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University of Minnesota Athletics
An Early Wooden Version of Floyd?
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Rick Moore
Minnesota University Relations
(Ed. Note: The wooden pig written about in this article is on display today at TCF Bank Stadium in the T. Denny Sanford M-Club Hall of Fame.)
When it comes to rivalry football games and their accompanying traveling trophies, the University of Minnesota is second to none.
Exhibit A is the Little Brown Jug, widely if not universally considered to be the most famous traveling trophy of them all. The story of its origin is as priceless as the crock itself. After the Gophers shocked the football world in 1903 with their 6-6 upset tie with Fielding Yost's powerhouse Michigan Wolverines, Minnesota custodian Oscar Munson discovered a five-gallon water jug that Michigan had left behind. He dutifully brought it to Louis Cooke, head of the U's athletic department.
When Yost later asked for the jug back, Cooke responded, "If you want it, you'll have to win it," and the two teams have been competing for the Little Brown Jug ever since.
Exhibit B is Paul Bunyan's Axe, which goes to the winner of the annual Minnesota-Wisconsin contest, at 120 games the longest running rivalry in Division 1-A college football. What makes this border battle more intriguing is that the teams originally competed for the Slab of Bacon, which mysteriously disappeared while in the possession of Wisconsin (only to reappear decades later), necessitating the creation of a new trophy. That's a story unto itself.
Speaking of bacon, that brings us to the U's other big rivalry game, which is being played today at TCF Bank Stadium - the battle for Floyd of Rosedale.
The story behind Floyd of Rosedale may not have the aw-shucks charm of the beloved Munson or the skullduggery of the Badger slab keepers, but it's fascinating just the same. After all, it involves a threat and a bet, as well as a live pig, a bronze pig, and - very likely - a wooden pig.
Floyd to the rescue
The Golden Gophers were defending national champions in 1935, but prior to their game in Iowa City on Nov. 9, tensions were running high. Iowa fans were still upset that during the previous contest, a 48-12 win by Minnesota at Iowa, the Gophers had bruised and battered star Hawkeye running back Ozzie Simmons. Simmons was knocked out of the game twice and never returned after the second quarter.
Iowa governor Clyde Herring fueled the fire by saying, "If the officials stand for any rough tactics like Minnesota used last year, I'm sure the crowd won't." That had Minnesota head coach Bernie Bierman calling for extra law enforcement down in Iowa to protect his players, and Minnesota governor Floyd B. Olson concerned about what to do.
So he telegrammed Herring a clever missive: "Minnesota fans are excited over your statement about Iowa crowds lynching the Minnesota football team. I have assured them you are law abiding gentlemen and are only trying to get our goat ... I will bet you a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog that Minnesota wins." The wager was on.
And here's where the "other" wooden pig comes in. According to sports historian Bob Patrin of Edina, the Gophers procured this pig from a Minneapolis butcher shop a few days before the November 9 game and had members of the 1935 team, along with other visitors to Cooke Hall, sign it.
Patrin says the pig traveled with the team down to Iowa City on the train, and the thought was, "If the Gophers lost the game and they gave a wooden pig as a gesture of goodwill to the Hawkeye fans, that might appease the crowd."
About 70 percent of the 1935 team members and most of the coaches signed the pig. Notably absent from the signatures was Bierman, but Patrin has a theory about that.
"Bierman wouldn't sign it because he said he never went into any game ever admitting that he might lose the game," he says.
His confidence was warranted. Minnesota won that historic contest 13-6 on its way to an 8-0 season and a second straight national championship. Days later Herring delivered the promised prize, the hog that would be named "Floyd of Rosedale," and the rest is history.
The spirit of good sportsmanship embodied by Floyd lives on in the form of a bronze statue of the original prize hog. The sculpture was commissioned by Olson and created by Charles Brioschi, a St. Paul artist.
Rivalry trivia:
Since 1935, Minnesota has played Iowa 75 times.
Minnesota has won 39 times and Iowa 34 times; there have been two ties.
Minnesota won 27 times between 1935-1975.
Since 2000, Minnesota has won only one time (2006).
The longest winning streak is five, which Minnesota accomplished twice (1940-44, and 71-75) and Iowa once (2001-05).
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