12/03/24
October 13, 2014
Infamous College Tackler Tommy Lewis Dies: The former Alabama player who made one of the most infamous tackles in college football history has died. At the 1954 Cotton Bowl, Rice halfback Dicky Maegle had broken free on a run likely to end in a 95-yard touchdown when Tommy Lewis left the sideline and tackled him near midfield. The officials awarded Maegle the touchdown. Lewis, who would be invited with Maegle to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show two days later, explained, "I was just so full of Alabama, and I couldn't stand to see him make another touchdown. I lost my composure and tackled him."
Lewis said in a 2004 interview he'd suffered lifelong grief and embarrassment over the tackle. But the preceding September he was honored in a pregame ceremony before an Alabama game.
"I took off out on the field and the place erupted," he said. "They brought the house down. It was one of the biggest, happiest moments of my life, being asked to do that."
I wonder if Jeffrey Maier will be similarly honoured at a Yankees game in 2056.