This Week in Michigan Football History shares a tale of shenanigans by Spartan fans ahead of the 1949 game. One prank succeeded (defacing the Michigan Stadium field and pressbox), but the second, more elaborate plot was foiled. Here's the story! This week we share a story from the final days of the 1979 recruiting period as we tried to land AC. We conclude, naturally, a few months later when Bo Schembechler's men faced Lee Corso's Indiana Hoosiers with Bob Ufer on the call. Dig it:
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Golden Forty Seven
Saturday night I had dinner with some friends at the Sheraton in Ann Arbor. In the bar I spotted a group of folks donning black and gold #47 jerseys and was puzzled. Was it a group of Oosterbaan family members? I’m thinking Bennie O’s godson Bennie McCready would have given me a heads up if that were the case, right Bennie?. Maybe it was Jake Ryan’s crew? Again I was thinking probably not, and if so, why would they wear throwback-ish jerseys? So I walked over. It turns out they were wearing the #47 in honor of Dr. Gerald Drake, a former Michigan State football player from the late 1930s. Oh, and the kicker: the 95-year old Dr. Drake was there with them! Photo inset are the Drakes: Chuck, Molly, Gerald, Donna, Dan & Doug. Naturally I hustled over & chatted with him. What a great man. I asked him how he ended up playing football at State. “My dad played football at [M.A.C.] in the class of aught three,” Drake told me. “It wasn’t intercollegiate football; it was class team football. They beat each other up without headgear on the banks of the Red Cedar.” He shared that he was a fullback at East Lansing High School and also ran track. Freshmen back then didn’t play on the varsity…
