Notebook: Cal – Stanford University Athletics

TO COMMEMORATE THE 40th anniversary of “The Play,” the Stanford Historical Society hosted an event at Cemex Auditorium at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business that was headlined by Tyler Bridges ’82, author of a new book called Five Laterals and a Trombone: Cal, Stanford, and the Wildest Ending in College Football History.

A panel consisted of former Stanford cornerback Rod Gilmore ’82, ex-Cal defensive back Ahmad Anderson, Gary Tyrrell ’83, the trombonist for Stanford Band who was unceremoniously bowled over by Cal touchdown scorer Kevin Moen, and Adam Berns ’84, the Stanford Daily editor who orchestrated the infamous fake Daily Cal that pronounced that the NCAA negated “The Play” and awarded the 1982 Big Game to Stanford.

However, a member of the audience had one the most interesting roles in the game. Jack Langley was the head linesman and was closest to Cal’s Dwight Garner, whose knee may or may not have touched the ground on the return before he lateraled the ball to a teammate. That debate remains central to acceptance or non-acceptance of the result of “The Play” to this day.

Langley was among three officials close to Garner.

“I was probably the closest official,” Langley told the audience. “Was he down? I don’t know.

“We’re all taught to make a positive decision on what we see, and the positive decision by all three of us was we did not see a knee down. If you look at the video, you will see three, four, five husky Stanford players surrounding this guy. I was there and all I saw was a ball come out.

“I will tell you the truth … I had a breath in my lungs about ready to blow that whistle, when I saw the ball.”

“Thank you, Jack,” Bridges said. “That’s not the answer Stanford wanted.”

 

THE 125^th BIG GAME on Saturday at Memorial Stadium “is going to be a battle,” said David Shaw, Stanford’s Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. “Two years ago, our seniors were able to hold that Axe. They know what it feels like. Before they leave this campus, we’d love to get that Axe back for them.”

The Big Game is bigger than the game itself, Shaw said.

“I think about all those people who have coached and played in these games,” he said. “So many great players, so many great moments. You have some reverence for this game, and the appropriate attention that it gets in the Bay Area. A lot of alums, a lot of pride on the line, a lot of bragging rights.”

 

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STANFORD…