American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. On the evening of August 8, 1932, seniors from three Western universities ( Cal,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

) were matched against those from the East Coast's " Big Three" (

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

). In front of 60,000 spectators at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

, the West team won by a score of 7–6. All-American Gaius "Gus" Shaver from USC was the captain of the West team and the game's leading rusher with 145 yards on 16 attempts. The football game at the 1932 Summer Olympics, combined with a similar demonstration game at

1933 World's Fair A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

, led to the

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

which was an important factor in the growth of

professional football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Origins

The game was originally proposed by organizers as an "intersectional" match-up between the defending

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

, University of Southern California, on the West Coast and East Coast stalwarts, Yale University. USC coach/former Yale coach Howard Jones delivered a confidential proposal from the President of the Organizing Committee for the 1932 Summer Olympics,

William May Garland William May Garland (March 31, 1866 – September 26, 1948) was the son of Jonathan May Garland and Rebecca Heagan Jewett. His real estate company contributed greatly to the growth of Los Angeles in the years before and after 1900, and he was re ...

, to the President of Yale University,

James Rowland Angell James Rowland Angell (; May 8, 1869 – March 4, 1949) was an American psychologist and educator who served as the 16th President of Yale University between 1921 and 1937. His father, James Burrill Angell (1829–1916), was president of the Un ...

, inviting Yale to play in the game. On the heels of the 1929 Carnegie Report which decried various aspects of professionalism within

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 ...

, Angell reluctantly turned down the invitation. Although unable to secure a USC/Yale match-up and determined that football be a demonstration sport, the organizers "settled" on a game consisting of all-stars who would have graduated by the Olympic games.

Game summary

The game was scoreless until early in the fourth quarter. When a

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

attempt by the East fell short, Shaver and another player from the West muffed the ball in an attempt to pick it up. According to various reports, Burton Strange from the East either carried the loose ball across the goal line or simply fell on it in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

to give his team a 6–0 lead. Eddie Mays' extra point kick was blocked. With three minutes left in the game, Shaver scored over the

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

to tie the game at 6–6, and Ed Kirwan's conversion put the West in the lead for good.

Participants

Like the other Olympic athletes, players for both teams lived in the

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

. The starters for the West team consisted of six USC players, star halfback Rudy Rintala and two others from Stanford, and two from California. The starting line-up for the East team was four players from Harvard and seven from Yale. A number of

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

rs elected not to play in the game. All-American Albie Booth of Yale as well as

Erny Pinckert William Ernest Pinckert (May 1, 1907 – August 30, 1977) was an American football halfback. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) under head coach Howard Jones. Pinckert played professionally in the Nationa ...

and All-American Johnny Baker of USC decided not to play when offered paying jobs in Hollywood. Barry Wood of Harvard, another All-American, was also selected to play in the demonstration, however, he reportedly declined in order to concentrate on his studies.

Rosters

West

East

Notes

References

{{EventsAt1932SummerOlympics 1932 in American football History of American football Olympics 1932 Discontinued sports at the Summer Olympics Olympic demonstration sports Men's events at the 1932 Summer Olympics