In a Bidding War, Bobby Cox Played for UW and Minnesota

Bobby Cox has been gone for 23 years now after dying at age 69 from a lengthy bout with pancreatic cancer.

He would had great interest in Saturday night's Washington-Minnesota football game at Husky Stadium, the first between these schools in nearly half a century.

Cox played quarterback for both sides.

Drew nonstop headlines.

Created controversy.

Made sure he was well paid from Seattle to Minneapolis.

He was a well-compensated NIL athlete seven decades ahead of his time.

"I guess in those days they would call us tramp athletes," Cox told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press six months before his death in 2003. "I didn't make any bones about it when I went to college. I told them I don't have any parents to speak of. There is nobody for me to call when I need $20. I said, 'What do you pay?'

"That was pretty much the way I approached my college opportunities -- who would pay the best deal."

Emerging from the southeastern corner of this state, Cox joined the Huskies from Walla Walla High School, billed as another Don Heinrich. He came to Montlake in1953, a year after the two-time All-American passer had graduated and left for the NFL. He wore Heinrich's No. 22.

Cox first played on the UW freshman team and next started seven games as a Husky sophomore during the 1954 season. Then he was gone.

"There were personal reasons why I left Washington," he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "Trying to work with {John] Cherberg was another reason."

Cherberg was the soon-to-be-fired UW football coach at the time.

Personal reasons was another term for money matters.

Cox never denied it. To the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, the highly regarded quarterback told how he received inflated payments over and above his scholarships from both Washington and Minnesota, a common occurrence for college football players during the 1950s, though still very much against the rules.

Labor leader Dave Beck was the quarterback's Seattle benefactor, providing him with $550 per month -- the permissible amount was $75.

The quarterback changed schools for one reason: Minnesota paid more.

After leaving the UW, Bobby Cox became a Sports Illustrated cover boy in 1957. | Sports Illustrate

"He had a pretty good deal going," said the late Dean Derby, a former UW and Walla Walla teammate, and a Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings defensive back who died in 2021 at 86. "It was profitable for Bob to go back there. He did pretty well, if you know what I mean. I was glad for him. We were all just trying to survive."

Cox came to the Huskies after helping lead Walla Walla to three unbeaten seasons, an impressive run marred only by a tie during his senior year.

He was such a versatile competitor, he turned in the nation's second-best 880-yard time in high school track and was part of a state championship basketball team, both as a junior.

"Bob may have been the greatest high school athlete I've ever seen," Derby said.

Bobby Cox got a lot of attention after transferring from the UW to Minnesota. | Minnesota

Cox turned up in Walla Walla for his high school years after moving from Los Angeles, either with his mother or alone, according to varying accounts. Regardless, he was destitute. The young athlete ended up living with five families, including those of a high school teacher, an army captain and a prosecuting attorney.

Once at the UW, Cox played on the freshman team and next was pressed into starting service in the fourth game of his sophomore season after quarterback Sandy Lederman was lost because of a broken leg. The newcomer had a sensational debut, throwing three touchdown passes in a near upset of No. 2-ranked UCLA, an eventual 21-20 defeat.

The '54 Huskies finished 2-8, but fans were enthralled with Cox. The strong-armed youngster with a perpetual swagger completed 66 of 146 passes for 809 yards and four scores. Much more was expected from him in the coming seasons.

However, the quarterback flat out shocked everyone in Seattle by announcing his departure from the team on the eve of UW spring football drills, news that made the front page of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Cox sat out the 1955 season as a transfer, watching from the stands as the Huskies visited Minneapolis and destroyed his new team 30-0. Second thoughts might have crossed his mind.

"Bobby came down from the stands, and we talked on the field," said the late Steve Roake, who replaced Cox as the Huskies' starting quarterback and was 91 when he died in 2024. "He said, 'Gee, I don't know whether I made the right decision or not.' "

In 1956, Cox finally had his Minnesota debut in a familiar place -- Husky Stadium. He threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to get a 34-14 victory rolling for his new team.

He guided the Gophers to a 6-1-2 season, leading them in rushing with 553 yards on 130 carries and in scoring with six touchdowns. Operating out of the option-minded Split T, he ran for two scores alone in a 20-7 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor that got everyone overly excited.

A year later, Minnesota was picked to win the Big Ten Conference championship and challenge for a national title. Cox was promoted as the nation's best quarterback in the preseason. His face appeared on a Sports Illustrated magazine cover with the title "Best College Quarterback."

Instead, he fell victim to a serious ankle injury that disrupted much of his senior year and his team suffered through a 4-5 season. An early 46-7 victory over the Huskies in Minneapolis was of little consolation.

Cox played in the Senior Bowl and Blue-Gray Game, but his pro career didn't amount to much. Cut by the Los Angeles Rams during training camp, he played briefly with the then AFL's Boston Patriots and in the Canadian Football League before becoming a successful Minnesota businessman.

He lived the remainder of his life in Minneapolis, a city that treated him well, though Seattle likely would have done the same had it been given the chance to match or exceed his Minnesota personal services agreement.

"He was an incredible athlete," said late Husky tight end Corky Lewis, who was 82 when he died in 2018. "One of the best athletes I've ever seen."

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