The Best of the Bears, Part 5: Cal's Top Athletes of the 1950s

Joe Kapp led Cal to its most recent Rose Bowl appearance after Don Bowden ran sub-4 in the mile

Baby Boomers arrived in the 1950s, but they weren’t the only ones. The decade ushered in Disneyland and McDonald’s, Mr. Potato Head, the hula hoop and Legos.

“I Love Lucy” was a national hit on TV while Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis became pop icons. Pele emerged as the biggest star in the world’s favorite sport, and Mantle and Mays were baseball’s new heroes.

Rosa Parks refused the back of the bus, a polio vaccine saved millions and the USSR sent the Sputnik satellite into orbit.

It was a busy and productive 10 years for Cal on the athletic front. Pappy Waldorf’s football team program was in full bloom as the decade began and junior Don Bowden became the first American to break the four-minute mile in 1957.

But perhaps no academic year in Cal history was as spectacular for the Bears as 1958-59, when quarterback Joe Kapp led the football team to its most recent Rose Bowl appearance and coach Pete Newell guided the basketball team to its lone NCAA championship.

*** Don Bowden discusses with me the day he became the first American to break the 4-minute mile and how coach Brutus Hamilton inspired him: 

Here are our selections for Cal’s Athletes of the Year in the 1950s:

1949-50: ROD FRANZ (football). Cal’s starting right guard for three straight seasons, Franz was a first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference all three seasons and the program’s only three-time All-American. He helped Cal to a 29-3 record with two Rose Bowl appearances over that span. Franz was a team captain as a senior in 1949, when the Bears were 10-0 and ranked No. 3 nationally before their 17-14 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. He was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1977. Also: Jim Monachino (football).

1950-51: JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI (football). The sophomore running back rushed for 1,008 yards (second-most in school history at the time) to help Cal to its third straight Rose Bowl appearance. Olszewski was an All-American as a senior in 1952, but the ’50 campaign was his best. He finished his career with 2,504 yards, leading the Bears in rushing for three straight seasons. A first-round selection in the 1953 NFL draft, he played 10 seasons as a pro. Olszewski rushed for 3,320 yards and scored 19 touchdowns for four NFL teams and twice was named to the Pro Bowl. Also: Bob DiGrazia (soccer).

Les Richter

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1951-52: LES RICHTER (football). A team captain as a senior, Richter was a two-way star and a two-time All-Pacific Coast Conference selection. He was a two-time consensus All-America offensive guard, but perhaps his greatest value — and his future — was at linebacker. The Bears were 27-4 in Richter’s three varsity seasons. He was valedictorian at his 1952 graduation, then served two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Taken No. 2 overall in the 1952 NFL draft, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for 11 players. Beginning in 1954, Richter played nine seasons for the Rams as both a linebacker and placekicker. An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, he intercepted 16 passes and scored 193 points. Richter is a member of both the college and pro football halls of fame. Also: Bentley Lyons (wrestling).

1952-53: RAY WILLSEY (football). A quarterback and defensive back, Willsey helped the Bears to a 7-3 record as a senior. The high point of that season was the Big Game, where Willsey replaced injured starting quarterback Bill Mais and threw one touchdown and ran for another in a 26-0 victory. He returned to Cal as head coach in 1964 and compiled a 40-42-1 record over eight seasons in a challenging era for athletics at Berkeley.

1953-54: MATT HAZELTINE (football & rugby). A linebacker during his NFL days, Hazeltine was an All-America center for the Bears in 1953 and ’54 while playing both ways. He also earned Freshman All-America honors in 1951. Hazeltine finished his Cal career with 10 interceptions. He went on to play 15 seasons in the NFL, starting 186 career games. He scored three defensive touchdowns, one on an interception return and two after fumble recoveries. Hazeltine twice in his 14 years with the 49ers was named to the Pro Bowl. Also: Larry Anderson (track & field), Bob Albo (basketball & baseball).

