1953 William & Mary Indians football team
The 1953 William & Mary Indians football team represented William & Mary during the 1953 college football season. The team is considered, within the school's community, to be one of the most remarkable stories in its athletics history.[1] Due to an academic cheating scandal (coincidentally unrelated to the 1951 scandal), eight of the team's starting members were dismissed from school and another portion of the remaining 33 players transferred out.[1] Among the 24 remaining players, five were returning Korean War veterans and one other had never played a minute of football in his life.[1] Many of them were undersized (the quarterback stood 5′8″ and weighed 160 pounds) and even the coaching staff was few in numbers (five total, one of them being the head basketball coach).
| 1953 William & Mary Indians football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Southern Conference |
| 1953 record | 5–4–1 (3–2 SoCon) |
| Head coach | Jack Freeman (1st year) |
| Home stadium | Cary Field |
| 1953 Southern Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 West Virginia $ | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Furman | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| George Washington | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William & Mary | 3 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richmond | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VPI | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VMI | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington and Lee | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Citadel | 1 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Davidson | 0 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Their schedule was so tough that opposing teams would call ahead to make sure that William & Mary still intended on playing them the following week.[1] Remarkably, the Indians started the season 5–2–1 and the only reason they finished with a 5–4–1 overall record was due to accumulating injuries with few available substitutions.[1] Six of the players would go on to play professional football.[1] Their story of grit and determination in the face of overwhelming odds was later written about in a book titled The Iron Indians.[1]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 19 | vs. Wake Forest* | W 16–14 | |
| September 26 | at Navy* | T 6–6 | |
| October 3 | at Cincinnati* | L 7–57 | |
| October 17 | VPI |
| W 13–7 |
| October 24 | George Washington |
| W 12–7 |
| October 31 | at NC State* | W 7–6 | |
| November 7 | vs. VMI | Roanoke, Virginia (Rivalry) | L 19–20 |
| November 14 | at Richmond |
| W 21–0 |
| November 21 | Washington and Lee |
| L 7–33 |
| November 28 | Boston University* |
| L 14–41 |
| |||
NFL Draft selections
| = Pro Football Hall of Fame | = Canadian Football Hall of Fame | = College Football Hall of Fame |
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | 3 | 12 | 37 | Bill Bowman | Detroit Lions | Back |
| 1954 | 5 | 12 | 61 | George Parozzo | Detroit Lions | Tackle |
| 1954 | 19 | 1 | 218 | Jerry Sazio | Chicago Cardinals | Tackle |
| 1954 | 22 | 5 | 258 | Charlie Sumner | Chicago Bears | Back |
References
- Ducibella, Jim (September 30, 2011). ""Iron Indians" recalls a season of grit, determination". The College of William & Mary. Retrieved June 26, 2012.