓÇ¥

ΓÇÿGive it to him.ΓÇÖ

ΓÇ£Doak was just regular fella,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger recalled.

“We had an idea that when he called the play, something would happen. … His practice may not have been the best in the world, but it was there when the game came on.”

What was a favorite play for Walker? ΓÇ£Just give it to him,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger chuckled. ΓÇ£It didnΓÇÖt make any difference.ΓÇ¥

Walker led the team in seven statistical categories in ΓÇÖ47.

The Mustangs finished 9-0-2, tying TCU, 19-19, in the regular-season finale and Penn State, 13-all, in the Cotton Bowl.

Walker and Gil Johnson alternated at quarterback. JohnsonΓÇÖs specialty was passing.

ΓÇ£[SMU] went to the spread whenever Gil Johnson went in,ΓÇ¥ York said. ΓÇ£That was just another innovation of RustyΓÇÖs.ΓÇ¥

The usual starting backfield was Walker, Paul Page and [deleted] McKissack.

Defensively, the Mustangs kept it simple. Said Hamberger, ΓÇ£Goal-line defense, five-man front, six-man front - that was it.ΓÇ¥

More Cotton

In ΓÇÿ48, SMU lost only at Missouri, 20-14, and tied TCU again to end the regular season, this time, 7-7.

The Mustangs topped Oregon, 21-13, in ΓÇÖ49 Cotton Bowl.

Said York, ΓÇ£I think that ΓÇÖ47 and ΓÇÖ48 team really came together because, A) the guys had come back from the military, they were more mature - but that was true of a lot of Southwest Conference schools - and B) [Bell] hired Rusty to come in and plan his offense. I think thatΓÇÖs what put them over the top.ΓÇ¥

ΓÇ£And evidently,ΓÇ¥ he said, ΓÇ£from all the guys that IΓÇÖve ever talked to, they all highly respected Matty. They said Matty was not easy, but they
respected him and were willing to play their hearts out for him.ΓÇ¥

Hamberger noted that many of his teammates had come from winning programs: Walker from Highland Park, McKissack and Kyle Rote from San Antonio Jefferson. HambergerΓÇÖs Sunset Bisons were also winners.

ΓÇ£It carries over,ΓÇ¥ he said.

What about those two ties with TCU?

ΓÇ£[TCU coach] Dutch Meyer was a good motivator,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger said.

Plus, he added, TCUΓÇÖs double-wing offense posed problems.

ΓÇ£We used to be taught if youΓÇÖre a defensive lineman and your guard vacates his spot, turn to the inside because the ballΓÇÖs gonna come after him.ΓÇ¥

ΓÇ£[But] TCU, with the double-wing, they didnΓÇÖt come from the inside. TheyΓÇÖve got that blocking back coming from the outside - the ΓÇÿwrongΓÇÖ side. ItΓÇÖs entirely different.ΓÇ¥

“After the games, we’d say, ‘Hey, coach…’”

Rail Good Times

Hamberger said having alternating opposite-coast road trips to open the season was BellΓÇÖs idea. The team would board a train in Highland Park, with an attached special car for boosters, and head east or west.

And they didnΓÇÖt rush back.

After the ΓÇÖ46 game at Temple, the team spent a day visiting New York City. After Santa Clara in ΓÇÿ47, the Mustangs toured Los Angeles and stopped in El Paso before getting home. The return from Pittsburgh in ΓÇÖ48 was just as laid-back.

Said York, ΓÇ£Matty just kind of liked the guys to relax. They were always having team parties. At the end of the year, they always had a huge party out at Culwell Ranch.ΓÇ¥

Hamberger knows of only a handful of teammates still living. Zohn Milam, he said, who caught a tying-touchdown pass against TCU, is his most recent teammate to pass away.

Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in ΓÇÖ49, Hamberger was traded to Pittsburgh but cut before the season began.

Returning to Dallas, Doak WalkerΓÇÖs father, Dr. Ewell Walker, gave Hamberger his first post-NFL job: PE coach at the same Dallas elementary school Hamberger had attended.

Hamberger later followed Coach Russell to Shreiner College in Kerrville, Tex., where he served as RussellΓÇÖs line coach.

(Prior to Schreiner, Russell succeeded Bell at SMU in 1950. He was fired after three years with a 13-15-1 mark.)

When Russell left Schreiner, Hamberger became head coach and AD, coaching future NFL Pro-Bowl quarterback Charley Johnson along the way.

Later Hamberger coached at Grand Prairie and Irving High Schools before finishing his career in public education administration.

Trash Talk?

Some differences in todayΓÇÖs game, besides no leather helmets or one-platooning?

ΓÇ£We didnΓÇÖt have a lot of jawing going on,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger said. ΓÇ£We didnΓÇÖt have any flips or double-flips or diving into the end zone.ΓÇ¥

“[And] we used to block with our shoulder pads. Today … you stand up a grab.”

What was it like to block and tackle throughout a game?

ΓÇ£ThatΓÇÖs the way you were trained,ΓÇ¥ Hamberger said. ΓÇ£[At practice,] weΓÇÖd line up in front of the sand pit and weΓÇÖd have live-tackling. YouΓÇÖd live-tackle, hit the sand and get the sand in your pads. Then youΓÇÖd have a two-hour workout.ΓÇ¥

Offensively, he said, they scrimmaged little, but ran the plays over and over.

In ΓÇÖ48, the Cotton Bowl awarded participants wristwatches and commemorative blankets; the next year, pocket watches and blankets.

After the ΓÇÖ49 bowl, SMU gave its players diamond rings with cotton boll images on each side, marking each SWC title. Players also got some pocket-watch chain bling ΓÇô a three-quarter-inch gold football adorned with diamonds.

In early ΓÇÖ49, to make up for no post-season travel, SMU sent the team on a three-day Mexican vacation. They packed onto a DC-6 and flew to Mexico City, stayed one night, then bussed to Puerto Vallarta. The next day it was back to Mexico City and home.

Each player got $25 in expense money.

ΓÇ£You think it wasnΓÇÖt good times?ΓÇ¥ Hamberger laughed. ΓÇ£It was good times.ΓÇ¥

That March, Hamberger married Sarah at Highland Park Methodist Church on the SMU campus. School president Umphrey Lee presided.

Hamberger has a wedding photo of himself, Walker, Rote, McKissack, Johnson and Joe Ethridge. All six would sign NFL contracts.

Looking back on SMU days, Hamberger sums it up briefly.

ΓÇ£Just a good timeΓÇ¥, he said. ΓÇ£A good time.ΓÇ¥

ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs been a very good trip.ΓÇ¥

Notes:
*Doak Walker won the Heisman Trophy in 1948 and is SMUΓÇÖs only player to win it.
*1947 was the last full season played at SMUΓÇÖs Ownby Stadium until the post-death penalty return in ΓÇÿ89. The last game played at Ownby in ΓÇÖ48 before moving to the Cotton Bowl was a 41-6 win over Texas Tech, in the second game of the season.
*SMU won back-to-back SWC titles in 1981-82 but was not allowed to play in the Cotton Bowl after ΓÇÖ81 due to NCAA probation.
*Mustang great Raymond Berry played at Schreiner College in 1950, before transferring to SMU.
*Future SMU head coach Hayden Fry quarterbacked at Baylor from 1947-50.