University of Washington’s Husky stadium was built in 1920 and did you know that in 1923 held P resi
dent Warren Harding’s final speech before unexpectedly dying.
There have been a number of renovations over the years and this photo must be of the 1950 addition of 15,000 covered seats. Wikipedia has
the rest of the history. Click for higher res.
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| University of Washington Stadium under construction, 1951. Photo by Walter S. Baldinger. Photo courtesy University of Oregon Libraries, Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest. |
I think it was early September 1971 or ’72 and an NFL exhibition game was held at Husky Stadium. The New York Jets vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the beginning of the end of Joe Namath’s career and the rise of the Steelers. During halftime, there were some dignitaries on the field, and one of them boldly declared that the NFL would be coming to Seattle within five years. We all went berserk…
I agree the photo is backwards. These would be the south stands. the north stands weren’t built until the 1980s, I think. So this view should be to the north, so Union Bay (the water in the photo) should be on the right.
The photo is definitely reversed. The north addition was added in the spring of ’87…..once the cheap Korean steel was removed from the wreckage when the first try collapsed.
Louis- was it the Jets & Pittsburgh, or the Jets & Eagles? Seems to me Owens signed a Jets ballboy because of the way he could fling the balls back to the punter, but he never saw any action, backing up Denny Fitxpatrick, & I think Chris Rowland. Around that time, I got a program, which had pictures of all the Pac-8 stadiums, and the photo of the UW was before the south addition was added……WTF?
Lewis:
The game was in Sept. of 1971, and featured Pittsburgh and the New York Jets.
A highlight was, after the game, with no traditional “security” in a non-NFL city, and just for an exhibition game, Joe Namath left in a police car, while the respective team buses just sat unguarded and barely cared about!
(I only found this thread for trying to find the final score of that exhibition game)
sorry, “Louis” !!!
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I was at that game. Terry Bradshaw was in his 2nd year with Steelers.
I was at the game myself… My Dad took myself and my best friend to the game. We were both 9 years old. To this day I still remember the thrill of seeing a professional football game live for the first time! Prior to the game I remember all of us being mesmerized on how far both Joe Willie and Terry Bradshaw could throw the ball flat-footed in warm ups. Seemed like they, with little effort, could flick the ball 50 yrds without any effort at all. Same thing during the game… Now that I am attending the final game against the Ducks before renovation some of these memories are coming back. This will be a special day for those of us who have spent many years attending games in Husky Stadium! Long live the past and we look forward to the future! Go DAWGS! BEAT THE DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!