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FB Bob Ferguson -1961 Maxwell Award winner (official thread)

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RIP Bob Ferguson, 1961 Maxwell Winner

Buckeye Fullback Bob Ferguson has passed away at the age of 64. He was the fullback on the 1961 team that the faculty kept from going to the Rose Bowl.

Ferguson finished 2nd to Ernie Davis in the Heisman, and won the Maxwell Award as the best player in the country. A great Buckeye All-American.

My thoughts are with his family.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6773212/

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Bob Ferguson, an All-American fullback at Ohio State who played for coach Woody Hayes and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1961, died at 64.

<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=textSmallGrey vAlign=top align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>He died Thursday, the Cook & Son-Pallay Funeral Home told The Associated Press on Friday. He had complications from diabetes.

Ferguson starred at Ohio State from 1959-61 and was an All-American his last two seasons. He scored 26 touchdowns, including four against Michigan in 1961, when the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines 50-20 to cap an 8-0-1 season.

During his three years at Ohio State, the 220-pound Ferguson accumulated 2,304 all-purpose yards, including 2,162 rushing for an average of 5 yards a carry.

“He wasn’t a finesse runner,” son Robert Ferguson Jr. told The Columbus Dispatch. “He was a power runner. Those were the days of three yards and a cloud of dust.”

During the 1961 season, Ohio State turned down a Rose Bowl invitation because administrators felt the university was becoming known simply as a football school. Minnesota went instead and beat UCLA 21-3.

Ferguson had a disappointing NFL career. He was a Pittsburgh Steelers reserve for two years and played another season with the Minnesota Vikings. Ferguson later worked as a youth counselor in Columbus and retired in 1990 because of health problems.

He is survived by wife Diana, sons Robert, Rodney and Ronald and daughter Robin.

Funeral services are pending.
 
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My father thought he was one of the best Buckeyes ever and watching him run through UM players is one of my earliest memories of Ohio State football. He was an incredible power runner, and tacklers often bounced off him as he broke two or three tackles seemingly off every run.

I met him once at one of the Columbus recreation centers in my teenage years. He impressed me immediately as being very humble and approachable. It was really fun.

A true Buckeye returns to play for Woody in the big game! God bless him and his family.
 
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Bob Ferguson was one tough hombre. He played on a superior team. For the sport, it was a faculty power play to deny Woody's 1961 team an earned shot at the Rose Bowl. Simply a case of power egos over in the faculty lounge...wanted to show Woody up. Woody, in addressing the debacle to the profs said, "I want you to know I can do your job (teaching history as a prof.), but I'll guarentee that not one of you can do my job."

Woody had a high respect and love for Bob Ferguson, who died too young.
 
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I watched Ferguson run as a kid and remember what a formidable back he was. Kind of an ancient day Jerome Bettis. If you absolutely, positively had to have three yards, he was the man.

Third-and-Ferguson, straight-ahead blocking, high-top shoes, ... First Down!

It's first and goal on their 4-yard line, Woody calls Ferguson's number. Kaboom! ...Touchdown Ohio State!

That stuff happened all the time on that 60-61 team. It was great.

You were one hell of a man, Bob Ferguson. You left too soon. Thanks for the sweet memories.
 
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I knew Bobby well. We both were in Baker Hall in 1958/59. He on the 4th floor and I on the second.
That spring I worked in a snack bar on the ground of Baker Hall. We sold hot dogs, chips, candy and cokes. We would fill up the steamer with hotdogs anound 6 a night. Fergie knew that if we had dogs left when we closed that the dogs went real cheap. (like a dine each). He would appear at the door about 11 PM to see if we had any left. We always did so he would leave with a big bag of hotdogs.
The only problem was that those hotdogs had been in the steamer for hours and were green when he left with then.
Of course, if there were any left after he got his I would eat the last couple.

Ah, youth and stupidity.

Fergie was a good guy and perfect under Woody's system.
Rest well big guy.
 
