One of the great things about talking about Michigan football history is that I find often the story tends to evolve after the initial post, tweet or article. The boys at Stunt3 Multimedia know this well, and here’s another example.
They’ve been showing the latest cut of their fine documentary Black and Blue around the country and talking to many folks along the way. I recently interviewed director Brian Kruger from Stunt3 (check out the full interview in the next issue of GoBlueWolverine Mag) and he talked about a great discovery:
“A few weeks ago a woman called me. She said her father was John Regeczi, who played on the teams with Gerald Ford and Willis Ward, those three years. She was very excited about that and she was telling me some stories. After about ten minutes I figured the conversation would wind down, but then she said, ‘Oh, and by the way, we have the game ball.’ [laughs] I was like, ‘What?!’.”
Indeed it appears as thought the game ball to the controversial 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech game exists. Brian told me the owner, who lives in California, was kind enough to take a few pics of the ball and send them over to Kruger, who in turn relayed a couple to me. Check it out:
And I thought my ticket stub from the game was cool.
On top of it having the score, it appears to be signed by many of the players. Is Ford’s signature on there? How about Ward? It’s tough to tell from the photos so Kruger is going to travel to California to get a better look. I can’t wait to hear.
Spreading the Story
I’m obviously a big fan of what these guys are doing. One of their initiatives is to get a copy of the documentary, along with supporting educational materials and teaching aids, into every school in Michigan. Stunt3 is currently looking for a donor (company or individual) to get a copy in every school in Washtenaw County. Are you interested? Shoot me a note, I’ll point you in the right direction.
Related: First Look: Black and Blue—Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Georgia Tech Game
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4 Comments
Todd
“I can”t wait to here” – hear
John U. Bacon
Good stuff, Greg, as usual.
A tip of the cap to Mike Dubin, Director of Development in the School of Education, who told me about this, and gave me the contact information, which I sent on to the great filmmakers.
And no, neither Ford nor Ward signed the ball — which, given the events, does not surprise me.
-JUB
DDMich
Excellent article & game ball photo. Us hard core Michigan Football Collectors always wonder what is out there in ex-UofM player basements, trunks, attics, garages and storage sheds ?? Coming across the next “find” at a flea market or garage sale is always the dream. I was talking with Alvin Wistert one time on the phone and asked him if he might have an old #11 jersey in the closet or game ball in the garage from his playing days, he said “Are you kidding, Fritz ran the roost in those days and NOTHING left the locker room or equipment room…”. Howard Yerges did pass on to me in the late-90’s a piece of the wooden goalpost from the 1948 Rose Bowl and a dried up football signed by members of the Great Mad Magicians 1947 Team… This Georgia Tech game ball is amazing.
mike
The guys from stunt3 did a great job with the video. Had a chance to check out the video in class at EMU and was very impressed. i know a lot of people are unaware of this story which seems like a problem. This is a big part of history check it out.