The 1950 Senior Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

exhibition game featuring players from the

1949 college football season The 1949 college football season finished with four teams that were unbeaten and untied-- Notre Dame, Oklahoma, California, and Army had won all their games at season's end. Notre Dame, however, was the overwhelming choice for national champion ...

and prospects in the 1950 NFL Draft. The inaugural edition of the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

was played on January 7, 1950, at

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jac ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. The teams were coached by personnel from the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL);

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-tim ...

of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

for the North, and Steve Owen of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

for the South. The game was broadcast on the

Mutual Radio Network The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. rad ...

. After the North took an early 13–0 lead, the South came from behind for a 22–13 victory. South quarterback

Travis Tidwell Travis Vaughn Tidwell (February 5, 1929 – July 1, 2004) was an American football player and coach. Tidwell played high school football for Woodlawn High School. He played college football at Auburn University and then in the National Footbal ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

completed 13 of 19 passes for 246 yards and was named game MVP. The day after the game, it was announced that eight players from the

Southwestern Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

(SWC) who had participated in the game would lose their

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s; although each had completed their college sports career, they had not yet completed their college studies. The SWC schools ended the players' scholarships because they had accepted payment for appearing in the Senior Bowl, with each of the 26 players on the winning team receiving $475 and each of the 24 players on the losing team receiving $343, coming from 60 percent of the ticket sales. While the players accepted payment knowing that their scholarships could be ended, Senior Bowl organizer Jimmy Pearre pointed out that the colleges "have made millions off these players". The players and their college teams were: *

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

: Theron Roberts * Baylor: J. D. Ison, Rupert Wright * SMU:

Jack Halliday Jack Parker Halliday (June 5, 1928 – May 23, 2000) was an American football tackle who played one season with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the fifth round of the 1950 NFL D ...

Dick McKissack James Richard McKissack (February 10, 1926 – August 28, 1982) was a professional American football player and later a politician. Born in San Antonio, Texas, McKissack played college football for Southern Methodist University. He was draf ...

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

: Ray Borneman, Paul Campbell This would prove to be the only edition of the Senior Bowl played in Jacksonville, as the game moved to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, in 1951 and has remained there since. In 1994, Gator Bowl Stadium was closed and demolished; it was replaced with Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, now known as

TIAA Bank Field TIAA Bank Field is an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida, that primarily serves as the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and the headquarters of the professional wrestling prom ...

Game summary

References

Further reading