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The Iron Bowl that nearly ended all Iron Bowls was a mess. There were reports of street fighting, bloodshed in the stadium and many, many angry fans across the state. One observer described the intervention as "pretentious" and did not refer to local Black Friday shopping. Witnesses testified that chaos and all was over, a draw.
At least that is how some people remember it.
Alabama and Auburn were paralyzed in 1907, but everyone could hear about the location (Birmingham) and the final score (6-6). All this debauchery? Well, there were other observers, other eyewitnesses, including players on both sides, who denied it, claiming that it was an excuse to terminate the often lively rivalry.
Some say that it is the seemingly mediocre behavior of the fans that led to a blockade of the series that will last until 1948 despite repeated attempts at government intervention. Others say it was about a seemingly minor disagreement about the daily allowance of each team. Another contingent, expressed here in a letter from the AU Director of Athletics, B.L. Noojin in 1944, stated that this was due to an interpretation of the rulebook.
"It probably had its debut in Auburn's objection to the lag games -" two-step university "- that Dr. [J.W.H] Pollard … used in his football formations and which according to Auburn was still "out of the game", "Noojin wrote to AB Moore, president of the Athletics faculty." These pieces, ahead of their day, were only the precursor to the many bends employed today and were allowed by some officials and penalized by others. If I remember correctly, the inability to agree on officials – rare at the time – was at the heart of the "split." "
Whatever the reason, Noojin was fine with the divorce that resulted. In writing to Moore, he wondered if Governor Chauncey Sparks knew what he was doing to lobby for the return of the match. He warned of "reopening this & # 39; Pandora's Box & # 39;" and hoped that Sparks would see the mistake by "jumping out the window just to have a breath of fresh air".
This letter is one of the many archives of the Alabama Special Collections Library. ESPN reviewed the correspondence of former university presidents and sports directors to better understand the inner workings of a rivalry maintained for 40 years, despite repeated calls from ordinary citizens, motions drafted by various clubs and chambers of commerce Kiwanis and maneuvers of businessmen. and political leaders. Why the Ensley Real Estate Board has felt compelled to adopt a resolution in favor of the resumption of the series, no one knows it. But it was there, mixed with the papers of Alabama's president, George Denny.
In all the state, in the basement of the Auburn Library, is a folder titled "AU-AU Controversy, 1940-47". It is more than an inch thick and contains everything from negotiations between the two schools to a poem written by CC Scarborough making fun of Alabama by dodging an invitation to play football, which the President Luther Duncan, of the AU, described as "interesting, ingenious and appropriate". There was even a parody song written on the air of "I worked on the railroad".
"We firmly believe that if relations in football were renewed (…), we would find ourselves in a more subtle but equally damaging situation that football would tend to become the subject of the year in both institutions. . "
President Auburn Spright Dowell, 1920-28
But what they fail to mention is the way Auburn and its president, Spright Dowell, pushed back an opening in Alabama a few decades earlier to renew the series.
"We firmly believe that if relations in football were renewed, even if we could not go back to the old bitterness and old practices, we would end up in a more subtle but equally damaging situation that football would tend to become. about all year at a time.institutions, "Dowell said.
Dowell spoke of a "growing spirit of goodwill" between schools. There was so much good will that he hoped that one day, Alabama and Auburn would "shoot each other".
If the game was restored, Kevin Ray, Assistant Institutional Archives of UA, said: "There was a real fear of bad things."
Each turn of the book was used to bring together Auburn and Alabama. In 1930, there was a move to make the Iron Bowl a playoff game, the profits being donated to charity. The Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation wanted to participate. The American Legion also. The Native Sons of Birmingham, fearing the consequences of the stock market crash a year earlier, demanded that the estimated $ 75,000 be used for the unemployed.
"We challenge you, in the name of humanity, to accept this invitation," wrote the Native Sons. "There can be no sufficient REASON to justify your refusal.Your acceptance will be worth to the University of Alabama a place at the heart of every Alabamian.Your refusal COULD AND SHOULD be synonymous with a irreparable loss for you and for the University – that of the good will and future support of the citizens of Alabama, and more particularly the citizens of Birmingham. "
Denny gave his answer to the ink at the top of the letter. It would not be practical, he wrote, to "satisfy your request".