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In terms off being a fan of TOSU football, my greatest wish was that I had been born about 25 years sooner than I was. At age 42, of course I never saw Bob play football here. From what my dad and others have told me, he was the greatest "power" back we ever had here.

This is truly a sad day in Buckeye land. My best wishes and prayers to Bob's family and friends.
 
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DDN article

Football standout Bob Ferguson dies
OSU back was Heisman Trophy runner-up in '61

By Dave Long
Dayton Daily News

Bob Ferguson, a legendary running back at Troy High School and Ohio State University, died Thursday in Columbus following a lengthy illness. He was 64.

Mr. Ferguson was a two-time All-American at OSU, the winner of the Maxwell Award given to college football's outstanding player in 1961, the Heisman Trophy runner-up in '61 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in '97.

He was a big back in that period at 6 feet and 217 pounds with power, speed and quickness. He was the epitome of OSU coach Woody Hayes' "three yards and a cloud of dust" philosophy, using a bullish style of running.

He was never tackled behind the line of scrimmage during his college career and Hayes called him "the greatest fullback I've coached at Ohio State."

"He wasn't a finesse runner," his son, Robert Ferguson Jr., said. "He was a power runner."

When the Dayton Daily News polled readers last fall as to who was the greatest back in area history, everyone was a distant second to Mr. Ferguson. He played on Troy teams that went 9-0 in the 1955-57 seasons. He ran for 2,089 yards in 1956 and 1,423 yards in '57. In '56 he ran for 529 yards vs. Kiser and 475 yards vs. Monroe, the No. 2 and No. 4 all-time state single-game rushing records.

The 529 yards stood as the state record for 44 years before being broken in 2001.

Following graduation, he attended OSU, where he was consensus All-American in 1960-61. He rushed for 2,162 yards for the Buckeyes, which is No. 14 on the all-time OSU list. That figure is more impressive considering OSU spread the carries among three backs in Hayes' robust-T backfield, the team played only nine games and freshmen were not eligible.

His most memorable game came against Michigan in '61 when he ran for 152 yards and four touchdowns in a 50-20 win at Ann Arbor to cap an 8-0-1 season.

The Buckeyes were invited to play in the Rose Bowl, but the school's faculty council felt the university was becoming too much of a "football factory" and declined the invitation. Minnesota represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl and defeated UCLA, 21-3. The Football Writers Association of America kept the Buckeyes at No. 1 that year, while the wire service polls dropped them to No. 2 behind Alabama.

Mr. Ferguson was a first-round pick in the NFL draft in 1962 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he never showed the form that made him a star in high school and college. He was a reserve for the Steelers for two season before being cut and spent a third season with the Minnesota Vikings before his football career ended.

He settled in Columbus and worked as a counselor for the Ohio Youth Commission. His health began to decline in 1975 when he suffered the first of a series of strokes. That, combined with diabetes, forced him to retire in 1990. According to family members he had been bed-ridden for almost a decade and had lost both legs and his eyesight to diabetes.

He is survived by his wife, Diana, and three children, Robert Jr. and Robin of Columbus and Rodney of Albion, Mich.

Mr. Ferguson never spoke much about his accomplishments on the football field to his family.

"He never really talked about any of that," said Robert Jr. "I didn't find out until I went to college and talked to other people about him. As soon as anyone would find out I was his son, they'd start reminiscing."

Funeral arrangements through Cook and Son-Pallay Funeral Home on Columbus are pending.
Click to expand...
 
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I never was able to see Bob in person, but I read a lot about him. I was in the marines and my only chance to follow the Bucks was through the sports pages.
He was a great back and from what I've read, just as great as a person. I'm very sorry for his family.
 
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Ferguson won the Maxwell Award for College Player of the Year in 1961, the year in which tOSU was named National Champions by the Football Writer's Association, and the University voted to not send the team to the Rose Bowl. In the 1961 Heisman voting, he was second to Ernie Davis of Syracuse, who became the first African-American to win that award.

