Posted 2.1.2006
It was more than 50 years ago, the perfect end to a perfect 10-0 season.
On Feb. 11, 2006, UALR will host a reunion luncheon for the former Trojans players who were a part of the triumphant football victory of 1949 when Little Rock Junior College – UALR’s predecessor institution -- won the national Junior College Rose Bowl championship.
Former players and those who remember the 1949 game will reminisce at a reunion and view a highlight film of the game and the flamboyant – for the time – Junior Rose Bowl Parade.
“It seems like yesterday,” said Bob Sullenger, 76, who played starting left tackle on the championship team.
Later in the evening, the players and their teammates from the 1949 squad will be inducted into the Trojan Sports Hall of Fame during the UALR-Savannah State basketball game at the Stephens Center.
The 14 surviving members of the Trojan team who brought the silver championship bowl – now displayed at Engel Alumni Hall in the UALR Bailey Center – back to Little Rock have been invited to reminisce about their gridiron exploits and renew old friendships. The wives of deceased Rose Bowl players have also been invited.
“Caravans of buses carried hundreds of Trojan fans to Pasadena to see the game as well as the Hollywood celebrities hosting the accompanying parade -- the 1949 Junior College Rose Bowl was big sports news in 1949,” said Chancellor Joel E. Anderson. “The triumphant Trojans of Little Rock Junior College brought national attention to our state and region and we are honored to salute them on this golden anniversary of their win.”
The chancellor and the UALR Foundation Fund Board are hosting the luncheon and will present each attendee with a DVD copy of the highlight reel of the game originally produced by the Pasadena Junior Chamber of Commerce.
The newsreel-style production shows clips of the downtown Pasadena Junior Rose Bowl Parade, including LRJC cheerleaders. Hollywood legend Dick Powell – a native of Little Rock – served as grand marshal of the Junior Rose Bowl Parade and fellow star Patricia Neal was selected Miss Junior Rose Bowl.
At the time, communities sponsoring national football bowl games also produced junior college contests. The late coach Jimmy Karam revived LRJC’s football program – dormant since 1933 – when he became coach in 1947 and led the Trojans to victories in the Coffee Bowl game at Coffeyville, Kansas, that year. In 1948, he guided his team through an unbeaten season culminating in an invitation to the Junior Sugar Bowl losing to South Georgia. The Trojans won the Little Rock Shrine Bowl game in 1949 to earn the right to represent the East in what was the fourth annual Junior Rose Bowl.