Raphael Stevens

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    Dicky Maegle Dies at 86; Football Star Remembered for a Bizarre Tackle

    He’s in the College Football Hall of Fame, but he’s probably best known for the Cotton Bowl game in which an opposing player left the bench to take him down.Dicky Maegle was an all-American running back at Rice University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. And he was a Pro Bowl defensive back in his first N.F.L. season.But when Rice announced that Maegle had died on Sunday at 86, he was remembered mostly for a single moment: one of the most bizarre episodes in the history of college football, witnessed by some 75,000 fans at the 1954 Cotton Bowl in Dallas and a national television audience.Taking a handoff at Rice’s 5-yard line in the second quarter of its matchup with Alabama, Maegle cut to the right and raced down the sideline. When he passed the Alabama bench while crossing midfield, on his way to a virtually certain touchdown, the Crimson Tide fullback Tommy Lewis interrupted his rest period and, sans helmet, sprang onto the field and leveled Maegle with a blindside block at Alabama’s 42-yard line.The referee ruled that Maegle was entitled to a 95-yard touchdown run. Rice, ranked No. 6 in the nation by The Associated Press, went on to a 28-6 victory over 13th-ranked Alabama.Maegle, a junior that season, also scored on runs of 34 and 79 yards in that Cotton Bowl game and gained 265 yards on 11 carries.Lewis apologized to Maegle at halftime.“I’m too emotional,” he said when the game ended. “When I had him tackled, I jumped up and got back on the bench. I kept telling myself, ‘I didn’t do it.’ But I knew I did.”The following Sunday, Maegle and Lewis were reunited, so to speak, as guests on Ed Sullivan’s popular CBS variety show.“I saw him when he was about a step and a half away from me,” Maegle told The Dallas Morning News in 1995. “I veered to the left, and that helped cushion the blow. If I hadn’t veered away from him, I really think he would have broken both my legs.”Maegle was an all-American as a senior in the 1954 season, when he ran for 905 yards and 11 touchdowns and finished sixth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, presented annually to college football’s most outstanding player. The trophy was won that year by the Wisconsin back Alan Ameche (who went on to fame with the Baltimore Colts for scoring the winning touchdown in overtime in the storied 1958 N.F.L. championship game against the New York Giants).The San Francisco 49ers drafted Maegle in the first round of the January 1955 N.F.L. draft. He was a 49er for five seasons, playing mostly at right safety and occasionally as a running back, then concluded his pro career with the 1960 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 1961 Dallas Cowboys. He intercepted 28 passes, running one of them back for a touchdown.He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.Maegle (who spelled his surname Moegle at the time), Lewis and other players immediately after one of the strangest plays in college football history. The referee ruled that Maegle was entitled to a 95-yard touchdown run.Rice UniversityRichard Lee Moegle (he later legally changed his surname to reflect its correct pronunciation) was born on Sept. 14, 1934, in Taylor, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of Austin. He played high school football, then received an athletic scholarship to Rice.After leaving football, he pursued real estate interests and managed hotels in Houston.Maegle’s wife, Carol, told The Houston Chronicle that he died at their home in Houston, and that he been in declining health since a fall several months ago. (Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.)Tommy Lewis, who played in the Canadian Football League, coached high school football and worked in insurance in Alabama, died in 2014 at 83.Roy Riegels, the center for the University of California who ran 69 yards the wrong way after picking up a fumble by Georgia Tech in the 1929 Rose Bowl game, leading to Cal’s 8-7 loss and earning the moniker Wrong Way Riegels, watched the Maegle-Lewis drama unfold from his California home.He had advice for Lewis the next day:“Laugh with ’em, that’s all you’ve got to do. What the heck difference does it make? It’s just a football game.”Maegle wasn’t laughing about that Cotton Bowl game as time passed; he believed that the Lewis episode overshadowed his considerable football achievements.“People still just don’t get it,” he remarked some 40 years later. “I led the nation in punt returns. I led the nation in yards per carry. I led the conference in rushing and in scoring. But when people introduce me, all they ever mention is what happened in that game.” More

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    England Celebrates as It Reaches the Euro 2020 Final

