It's college football bowl season and there are 34 bowls scheduled between December 20th and January 8th. That is 24 more than are needed, but universities and promoters are out to bring more money into their coffers so we just chuckle at the names of the bowls and the forgettable matchups. Last season's bowl games (and there were only 32 then) drew 1.6 million fans and $222 million in revenue was distributed to schools and conferences. The first bowl game was the 1902 Rose Bowl, and the term "bowl" came from the shape of the stadium in Pasadena. Over the past 106 years since, two plays are remembered for bowl game weirdness. In the 1929 Rose Bowl, Roy Riegels of California recovered a Georgia Tech fumble, was turned around and began running.....the wrong way. A teammate caught him just before he crossed the goal line after a 65-yard dash, but Cal was pinned at its one-yard line. That led to a safety and Georgia Tech won, 8 to 7. The rule was soon changed making it illegal for a player to advance the ball on a fumble recovery. The other strange play occurred in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. Here is how Dick Heller of the Washington Times recalled what happened. "Dicky Maegle, Rice's star running back, was in the clear and apparently headed for a 95-yard second quarter touchdown when Alabama's Tommy Lewis cut him down with devastating block." But, that was not the problem.  "Lewis, you see, had been sitting on the Crimson Tide's bench when without benefit of a helmet he thrust himself into the game and college football history. Needless to say, the officials awarded Rice and Maegle the touchdown."  Lewis, Alabama's captain and fullback who had already scored on a one-yard run, quickly ran to his bench and tried to hide. He said later, "I kept telling myself, ' I didn't do it. I didn't do it.' But I knew I had." Just before Lewis hit him, Maegle cut one step to his left to avoid a head-on collision. "If I hadn't done that, I might be in a wheelchair. The only reason I gave him the benefit of the doubt that the tackle was spontaneous was that he didn't have time to strap on his headgear. I could have accidentally kicked him in the head while I was running wide open, and he would have gotten the worst of the deal, " Maegle said. Lewis was permitted to stay in the game because such a violation of the playing rules had no automatic disqualification penalty. As the teams left the field at halftime with Rice leading, 14 to 6, Lewis jogged up to Maegle and put his arm around his shoulder by way of apology. "At first I thought it was one of my teammates," Maegle recalled. "He had tears streaming down his face. He apologized and apologized, and he said, "I don't know what got into me. I hope they don't string me up on these goalposts." Heller wrote, "It wouldn't have been surprising if Lewis had changed his name to avoid further embarrassment but, in fact, it was Maegle who did so. During his playing days, the running back's name was pronounced that way but spelled "Moegle." Some years later, he changed the spelling because it was mispronounced so often. Lewis told the San Antonio Express-News in 2006, "I'm reminded of the play frequently. But anyone who knows me, and all my old teammates, would never dare bring it up. They know that play devastated me, and I have to live with it. I can't take it away." In the second half of the January 1, 1954 game in Dallas, Maegle, a 19-year-old junior, scored on a 34-yard run. He had raced 79 yards for another second period touchdown before the credited 95-yarder on the Lewis play. For the day, Dicky ran for 265 yards and carried the ball only 11 times. His 24-yard average per run is still a Cotton Bowl record. Making the tackle of Maegle in the upper photo, on the left, is Bart Starr. He played quarterback for Alabama in the game, also defensive back, intercepting a Rice pass to set up the Tide's only touchdown, and did the punting. Starr went on to excel with the Green Bay Packers. Rice won, 28 to 6. Dick Heller wrote, "As often happened in that era, Maegle and Lewis appeared on Ed Sullivan's popular television show in New York two days after the incident. When Sullivan asked Lewis why it had happened, the culprit replied, "Mr. Sullivan, I guess I was just so full of Alabama." It sounded good, but 50 years later Lewis said Sullivan had put him up to the line, adding, "That's not something that would normally come out of my mouth." Maegle did not enjoy the trip to New York, especially when he learned he and Lewis would be sharing the same hotel room. "Mr. Sullivan, I don't want to room with this guy. He might have a nightmare and try to throw me out the window." Decades later, Maegle added, "After what Lewis had done in the Cotton Bowl, I didn't know if he was all there." Maegle had an outstanding senior season for the Owls, averaging over six yards a carry, setting 26 school records, and leading the Southwest Conference in interceptions. (Collegians played both offense and defense then). He was a consensus All-America and academic All-America. The San Francisco 49ers drafted him, but he sat on the bench behind Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry for most of a seven-year pro career. In 1979, Dicky was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Lewis was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals but never played in the NFL. Heller reported, "And for Lewis, there was definitely a deja vu moment. Years later he was coaching high school football in Alabama when one of his players also leaped off the bench to tackle an opponent. Lewis draped his arm around the player's shoulder sympathetically. "I knew just how he felt," he said.

Where are they now?

Maegle is 74 and lives in Houston. He watches every Cotton Bowl on television at home, and saw Tony Temple of Missouri rush for 281 yards in the 2008 game to break his record. How about Lewis? On December 3, 2008, the website TideFans.com posted this message. "Alabama legend Tommy Lewis has been suffering from Alzheimer's for the last couple years. It is now going into the bad stages and he is not doing well. The disease is progressing and he and his family need our prayers. Thank you."