Word came out recently that a movie will be made about the life of former Penn State football standout Wally Triplett who, with supportive teammates and coaches, helped integrate the Cotton Bowl in 1948.
In a piece by Trib colleague Paul Guggenheimer, the idea came from movie producer and Penn State alumnus Mark Rodgers upon hearing of Triplett’s death in 2018. No shooting date has been announced, but the screenplay is completed and casting is taking place.
There is a local connection to the story that involves integrating the Cotton Bowl, the origin of a familiar college chant and an encounter with someone who helped write a dark page of American history.
Sam Tamburo, a 1944 New Kensington High School graduate and standout lineman for the Red Raiders, was part of the team when the Nittany Lions, sporting a 6-2 record, had a playing date scheduled at Miami in 1946. Because of Jim Crow laws in effect at the time, Miami told Penn State it could not bring its Black players — Triplett and Dennie Hoggard — to the game.
Nittany Lions coach Bob Higgins left it up to the players to decide whether to travel to Miami. When it was suggested Triplett and Hoggard leave the locker room while the others voted on the issue, Tamburo got up and said: “No, they are part of the team. We are all Penn Staters.”
Later, of course, the chant was shortened to “We Are … Penn State.”
The Nittany Lions voted to stay home. In 1947, a similar situation arose when Penn State was undefeated and ranked No. 4 in the country. Cotton Bowl officials wanted to pair Penn State with similarly undefeated No. 3 SMU.
Higgins made it clear the team would only accept the invitation if halfback Triplett and tight end Hoggard could play. Cotton Bowl officials gave the OK but said Triplett and Hoggard couldn’t stay with the team at the segregated Dallas hotels.
Tamburo insisted they find a place where the team could stay together, according to Tamburo’s grandson, New Kensington-based attorney and former Westmoreland County Judge David Regoli.
“We’re Penn State, and that’s it,” recalled Dr. Paul Suhey, former Penn State board of trustees member and son of ’46 star Steve Suhey in a 2015 Valley News Dispatch interview.
So the Nittany Lions stayed at a Naval Air Base about 14 miles outside of Dallas. Keeping college-aged guys on a military base wasn’t easy. One night, according to Regoli, team members noticed a lighted building in the distance.
They hopped the fence and discovered the building was a burlesque joint called “The Carrousel.” The players went to the door and told the doorman they had Black players present. The doorman said he’d get the owner. The owner came, pondered the situation and motioned the players inside.
The club owner turned out to be Jacob Rubenstein, better known as “Jack Ruby,” convicted killer of Lee Harvey Oswald. On Nov. 24, 1963, two days after the Kennedy Assassination, Ruby shot Oswald at point blank range in the bowels of a police department while the accused presidential killer was being transferred to another facility.
The Jan. 1, 1948, Cotton Bowl ended in a 13-13 tie with Triplett scoring the tying touchdown. From that game on, Texas sporting events became integrated.
Tamburo would make four All-America teams and played for the NFL’s New York Bulldogs. He died on Dec. 18, 1998, at age 72.
Tamburo was inducted posthumously in the Alle-Kiski Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. Dave Regoli and his family kept in touch with Detroit Lions draftee Triplett over the years until Triplett’s death on Nov. 8, 2018.
By the way, for you historical trivia buffs — Lee Harvey Oswald was the first person shot on live TV.
George Guido is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
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