“Dad used to get quite upset when people would come up to him and say, ‘Hello, Wrong Way,’ ” David said. Riegels rebounded to play an outstanding second half and outplayed Tech’s All-American center, Peter Pund, and the next season was voted captain of the California team, which finished with a 7-1-1 record.Įven though he was named All-American at center in his senior year, the memory of his wrong-way run haunted Riegels for years. Riegels, Cal’s All-Coast center, grabbed the bouncing ball, took a step toward the Tech goal line and then suddenly whirled around and headed for his own goal line. On the first play from scrimmage, Stumpy Thomason circled left end and when he was hit in the secondary by the Bears’ Benny Lom, the ball bounced loose. The game was scoreless early in the second quarter when Georgia Tech took over the ball on its 20. 1, 1929, they gave the old Golden Bear captain as loud a cheer of appreciation as any of the others received. He has a great deal of difficulty talking and he doesn’t remember a lot of things, but he really looked forward to coming back to Pasadena again for this day.”Īlthough the majority of those at the ceremony weren’t born when Riegels’ wrong-way run led to California’s 8-7 loss to Georgia Tech on Jan. “I haven’t seen him this excited in years. “This is a great day for Dad,” said his son, David, a Sacramento attorney who accepted the Hall of Fame trophy as his father sat nearby in a wheelchair. Riegels, now 83 and afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, was on hand Thursday when he and nine other college football personalities were inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. He had 28 interceptions in 73 career games, with the 49ers (1955-59), Pittsburgh Steelers (1960) and Dallas Cowboys (1961).Nearly 63 years have gone by since Roy Riegels scooped up a Georgia Tech fumble, spun around and ran 65 yards toward his own goal line, but that run by the California center who became known as Wrong Way Riegels remains the single most famous-or infamous-play in Rose Bowl history.
Lewis, a fullback and co-captain of that SEC championship-winning Alabama team, died in October 2014.Ī two-way player in college, Maegle was the 10th overall pick by San Francisco in the 1955 NFL draft and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie defensive back. The bench tackle was named the sports oddity of 1954 by writers who participated in an Associated Press year-end poll. Maegle equated the tackle to running down an alley when someone suddenly opened a door.
Lewis explained that he was “just too full of Alabama” to watch Maegle run for a touchdown.
That is still a single-game Rice record for rushing yards.īoth players later went on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and other national TV shows to talk about the play. Maegle also had TD runs of 79 and 34 yards to finish with 265 yards rushing on 11 carries in that Cotton Bowl. Lewis then ran back to the bench, and officials awarded Maegle a 95-yard touchdown run. After getting past Bart Starr, a defensive back and quarterback for the Tide, and the rest of the Alabama defenders, Maegle was near midfield when Tommy Lewis came off the bench and threw a blindside block that knocked him to the ground. In Rice's 28-6 win on New Year's Day 1954, Maegle took a handoff from the Owls 5 and went around the right end. He was 86.Īfter leaving Rice, and playing with three teams over seven NFL seasons, he changed the spelling of his last name to the phonetically correct Maegle instead of Moegle. Rice University and the National Football Foundation said Tuesday that Maegle passed away Sunday. HOUSTON - Dicky Maegle, the Rice running back tackled in the 1954 Cotton Bowl by an Alabama player who came off the bench in one of the most legendary plays in college football history, has died.