Bob was elected to the College Football HOF in 1996.


Bob Ferguson
60078_1.jpg
spacer.gif
Position: Fullback

School: Ohio State
High School: Troy, OH (Troy HS)
Years: 1959-1961
Inducted: 1996
Place of Birth: Columbus, OH
Date of Birth: 8/29/1939
Place of Death: Columbus, OH
Date of Death: 12/30/2004
Jersey Number: 46
Height: 6-0
Weight: 217​



Member Biography
Bob Ferguson averaged five yards every time he carried the ball for Ohio State. He led his team in rushing three years and was unanimous All-America in 1960 and 1961. He won the Maxwell Award in 1961 as the nation's leading player. Ohio State was national champion that year. Ferguson scored 13 touchdowns in 1960 and 11 touchdowns in 1961. He played pro with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings 1962-63. A head injury ended his football career. Ferguson returned to Ohio State and obtained a master's degree in sociology. As a college star, Ferguson stood six feet tall and weighed 217 pounds. He was born August 29. 1939 in Columbus, Ohio.​
 
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Bob Ferguson, a joy to Troy Fans 1954-1957

I witnessed Bob's first game at Troy. On a fourth and long early in the game, Coach Lou Juillerat had him run the ball and he literaly carried the whole Dayton Kiser defense for a first down. We knew we had something at Troy. He was the first freshman I had every seen start for Troy. We had been in the midst of an 19 game losing streak and we knew it was over at that moment he made that first down. We beat Kiser that night to end the the losing nightmare.
I didn't know Bob personally until about 1977 when he was a youth counseler for the State of Ohio and had a territory close to Troy. I believe he worked mainly in Champaign County and Logan. Although he was 5 years behind me at Troy High, he knew who I was and we struck up a Friendship when he would drop by Troy for a visit after a day in one of his counties. It was either at K's Hamburger shop or one of the favorite watering spots in Troy. He was very humble and polite. I asked him how he became a starter his freshman year as Coach Juillerat was our brand new head coach and would not have seen him play in Jr.Hi.
Bob told me, " Well, the first day of football practice I was home helping my Mother bake a cake, when a bunch of the football players came by to take me to their first practice. Being a Freshman I had intended to tryout for the Freshman team when School started. My mother was not too happy about my playing football anyway, so I asked her permission to go with the guys to football practice. She gave me permissoon to go reluctantly. So I went to practice and made the team."
( This was Lou Juillerat's first year and to have this kid dropped in his lap was a Godsend. Although that was Bob's story, I have a feeling that Lou would not have left his coaching job at Baldwin-Walace without the knowledge that this kid was coming up. It took Lou just one year to turn it around going just 3-6 his first year, but their last loss the final game of 1954 was the last loss for 32 games. Lou and Bob went undefeated for the next three years. Bob Ferguson was in the last class out of the old Van CLeve Building. He ws a high school All-Amercain at least two years and Ohio's Back of the Year in 1957 (before Mr.Football). In the fall of 1958 when they opened the new High School. The road that lead to the high school's rear entrance was named Ferguson Drive. and a huge picture of Bobby (as he was know in Troy then) was hung in the concourse leading to the Gym. The small football field used for the Junior varsity games back of the High School was called Ferguson field and still is to this day.
Bob's rushing records at Troy stood for 41 years and the night in 1998 that it appeared it would be broken by Ryan Brewer. Bob and two of his sons came to the game as he wanted to be there when his record was broken. The Troy Stadium was packed as our rivals from the old WOL , Centerville was there and a lot of Trojans to see the record broken by Ryan, had John Cooper been at that game he woud have never passed on Brewer! Brewer almost single handedly destroyed Bob Gregg and the Centerville Elks that night. It was a Bob Ferguson display, I was re-living Bobby's glory days at Troy. After the game the Troy Team gathered by the scoreboard which proudly read TRoy 48, Centerville 43. Bobby was wheeled out to the group in his wheelchair by one of my cousins who had graduated in 1958 with him for a picture with Ryan and he. Ryan had been given the game ball for his achievement, but he in turn presented it to Bobby!
It was a memory for the ages and there have been many at Troy Memorial Stadium since it opened in 1949. Our 10,000 seat stadium could have almost seated our whole town at 10,661,the 1950 census.
 