    After 55 years of unsuccessful attempts to reach the final of a major soccer tournament, and after months of sorrow brought by the coronavirus pandemic, England tastes victory.LONDON — England woke up on Thursday with a sensation it had not felt in more than a half-century: Its national soccer team made it to the final of a major international tournament, with the prospect of a first-ever European Championship victory within reach.As England sealed a hard-fought 2-1 win against Denmark on Wednesday night at Wembley Stadium, fans crowded streets and celebrated in pubs, in fan zones set up across the country and at home. Politicians across the spectrum made a rare show of unity as they congratulated the players the nation has hailed as heroes, and England rallied together in a moment of public joy that many said was desperately needed.“Every country has been through some painful 18 months,” said Matt Corby, 30, who was wearing a red England jersey and celebrated with friends at a London pub. “To live this historic moment in England’s football now, after 55 years, it’s beautiful. What a time to do it.”Before its victory over Denmark, England had not reached a soccer tournament final since the 1966 World Cup, which it won. The team, sometimes known as the Three Lions, will now play on Sunday at Wembley in the final against Italy.As fans on Wednesday wept, danced and celebrated in the streets of Newcastle, Portsmouth, Manchester and London — and elsewhere across the country — there was a feeling that it was finally England’s moment, one that previous generations had hoped for for decades.“We would always get to this point,” said Derin Adebiyi, remembering England’s defeat against Germany in the semifinal of the 1996 European Championship.Mr. Adebiyi, as he celebrated in North London, said England had passed its “litmus test.”“This is transcending ideologies and dividing lines, and finally bringing the country together,” he added, praising the team for its performance, but also for taking a knee before every game, as an antiracism gesture. “These moments are so rare and important.”England players took a knee on Wednesday before the match against Denmark at Wembley Stadium.Pool photo by Justin TallisIn a nation that is rived by deep political divisions, and that is still trying to figure out its post-Brexit future, observers lauded the values embodied by a triumphant and diverse squad, led by Gareth Southgate.“The standard of leaders in this country in the last couple of years has been poor,” Gary Neville, a soccer legend and a fervent critic of Conservative politicians, said on Britain’s ITV News after England’s victory.“Looking at that man there,” he added, referring to Mr. Southgate, “that’s everything a leader should be: respectful, humble, tells the truth, genuine.”Mr. Southgate has praised his players for raising awareness about equality, inclusivity and racial injustice.Many on the England squad have been outspoken social justice advocates. Raheem Sterling, who grew up near Wembley Stadium, has been vocal about racism and has championed inclusion causes. Marcus Rashford has campaigned for free meals for underprivileged schoolchildren during the pandemic. Harry Kane showed his support for the L.G.B.T.Q. community when he wore a rainbow armband during the tournament.“We are heading for a much more tolerant and understanding society, and I know our lads will be a big part of that,” Mr. Southgate wrote in letter last month.Although England will most likely face its toughest adversary in the tournament on Sunday, many fans rejoiced with a feeling that the Three Lions had already won, and that their team had rid itself of old demons.“England Make History,” The Times of London declared on Thursday’s front page. “England’s Dreaming,” The Guardian wrote.“Finally,” tabloid newspapers said, while Politico’s morning newsletter included players ratings.Prime Minister Boris Johnson, not an avid soccer fan but perhaps sensing the political benefit of rallying behind a successful team, congratulated the players on Wednesday night for playing “their hearts out.”“Now to the final,” Mr. Johnson wrote on Twitter. “Let’s bring it home.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie Johnson, celebrating England’s game-winning goal on Wednesday.Pool photo by Carl RecineAbout 60,000 fans attended the game at Wembley, and as the final whistle blew, many more had gathered outside, often disregarding social distancing measures and mask wearing despite a rising number of new coronavirus cases in the country in recent weeks. Fans climbed on buses and lampposts and chanted, “It’s coming home,” and drivers honked their horns until late into the night.London’s Metropolitan Police tweeted that “following the fantastic win by England,” at least 20 people had been arrested during the celebrations.While optimism dominated the news on Thursday, the victory’s aftermath comes as researchers warned in a report that England was facing a rapid growth in coronavirus cases, and that men were 30 percent more likely to be infected.Steven Riley, a professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London and one of the report’s authors, said changes in social distancing behaviors, like gatherings to watch the games, most likely explained the gap between men and women.The World Health Organization warned last week that the European Championship Games, held in cities across Europe, had driven a rise in cases. At least 60,000 people are expected to attend the final on Sunday in London.England’s remaining pandemic restrictions are set to be lifted by July 19, even as public health experts expect 50,000 daily infections later in the month.Still, many set aside their worries about the pandemic on Wednesday and focused instead on victory, which came after a nail-biter. England’s pregame confidence was quickly tamed by Denmark’s first goal, followed by the frustration at unsuccessful attacks. But when the team’s captain, Mr. Kane, scored a winning goal after 30 minutes of extra time, victory was theirs.Italy now awaits. The team has been unbeaten in 33 games, and will compete in its fourth European Championship final. In Italy, too, a victory would bring some welcomed sense of unity and optimism after years of political uncertainty — and after 18 months of hardship brought by the pandemic.But English fans won’t care. Wednesday’s semifinal had been at times a sketchy and stressful game, and Sunday’s final may well be, too.England had also disappointed many times, said Sarah Barron, 26, as she celebrated in a London beer garden.But this time, she argued, it’s different.“Don’t live in the past,” Ms. Barron said. “This time, it’s coming home.” More

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    Pentagon Lets Cameron Kinley Delay Service for N.F.L.