Bob McKeen

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1954-55: BOB McKEEN (basketball). McKeen, a 6-foot-7 center, capped a prolific career as a senior when he averaged 19.8 points and 11.0 rebounds to collect All-America honors. He scored a career-high 40 points against Utah as a junior. McKeen left Cal as the program’s career scoring (1,654) and rebounding (1,034) lead, and held the scoring record for 32 years until Kevin Johnson broke it by one point in 1987. Chosen in the fourth round of the 1955 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals, McKeen was offered the modest salary of $6,400. He opted instead to earn his MBA from Cal and went into the real estate business and served as an Oakland city councilman. Also: Paul Larson (football), Jim Hanifan (football).

Earl Robinson

Photos courtesy of Cal Athletics

1955-56: EARL ROBINSON (basketball/baseball). A two-sport star, Robinson averaged double-figure scoring three straight seasons while helping Cal win three straight Pacific Coast Conference titles in basketball. He served as team captain in 1958 and was named the team’s most inspirational player. Robinson averaged 15.5 points in four NCAA tournament games in 1957 and ’58. In baseball, he batted .385 in 1956, then was an All-America shortstop in ’57, batting .352 to help the Bears win their second NCAA title. After Cal, Robinson played four years of major league baseball.

Don Bowden, right, with track coach Brutus Hamilton

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

1956-57: DON BOWDEN (track & field). One of the most important middle-distance runners in American history, Bowden was a 20-year-old junior at Cal when he trekked to Stockton on June 1, 1957 after completing an economics final exam in Berkeley. Running on a clay track at Baxter Stadium at the University of the Pacific with no pacesetters and no competition, Bowden ran the mile in 3:58.7, becoming the first American to break the 4-minute barrier and the youngest to that point to do so. Two weeks later, Bowden returned to his specialist and captured the 880-yard title at the NCAA championships, helping the Bears to a runner-up finish. Also: Larry Friend (basketball), Doug Weiss (baseball).

1957-58: JACK YERMAN (football/track & field). A two-year letterman as a running back on the football team Yerman was a star on the track, finishing third over 440 yards at the 1958 NCAA meet. He later ran a best of 46.0 seconds in the event and in 1958 competed in the first U.S. vs. USSR track meet, a huge cold-war era sporting event. He won 400 at the 1960 Olympic trials but didn’t qualify out of the semifinals at the Games in Rome. However, he ran the lead-off leg on the gold-medal winning U.S. 4x400 relay team that set a world record of 3 minutes, 2.2 seconds at the Olympics. Yerman also played fullback on Cal’s 1958 football team that made it to the Rose Bowl. Yerman and Stanford legend Bob Mathias are the only men to have won an Olympic gold medal, and competed in both the Rose Bowl and the Pan American Games. Tragically, Yerman’s home in Paradise was lost in the 2018 Camp Fire. But he still has his Olympic gold medal and his Rose Bowl ring was rescued and returned to him.

1958-59: JOE KAPP (football). Few athletes are more proud supporters of their alma mater than Kapp, who powered the Bears to their most recent Rose Bowl appearance. The senior quarterback rushed for 616 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 775 yards and three TDs to earn All-America honors on Cal’s Pacific Coast Conference championship team of 1958. Kapp went on to lead teams into the Super Bowl and Canadian Grey Cup before serving five seasons as the Bears’ head coach, where he is best remembered for helping inspire the five-lateral kickoff return in the Big Game that became known as “The Play.” He also enjoyed an acting career that gives him 27 credits on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), including roles in The Longest Yard, Semi-Tough and The Six Million Dollar Man. Also: Denny Fitzpatrick (basketball), Jack Hart (football).

Click here for Part 2 of the series: Top Cal Athletes of the 1920s

Click here for Part 3 of the series: Top Cal Athletes of the 1930s

Click here for Part 4 of the series: Top Cal Athletes of the 1940s

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @JeffFaraudo

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.