The Lions Club wrote. A member of an Alabama alumni chapter did the same and, with a wink and a nod, appealed to the political aspirations of Denny.
The President of Alabama, Raymond Paty, told a member of the school board that they would be "under no pressure". We have seen that Alabama had ignored Auburn's openings and that he had "lost a considerable face," he writes.
There were rumors of all this being concocted by the Birmingham News in collaboration with leading Auburn officials. Gessner McCorvey, a prominent lawyer and Alabama BOT member, told Paty about dozens of people offering the game. "Some of them even went so far as to say we were acting like babies and feared to be beaten, "he wrote. "Auburn, of course, will encourage that thought."
When Sparks, who served as governor of the state from 1943 to 1947, was involved, this prompted a study by the AU Sports Committee. The six-page report details the effects of rivalry between states in neighboring states. He referred to "unfortunate incidents" and contained a blind reference to a "death arising from the annual football match between two well-known colleges".
The report endorsed Dowell's statements in 1923 and raised additional objections, including the possibility of increased recruitment and the "inevitable transmission of unhealthy rumors and stories about how one or more the other institution procured this or that actor in the state ". Keeping or attracting a coach would prove more difficult, he said, and "the tough football competitions between the two institutions would inevitably strengthen the spirit of rivalry that united them at every stage of their lives." and their relationships ".
In the end, the answer was no.
Doyle Buckles, justified, then sent Paty a message from one line: "You remember what our critics had to say about the fine example of the Georgia Georgia Tech relationship that called for the resumption of sports relationships. between Alabama and Auburn? " The AU administrator had attached a newspaper clipping detailing an alleged "open conflict" between supporters of the UGA and the WG that had begun when students had attempted to burn a coffin representing the "Georgia Tech Corps" and it was over with 500 people "cutting their hair and also performing belligerent acts".
Moore told McCorvey that he was expecting the "unpopular" reaction of their report.
"Therefore," wrote Moore, "it took courage, if I say it, to do what we did. [Auburn president Luther Duncan] do not want to see both institutions play football, but believing that we would not accept to play, he put us behind the ball eight. We understood the situation and could easily have come out in the clear, but that would have been a cowardly and unfaithful act.
"In this sad hour" – World War II – "when our boys are dying on the seven seas and on the battlefields of the entire world … the state press is seriously discussing the question of whether Auburn and the university should play football (…) All this does not represent an excessive fear of football in the minds of the public of Alabama? "
But even those serving abroad were interested in resuming sports relationships between Auburn and Alabama. In Paty's correspondence was a letter from Lieutenant Fred Sington expressing the interest of his fellow soldiers for the news at his home.
"In these difficult times," writes Sington, "when we think of living with other countries after the war, I seem to be a beginner for two neighboring institutions capable of competing in a collegiate competition."
A municipal director of Fourth War Loan Drive and the County War Fund, president of the Red Cross, also wrote. And on another note, the Birmingham Post has designed an editorial in the idea that fundraising could bring in money for the construction of a cancer clinic. He cited a study that said 350,000 Alabamians would die of cancer if the clinic was not built. "Are not they worth the effort we could make to save them?" he asked.
This is how Moore commissioned a list of supportive and opposing people and organizations. The final count: Pro 15, Con 9.
In 1945, the House of Representatives of Alabama passed a resolution stating that Alabama and Auburn "are urged to renew relations in the field of athletics, especially football". Two years later, the state Senate demanded measures, threatening an amendment removing the credits allocated to schools if they did not comply.
Auburn President Ralph Adams wrote to McCorvey that no one liked to feel "foolish about gambling by such legislation," but "we must recognize the possibility that we may make a further mistake in more serious by persisting in our refusal. " Carl Voyles, director of sports at Adams, then appeared before a legislative committee to say that Auburn would like to play again in Alabama and held an indefinite date on the last Saturday in November and the first in December.
"This represented another challenge that had come from the Auburn campus for a long time – but by the end of the week, no sign of Alabama's acceptance had come", writes a local newspaper.
Internally, Alabama circled the trolleys when Governor Jim Folsom took over the torch from his predecessor, Sparks, warning of new laws.
V.H. Friedman, an influential businessman from Tuscaloosa and a member of the athletics committee, was livid. He wrote a letter to a friend of the governor hoping to "calm down" his position. "I seriously doubt that the governor is interested in football," he wrote. "If you had to place a football, basketball, baseball and softball in front of him, I wonder if he could spot it at first sight?"
