In 1963, Abraham Zapruder shot what is possibly the most famous film in US History. We at JohnnieFootball.com have reason to believe that some distant relative of Mr. Zapruder (died 1970) was in the stands on Saturday to witness the Big Red win against the St. Olaf Oles. Four excellent photographs of two crucial fourth-quarter plays were mysteriously forwarded to DustySJU’s email box on Sunday. He passed them along to the rest of us and it is now my distinct honor to post these four photos for you, our readers.
First, we have two shots of Brian Weber’s 38-yard catch that led to Mike Patnode’s game-winning touchdown. As you can see from these two shots covering roughly 8 yards of playing field each, Weber elevates nicely from the Sprinturf and cleanly hauls in Alex Kofoed’s slightly overthrown pass with nary an Ole defender in sight. Rumors of an “assist” from a mystery fan behind the grassy knoll prove to be baseless.
Secondly, we have two photos of the unfortunate game-icing facemask penalty. Initially a somewhat controversial call, upon review of these photos it is clear that the officials made the proper decision in awarding St. John’s an automatic first down on the personal foul. While the resulting kneel-downs were a somewhat anti-climactic ending to a phenomenal football game, Johnnie fans everywhere will likely agree that they were relieved to be able to breathe again without having to endure a St. Olaf drive the other direction.
So there you have it: incontrovertible proof that Abraham Zapruder’s gift for catching big moments in history (some larger than others, admittedly) lives on.
Big thanks to John Pihaly for the photos. Disclaimer: to the best of JohnnieFootball.com’s knowledge, Pihaly is not related to Mr. Zapruder. We’re awaiting clarification.
