The Story of Bear Down Table of Contents
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THE STORY OF BEAR DOWN TABLE OF CONTENTS University of Arizona Athletics’ most enduring tradition is the slogan Introductory Information and battle cry, “Bear Down.” Quick Facts ........................................................................................................... 2 Media Information ............................................................................................. 3 More than a casual piece of encouragement, the rally cry has roots over Roster/Pronunciations ................................................................................... 4-5 a century old, to the Roaring ‘20s, and pre-dates another venerated 2017 Arizona Football exhortation, “Win one for the Gipper,” by two years. Player Biographies ........................................................................................ 6-24 Head Coach Rich Rodriguez .....................................................................25-28 In the fall of 1926, John Byrd “Button” Salmon was the newly installed Assistant Coach Biographies ....................................................................29-34 student body president at the UA, a promising student and member Football Support Staff ...............................................................................35-37 of note of several of the school’s honor societies. He also was a varsity University President/Athletic Director ......................................................... 38 quarterback, a baseball catcher and generally acclaimed popular cam- University and Pac-12 Conference ................................................................ 39 pus figure. He embodied all-around. 2016 Review In early October after the Wildcat varsity defeated the freshman squad 2016 Statistics ..............................................................................................40-48 2016 Game Recaps .....................................................................................49-60 in an annual match at the time, Salmon and several friends were return- ing from a visit to Phoenix, and an automobile crash north of Tucson Arizona Football History near Florence left the young athlete critically injured. All-Americans & Scholar-Athlete Honors ....................................................61 National Awards & College Hall of Fame ..............................................62-63 Salmon, then 22, lost his battle and died the morning of Oct. 18. A me- All-Conference & Miscellaneous Honors ..............................................64-67 morial service was held on campus that week, drawing a reported NFL Draft and Pro Football History .......................................................68-70 thousand mourners, and a line of cars stretched miles to his burial plot. Arizona Football Letterwinners ................................................................71-76 UA Sports Hall of Fame ................................................................................... 76 The coach at the time, J.F. “Pop” McKale, had visited Salmon in the hos- All-Time Assistant Coaches ............................................................................ 77 pital regularly before his death, and later told the squad the young Arizona Stadium History & Records ............................................................. 78 athlete’s last message to his teammates was, “Tell them... tell the team Arizona Football Record Charts to bear down.” Single-Game Records -Team & Individual ...........................................79-82 Season Records - Team & Individual ....................................................82-83 It’s unclear whether McKale invoked the phrase to the team before one Offensive/Kicking Annual Leaders .........................................................84-85 of several games that year, a contest in Las Cruces against New Mex- Career Records - Offense/Scoring ................................................................ 86 ico A&M (NMSU) that same week, or two weeks later before a game against New Mexico in Tucson. UA won both. Arizona Football Records Detail Offense ..........................................................................................................87-90 But when word spread, the UA student body drew to the phrase swiftly, Scoring & Kicking .......................................................................................90-92 and among other uses painted the slogan on the roof of the Univer- Punt/Kick Returns ......................................................................................92-93 Miscellaneous Game Records/Superlatives .........................................94-95 sity gymnasium shortly thereafter, known since as Bear Down Gym. Defense .........................................................................................................96-98 An airplane view of that huge-lettered phrase caused eventual long- Career Defensive Leaders ............................................................................... 98 time band director Jack K. Lee to write the song, “Bear Down, Arizo- Defensive Leader Charts ......................................................................... 99-100 na” during his application for the UA band job. The song, and Douglas National Statistics Rankings .......................................................................... 101 Holsclaw’s “Fight, Wildcats, Fight,” are played throughout University of Pac-10/12 Statistical Comparison Chart..................................................... 102 Arizona sporting events, and from the campus belltower daily. Game-by-Game Starters (1992-present) ............................................ 103-110 2016 Game-by-Game Starters, Career Totals .............................................111 Originally located outside the McKale Memorial Center upon its dedi- cation in 1986, the bronze bust memorial to John “Button” Salmon Arizona Bowl History was relocated in 2013 to more visible quarters near the Lowell-Stevens Appearances and Results ............................................................................... 112 Recaps & Stats .......................................................................................... 112-122 Football Facility. The new location placed the bust closer to the stadi- Arizona Bowl Team & Individual Records ......................................... 122-123 um, representative of Salmon’s participation in football. The bust faces 2017-18 Bowl Schedule & TV Information ................................................ 124 southeast so that it may look across the former Kindall-Sancet baseball 2017 Pac-12 Schedules by Team .................................................................. 125 stadium and on to the current home of Arizona baseball, Hi Corbett Field, as well as Salmon’s hometown of Bisbee. Arizona All-Time Results Season & Home Openers .............................................................................. 126 As part of a new tradition established with the 2013 season, Arizona Road Openers ...................................................................................................127 football players pass and touch the bust as a show of tribute as they Pac-12 Openers/Homecoming/Family Weekend .................................... 128 complete the “Wildcat Walk” and enter the Lowell-Stevens Football Fa- Future Non-Conference Schedules ............................................................ 129 cility before every home game. The “Bear Down” rally cry also appears 2017 Opponent Series History ............................................................. 130-133 Record vs. Opponents/Conferences .................................................. 134-135 inside Arizona Stadium. Arizona’s FieldTurf playing surface features Arizona Head Coaching Records ................................................................ 135 “Bear Down” in ghost lettering behind the prominent block “A” logo Year-by-Year Schedules & Results ....................................................... 136-145 at midfield. Arizona & The AP Top 25 In spring of 2008, a highway memorial honoring the Bear Down tradi- When Arizona is Ranked ............................................................................... 146 tion was installed along State Route 79 near the site of the tragic crash Arizona Against Ranked Team ............................................................. 147-148 at Florence. When Both UA & Opponent Are Ranked .................................................. 148 With or without the pieces of bronze and marble, Bear Down as a Arizona Football Historical Snapshot phrase and song has been inexorably a part of UA athletics, woven into Coaches, Records, Captains, Scoring by Year................................... 149-150 its fabric year after year, since October 1926. Since 2000, UA Athletics has awarded John Button Salmon Awards to 23 former coaches or ad- ministrators for exemplary leaadership and service to the University, in This material was prepared to assist writers and broadcasters in cover- honor of the tradition’s namesake. age of Arizona Football during the 2017 season. Photography by Arizona Athletics. Front cover design by Mike Baldwin. The University of Arizona “Button” Salmon died generations ago but his message still echoes is an Equal Opportunity institution committed to a policy of affirmative across every UA athletic venue, in every corner and through every action. Compiled by Blair Willis of the Arizona Athletics Communication building on campus, and