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More on Bob Ferguson

Bob Ferguson was from a low income family although his Father was employed at Hobart Corporaton as a factory worker. His family lived in the west end of Troy in the black section of Troy called "Slab town"at 719 West Franklin Street that deadended at the Railroad tracks. The house is now gone as is most of his family,only his youngest sster remains and she is a minister,I am not sure where. His older sister Sally which won a scholarship to nursing school (now desceased too), married a star athlete from nearby Piqua. Kenneth Thorpe, a renown athlete in his own right and an OSU alumnus. He is in the Piqua Hall of Fame. Sally suffered from Multiple schlerosis for many years and had to give up her nursing career early. His older Brother Wade died very youg also.
On to more pleasant topic at Bobby's Troy high career. In 1954, his freshman year as I mentioned before he helped the Trojans break a 19 game winless streak, There had been a tie during that losing streak with Dayton Oakwood 7-7 in 1952;o the actual losing streak was at 13 games. Troy beat Kiser 19-14; The rest:(1954)
Troy 40, Lemon-Monroe 18
Sidney 18, Troy 6*
Fairmont 20, Troy 7*
Miamisburg 12, Troy 7*
Fairborn 20, Troy 7*
Troy 18, Piqua 0 *
Xenia 26, Troy 7*
Greenville 20, Troy 7*(Greenville League Champs)
*denotes Miami Valley League games

1955

Troy,25, Dayton Kiser 0
Troy 39, Lemon-Monore 6
Troy 26, Sidney 0*
Troy 13, Fairmont 6 *
Troy 44, Miamisburg 6 *
Troy 27, Fairborn 12 *
Troy 48, Piqua 0 *
Troy 19, Xenia 12 * Championship game
Troy 26, Greenville 6*
denotes-MVL games
Troy 1955 League Champs

1956

Troy 60, Dayton Kiser 20
Troy 81, Lemon-Monroe 6
Troy 46, Greenville 0 *
Troy 23, Sidney 14*
Troy 7, Fairmont 6 * before 12,500 at Troy (Championship game)
Troy 33, Miamisburg 19 *
Troy 26, Fairborn 19 *
Troy 44, Piqua 6 *
Troy 20, Xenia 14 *
*=MVL games
Troy 1956 League champs

1957

Troy 69, Dayton Kiser 7
Troy 53, Dayton Belmont 7
Troy 51, Greenville 6 *
Troy 41, Sidney 6 *
Troy 7, Fairmont 6 * (14,000 at UD Stadium, Bob Ferguson score all of
Troy's 7 points)
Troy 60 Fairborn 26 *( I was home on leave and saw this game, Bob ran
wild and scored as I remember almost all the points)
Troy 41, Piqua 6 * Lou loved to run up the score on our team "up North"
Troy 27, Xenia 7 *
Troy 20, Miamisburg 13*
*=MVL games
Troy 1957 League champs

An interesting fact at that time Troy's enrollment was 800 students top 4
grades, while Fairmont ws 1,500 in the top 3; Xenia had about 1,000 students,while Fairborn was 1500 t0p 4 grades. In 1963 Farmont split into East and West.
Lou without Ferguson ran the winning streak 5 more games into 1958 finally losing to larger Fairmont,14-0, at Troy before another packed house.
Juillerat left Troy after the 1960 season and another MVL Championship. He went to Findlay College and then on to Nortwood in Michigan where the football field bears his name. and we know that Ferguson went on to more fame at Ohio State. I am glad I met the man at one point in his life.
 
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