Johnny Bright
No. 24 | ||
1954–1964 Edmonton Eskimos | | |
Career highlights and awards | ||
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CFL West All-Star | 6× (1952, 1957–1961) | |
Awards |
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Honors | ||
Retired #s | Drake Bulldogs No. 43 | |
Records |
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Career stats | ||
Rushing yards | 10,909 | |
Rushing average | 5.5 | |
Rushing touchdowns | 70 | |
Interceptions | 7 | |
John Dee Bright (June 11, 1930 – December 14, 1983) was an American professional
In 1951, Bright was named a first-team All-American, and was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Sportsmanship Award. In 1969, Bright was named Drake University's greatest football player of all time. Bright is the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (No. 43) retired by the school, and in June 2006, received honorable mention from ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel, as one of the best college football players to ever wear No. 43.[1] In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium was named in his honor.[2] In November 2006, Bright was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (No. 19) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.[3]
On October 20, 1951, Bright was the victim of an intentional, racially motivated, on-field assault by an opposing college football player from the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys that was captured in a widely disseminated and Pulitzer Prize-winning photo sequence, and eventually came to be known as the "Johnny Bright incident".
Early life
Born in
Bright was a three-sport (football, basketball, track and field) star at Fort Wayne's Central High School. Bright, who also was an accomplished softball pitcher and boxer, led Central High's football team to a City title in 1945, and helped the basketball team to two state tournament Final Four appearances.[5]
Beginning of college football career
Following his graduation from Central High in 1947, Bright initially accepted a football scholarship at Michigan State University, but, apparently unhappy with the direction of the Spartans football program, transferred to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he accepted a track and field scholarship, that allowed him to try out for the football and basketball squads.[4]: 52 [6] Bright eventually lettered in football, track, and basketball, during his collegiate career at Drake.[6]
Following a mandatory freshman
Bright's senior year began with great promise. Bright was considered a pre-season
"Johnny Bright Incident"
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Desmoines_register_johnny_bright_incident.jpg/220px-Desmoines_register_johnny_bright_incident.jpg)
Bright's participation as a halfback/quarterback in Drake's game against Oklahoma A&M on October 20, 1951, was controversial, as it marked the first time that such a prominent
During the first seven minutes of the game, Bright had been knocked unconscious three times by blows from Oklahoma A&M
A photographic sequence by
It had been an open secret before the game that A&M was planning to target Bright. Even though A&M had integrated two years earlier, the
When it became apparent that neither Oklahoma A&M nor the MVC would take any disciplinary action against Smith, Drake withdrew from the MVC in protest and stayed out until 1956 (though it didn't return for football until 1971). Fellow member Bradley University pulled out of the league as well in solidarity with Drake; while it returned for non-football sports in 1955, Bradley never played another down of football in the MVC (it dropped football in 1970).[12]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/John_D._Bright%2C_1952_Drake_University_Quax_yearbook_portrait.jpg/220px-John_D._Bright%2C_1952_Drake_University_Quax_yearbook_portrait.jpg)
The "Johnny Bright Incident", as it became widely known, eventually provoked changes in
Recalling the incident without apparent bitterness in a 1980 Des Moines Register interview three years before his death, Bright commented: "There's no way it couldn't have been racially motivated... . ..What I like about the whole deal now, and what I'm smug enough to say, is that getting a broken jaw has somehow made college athletics better. It made the NCAA take a hard look and clean up some things that were bad."[13]
Post-injury and end of college football career
Bright's jaw injury limited his effectiveness for the remainder of his senior season at Drake, but he finished his college career with 5,983 yards in total offense, averaging better than 236 yards per game in total offense, and scored 384 points in 25 games.[7] As a senior, Bright earned 70 percent of the yards Drake gained and scored 70 percent of the Bulldogs' points, despite missing the better part of the final three games of the season.[citation needed]
Following his final football season at Drake (1951), Bright was named a first-team
In 1969, Bright was named Drake University's greatest football player of all time. He is also the only Drake football player to have his jersey number (No. 43) retired by the school. In June 2006, Bright received honorable mention from ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel as one of the best college football players to ever wear No. 43.[1]
Professional football career
Bright was the first pick of the
I would have been their (the Eagles') first
Bright joined the Calgary Stampeders as a
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Johnny_bright_topps_card_1962.jpg/150px-Johnny_bright_topps_card_1962.jpg)
Though Bright played strictly defense as a linebacker in his first year with the Eskimos, he played both offense (as a fullback) and defense for two seasons (1955–1956), and played offense permanently after that (1957–
Bright was approached several times during his Canadian career by NFL teams about playing in the United States, but in the days before the large salaries of today's NFL players, it was common for CFL players such as him to have jobs in addition to football, and he had already started a teaching career in 1957, the year he moved his family to Edmonton.