    The former Navy defensive back signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but his request to push back his military commitment was initially denied.In an about-face, the Department of Defense approved the request of cornerback Cameron Kinley to delay his Navy commission so he could play in the N.F.L., concluding a weekslong saga in which Kinley had initially been denied the chance to pursue a pro football career. More

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    The shirts on England fans tell a story of suffering.

    England wears its years of hurt on its backs.It has been striking, whenever England fans have gathered over the course of the last month, how many have eschewed the current iteration of the national team’s jersey and chosen instead an older number: most frequently a blue one, flecked with white, that served as backup to the backup in the early 1990s, and an effort from soccer’s “gray period,” when the overriding logic ran that the color looked good with jeans.Strictly speaking, both shirts are associated with unhappy memories: the semifinal elimination by West Germany at the 1990 World Cup and the semifinal elimination by a united Germany six years later in the European Championship, both on penalties. But the jerseys are also proof of credentials, proof of authenticity, proof of having shared in the suffering of the two defeats which best define the inevitable and yet somehow cherished disappointment of being an England fan.Even as the country has slowly allowed itself to be swept away — a cliff giving itself to the sea — over the last three weeks, as the prospect of only the second major final in its never-knowingly-undersold history has reared up ever higher in the popular imagination, some of that spirit has remained.Harry Kane during warmups in a shirt that has — so far — not disappointed.Pool photo by Frank AugsteinThere is, deep down, a sort of irony to England’s excitement, an awareness that this will probably all go wrong at any minute, an expectation of the worst even as the country hopes for the best, that at some point in the future a new generation of fans will be wearing this year’s away jersey to prove that it, too, has suffered.And yet this is, without question, the best chance the country has had for half a century not just to make a final, but to win a trophy. It is on home turf. It is, on paper at least, more than a match for an exceptionally well-drilled, impressively slick Danish team, just as it was better equipped than Ukraine and Germany in previous rounds. It would be favorite in a final even against a young and spirited Italy.There is a distinct possibility that this excitement does not have to be ironic, that things will not go wrong. But that is not how England thinks, not really. All those years of hurt have conditioned the country to dream, but never truly to believe. Beat Denmark and that, perhaps, will have to change. More

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    Today’s referee is a Dutch policeman, Danny Makkelie.

    Today’s referee is a police inspector from the Netherlands, Danny Makkelie. He will be a familiar face to England’s players, having worked their victory against Germany in the round of 16, and to others on both teams who have run across him in the top league in the Netherlands and various European competitions.Wednesday’s semifinal will be Makkelie’s fourth match in the tournament, but he has been busy in those, awarding 12 yellow cards — but no reds yet — in his first three games.Three England starters — Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice and Harry Maguire — got a close-up view of his yellow card in the Germany game. More

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    Brace yourselves: Italy will be counting on its defense as usual.

    It should not surprise anyone that Italy has been one of the toughest teams to score against in the tournament: The Italians often are, and they have conceded only two goals in their five games this summer, and only one from the run of play. (Only England, which has yet to surrender a goal, has been better.)Much of the credit for that — as has been the case for the past decade — will go to the veteran center backs Giorgio Chiellini, 36, and Leonardo Bonucci, 34. And Italy’s coach, Roberto Mancini, will be relying on them again on Tuesday against Spain.“It’s been a number of years now that it’s been said that they’re the best center back pairing in world soccer,” Mancini told reporters on Monday. “Their strength is that they want to prove that that is still the case.”Club teammates at Juventus for much of that time, Chiellini and Bonucci say their familiarity is only part of their formula for success.“Clearly when we are playing alongside one another we know each other’s game inside out and so things come very naturally to us,” Bonucci said. “So naturally you don’t have to necessarily think about all the other things you have to when you play with someone other than Giorgio, it all comes very naturally.” More

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    A German referee will be in charge of Italy vs. Spain.

    Today’s referee is a German, Felix Brych, who will be familiar to players on both teams from his work in the Champions League.This will be Brych’s fifth match in the tournament; his most recent were England’s 4-0 win over Ukraine in the quarterfinals and Belgium’s victory against Portugal in the round of 16.Brych has experience in big games — he worked the 2017 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus in Cardiff, Wales — but also with gripes. He refereed only one game at the 2018 World Cup. He was sent home after Serbia lodged a complaint about Brych’s refusal to award a penalty in a contentious game against Switzerland. More