FOOTBALL

Remembering Rod Sherman

Wide receiver Rod Sherman, who made one of the greatest catches in USC history, died in February. He was 79.

Sherman will forever be known for one moment.

In 1964, No. 1-ranked Notre Dame led USC, 17-0, at halftime. It was 17-7 entering the fourth quarter. USC trailed 17-13 with 1:33 left and had a fourth-and-eight at the Irish 15-yard line.

Quarterback Craig Fertig dropped back and found Sherman for the touchdown catch. The victory ruined Norte Dame’s perfect season. Here is the scene below:

Here is a little nugget I never noticed before. The week before USC upset the Irish, Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian was on the cover of Time magazine. And Life magazine did a huge story off the USC-Notre Dame game, probably assuming the Irish would become national champions.

Cover Credit: Boris Chaliapin

  • A little-known fact about Sherman is that he started out at UCLA and then transferred to Pasadena City College before going to USC.

Sherman went to Muir High School in Pasadena and after USC joined the Oakland Raiders in 1967. He helped Oakland win an AFL Championship as a rookie and his then-team-record 82-yard touchdown reception from Daryle Lamonica at Oakland Coliseum led the Raiders to a 21-14 win over Miami in a 1970 AFC Divisional playoff game, sending them to the AFC Championship Game.

He played seven seasons with the Raiders, Bengals, Broncos, and Rams. Sherman finished his NFL career with 105 receptions for 1,576 yards and five touchdowns.

26 thoughts on “Remembering Rod Sherman”

  2. Elon Musk, aka the president, entered the U.S. on a student visa. Musk’s brother later admitted that they were in the country illegally when their Zip2 startup company was launched.

    you magats need to spend him back.

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    1. Cowardly Gabb, you love to push leftist lies. But even Snopes says you are a Sore Loserman liar: “the claim that Elon Musk once held “illegal” status in the U.S. remains unproven… Available evidence indicates he followed a legal path through student visas and H-1B temporary employment visas, allowing him and his brother to establish Zip2 in 1995. Musk later became a U.S. citizen in 2002, though the full details of his prior legal status remain partially unverified. There is no credible evidence that he was ever fully “illegal” during his more than three decades in the U.S.”

      You have wasted 20 years of your life spamming and doxxing this site and you need to be institutionalized at Atascadero State Mental Hospital.

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  3. Advance happy NEW YEAR to Scott who provides us with a forum to ventilate and to 67 John So Cal Plow Horse Gabby and all the readers on the blog !!!

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    2. Well two years later they decided to make up for their poor cowardly performance against MI St. by pummeling USC 0 – 51. It was the dumbest thing ‘the princess’ ever did esp to McKay. He vowed never to lose (he did once 1973 and 2 ties) and made sure he collected on Parseghian’s trouncing.

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  7. Since George Tirebiter is in a New Years mood to tell jokes, I have a couple for him– The comic W.C. Fields once said that “It was a woman who drove me to drink– and, you know, I never even thanked her

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      1. DON’T BE A STRANGER, GT, JUMP IN ONCE IN A WHILE. WHAT IS THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN, YOUR FEELINGS MIGHT OCCASIONALLY GET HURT A LITTLE IS ALL

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  9. Scooter,

    SC football is in a world of hurt. They don’t have a qb, he plays like Vince Evens did in his first year when he could not hit the side of a barn, oline sucks, defense has improved but it needs players and needs to play tougher. Riley is over his head. Next year will be 7-5

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  11. Notre Dame didn’t play in bowl games during this time period.

    So having to beat USC at the end of a season with a national title on the line made the USC-ND game a bowl game and a national title game all rolled into one.

    To lose on a 4th down TD with 1 minute left is a good way to stick it to the Irish.

    #MaybeTheyWouldHaveWonThe1964NationalChampionshipIfTheyGotTwo100YardPickSixesAtTheEnd!Ha!

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  12. I WENT TO THAT GAME AS A HS JUNIOR RECRUITING TRIP WITH MY COACH TONY ORTEGA , WHO PLAYED A USC IN THE 1950’S. WE WENT TO THE USC LOCKER ROOM AFTER THE GAME AND I WAS INTRODUCED TO THE PLAYERS AND COACHES. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, I SET MY GOAL TO PLAY FOR USC. I HAD A GREAT SENIOR YEAR AT ANAHEIM MAGNOLIA HIGH SCHOOL. I LED THE NATIONAL IN TACKLES AS A LINEBACKER AND ACCEPTED A FULL SCHOLARSHIP T USC. IT WORKED OUT GREAT FOR ME. 4 ROSE BOWLS, 1 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. MY RECORD WAS 31-2-2. I WAS DRAFTED BY DALLAS BUT, GOT ACCEPTED TO THE USC SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY IN 1970. I WAS HONORED TO BE SELECTED TEAM CAPTAIN BY MY TEAMMATES FOR THE 1969 TEAM. MY LAST GAME WAS THE 1970 ROSE BOWL WHICH WE WON 10-3 OVER MICHIGAN. I WAS THE DEFENSIVE CAPTAIN FOR THE 1968 AND 1969 SEASON. I COULD NEVER BE HAPPIER WITH MY CHOICE TO PLAY FOOTBALL FOR JOHN MCKAY AND THE TROJANS…

    BOB JENSEN #51 LB 1969 TEAM CAPTAIN

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