I'd established a home and Canada had been good to me. I might have been interested, if the offers could have matched what I was making from both football and teaching.[15]
Bright retired in
Career regular season rushing statistics
Year | Team | Games | Rush | Yards | Average | Longest | Touchdowns |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | Calgary Stampeders | 13 | 144 | 815 | 5.7 | 75 | 2 |
1953 | Calgary Stampeders | 9 | 38 | 128 | 3.4 | 32 | 0 |
1954 | Calgary Stampeders | 1 | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | 14 | 0 |
1954 | Edmonton Eskimos |
11 | 37 | 184 | 5.0 | 12 | 0 |
1955 | Edmonton Eskimos |
12 | 107 | 643 | 6.0 | 34 | 2 |
1956 | Edmonton Eskimos |
9 | 93 | 573 | 6.2 | 22 | 4 |
1957 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 259 | 1679 | 6.5 | 27 | 16 |
1958 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 296 | 1722 | 5.8 | 90 | 8 |
1959 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 231 | 1340 | 5.8 | 53 | 11 |
1960 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 251 | 1268 | 5.1 | 28 | 14 |
1961 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 236 | 1350 | 5.7 | 81 | 11 |
1962 | Edmonton Eskimos |
11 | 142 | 650 | 4.6 | 23 | 2 |
1963 | Edmonton Eskimos |
13 | 83 | 324 | 3.9 | 15 | 0 |
1964 | Edmonton Eskimos |
16 | 44 | 203 | 4.6 | 16 | 0 |
Totals | 1969 | 10,909 | 5.5 | 90 | 70 |
Post-football career and death
Bright earned a
He became a Canadian citizen in 1962.[15]
Bright died of a massive heart attack on December 14, 1983, at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, while undergoing elective surgery to correct a knee injury suffered during his football career.[17] He was survived by his wife and four children.[6]
Bright is buried at
Legacy
Despite irrefutable evidence of the incident, Oklahoma A&M officials denied anything had happened. Indeed, Oklahoma A&M/State refused to make any further official comment on the incident for over half a century. This was the case even when Drake's former dean of men, Robert B. Kamm, became president of OSU in 1966; years later, he said that the determination to gloss over the affair was so strong that he knew he could not even discuss it. Finally, on September 28, 2005, Oklahoma State President David J. Schmidly wrote a letter to Drake President David Maxwell at Maxwell's request formally apologizing for the incident, calling it "an ugly mark on Oklahoma State University and college football." The apology came twenty-two years after Bright's death.[11][18]
In February 2006, the football field at Drake Stadium, in Des Moines, Iowa, was named in Bright's honor.[2]
In September 2010, Johnny Bright School, a
On September 1, 2020, Drake University announced the opening of a two year college at the university named the John Dee Bright College.[20]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Johnny Bright's Football Jersey Number Recognized". DrakeBulldogs.org. June 30, 2006. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2006.
- ^ a b "KCCI-TV8 Des Moines, Iowa – Drake Names Football Field After Johnny Bright: OSU Apologizes For Player's Actions". KCCI.com. February 23, 2006. Archived from the original on March 7, 2006. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ a b "TSN Top 50 CFL Players". TSN.ca. November 28, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-595-09704-3.
- ^ Sebring, Blake (December 1, 2009). "Go, Johnny, Go: Johnny Bright could do it all". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ a b c Turnbull, Buck (March 24, 1970). "Johnny Bright, Drake University, 1970". Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ a b c "2005 Drake Bulldogs Football Media Guide: The Legend of Johnny Bright – Drake's Greatest Football Player" (PDF). Drake University. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ a b Robinson, John; Don Ultang (October 21, 1951). "Bright's Jaw Broken, Drake Streak Ends, 27–14". Drake University Digital Collections. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ a b White, Maury (October 21, 1951). "Aggies Outlast Drake, 27–14". Drake University Digital Collections. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ Weber, Bruce. "Don Ultang, Pioneer in Aerial Photography, Dies at 91", The New York Times, September 27, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
- ^ a b Darcy, Bob (November 14, 2005). "Schmidly closes door on Johnny Bright disgrace". The Daily O'Collegian. Oklahoma State University. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
- ^ Moorhead, Jim (October 30, 1964). "1951 John Bright incident causes Drake withdrawal from MVC". Drake University Digital Collections. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ a b Hanson, Dave (November 13, 1980). "Bright not bitter: Blow helped clean up sports". Drake University Digital Collections. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ The Quax. Vol. 51. Des Moines: Clio Press, Economy Advertising Co./Drake University. 1952. p. 17. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Soutar, Ted. "CFL Legend: Johnny Bright". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ Podolsky, Mickey (November 1, 1963). "Johnny Bright All-Time Drake Great". Drake University Digital Collections. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
- ^ "Johnny Bright, A Star of Football in 1950's". The New York Times. December 16, 1983. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Witosky, Tom (February 23, 2006). "Drake will name field for Bright: Oklahoma State has apologized for a 1951 incident that injured the football player". Des Moines Register. Retrieved August 12, 2006.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Johnny Bright School Official Opening". Edmonton Public Schools. September 17, 2010. Archived from the original on October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
- ^ "New John Dee Bright College at Drake University to Offer Two-Year Degrees". Drake University Newsroom. September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
External links
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