Friedman then told Moore to point out what had happened in the state of Mississippi as a result of the rivalry that united them. He wrote: "The coach of Miss. State – a man with a good track record for ten years and their athletic director – a man who has devoted at least 35 years of schooling to his tireless efforts, has been asked to resign by that 1500 students because they committed the unforgivable sin of allowing Ole Miss to win. "
At a meeting of the athletics committee that lasted nearly three hours, Friedman called for another study. And this time, the report has grown more than double that recorded three years earlier. He dubbed the dangers arising from other rivalries within the states and argued that the game would only hurt the records of Alabama and Auburn. Moreover, the rivalry "would not bring a single constructive contribution" to education in a state where "unfortunately, the public already insists too much on football and learns too little".
That said, with all the cries of sportsmanship and slippery slope, a copy of the report recognized the outcry that did not escape. And in a half-face, it alluded to the corner in which Auburn had painted the university.
"If sports relations were not to resume, the University should bear the burden of discontent and criticism from the public," reads the book. "We are concerned that the public's bad will towards the University will be extremely detrimental to it, and in such a situation we believe that we can not afford to hold on to our beliefs, even though we do not feel comfortable doing so. they are deep and well supported. "
Just like that, it was over and Alabama conceded. Western Union telegrams were sent to the presidents of both schools, including one of Governor Folsom commending them for their position "aimed at establishing peaceful relations".
The next steps were done in the dark.
In a letter described as confidential, Auburn's chairman, Draughton, asked Alabama's president, John Gallalee, that the arrangements "be kept in the strictest secrecy".
"Some of them even went so far as to say we were acting like babies and we were afraid of being beaten." Auburn, of course, will encourage that thought. "
Board Member of Alabama, Gessner McCorvey
At the same time, Gallalee "feared that the case will not light up our face in case of leakage," he admitted in a letter to Dr. Joseph Hirsh explaining why the director of athletics Frank Thomas had to stay so tight. -lipped on the situation. During a fishing trip, Hirsh described Thomas as "more reluctant than the Sphinx proverb".
Voyles included, Voyles suggested Thomas start modestly with baseball games in the spring before a football game in the fall.
There were additional meetings and discussions on the details, but things went relatively well, with Auburn and Alabama finally agreeing to play football at Legion Field in 1948 and 1949. The student bodies gathered and have decided to create a trophy of sportsmanship. the pre-match parade would be decided by a coin. Nothing was left to chance.
In an Auburn statement dated May 23, 1948, it reads: "When the leaders of the University of Alabama and the Alabama Polytechnic Institute decided to resume their sports relationship, they opened a new era in higher education in Alabama ".
When Frank Boyd wrote to Draughton to congratulate him on his "fine job well done", Draughton credited Gallalee for the "courage" it took him to move the issue forward.
"You should be careful about announcing such news so suddenly," Boyd joked. "Some of us are not as young as we would like and can not stand the kind of shock you have inflicted on us."
Head over to coaching and players in training and in-camera meetings as they prepare to defend their National PFC Championship. Watch on ESPN +
In December, Alabama and Auburn met on the football field for the first time in 40 years. The Crimson Tide won easily, 55-0, but what happened next was a harbinger of things to come, just like a reminder of why the game of rivalry was put on the table.
Seven Auburn students found themselves in jail after being stopped near a bonfire on the Alabama campus the night before the match. In a letter written by Gallalee, he mentioned attempts to learn the names of some rogue Alberta students who would have visited the Auburn campus and "painted on an old tower".
Gallalee managed to have a Tuscaloosa judge dismissed a charge for disorderly conduct of the seven Auburn students, but two of them would still suffer the consequences of a violation of the law. the law of prohibition.
"If we had lost Saturday," Gallalee wrote to a local businessman, "I had planned to ask you and Ed Leigh McMillan to hide in one of your logging operations during a short moment."
Saturday, it will be their 71st consecutive game since the suspension of the rivalry. Now, the idea of a season without Iron Bowl is the most distant thing from anyone's memory.
The rivalry remains more intense than ever and sometimes the arguments that result are heated. Sometimes chaos is exaggerated. Other times that's not it.
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