Getty Image
The vast majority of people who attend a college football game would be wildly out of their element if they attempted to compete on the gridiron, but there are still plenty of spectators who convince themselves they could do exactly that—including a drunk Cal fan who once tried (and failed) to prevent a Michigan player from scoring a touchdown during a one-sided blowout.
There have been plenty of college football games that have been temporarily derailed courtesy of unexpected intruders who made their way onto the field.
That includes a guy dressed as a ref who inadvertently sparked a melee after blowing a play dead, and you obviously have to mention the time the Stanford band treated us to a chaotic scene at the end of a game against the Golden Bears in 1982.
However, that’s not the only strange moment that’s unfolded at Memorial Stadium courtesy of rogue invaders, as Michigan running back Tom Harmon had to deal with a “12th man” who attempted to prevent him from making his way into the end zone during a showdown in 1940.
A drunk Cal fan came out of the stands to try to stop a Michigan player from scoring a touchdown
Getty Image
There was a ton of hype surrounding the Wolverines at the start of the season in 1940, as Harmon (who would win the Heisman Trophy when the campaign wrapped up) was the star of an incredibly formidable backfield behind an equally impressive offensive line that made Michigan a force to be reckoned with on the ground.
The team’s only loss of the season was a one-point defeat to a University of Minnesota team that would finish the year at No. 1 in the AP rankings, but they didn’t have much trouble dispatching the other squads they faced off en route to going 7-1—including Cal, who was no match for Michigan in their season opener.
The game took place in Berkley on September 28th, and Harmon (who was celebrating his 21st birthday) turned into a one-man wrecking crew that the Golden Bears were unable to shut down.
It didn’t take long for Michigan to get on the board, as Harmon took the opening kickoff back to the house for a 94-yard touchdown (he also kicked the extra point himself). In the second quarter, he once again torched Cal’s special teams unit on a 72-yard punt return to give the Wolverines a 14-0 lead—a development that drew the ire of Golden Bears fan Harold “Bud” Brennan.
By that point, Brennan had put a dent in the flask he’d brought with him to the game, and after Harmon scored his second TD, he told a friend he’d “go out there and tackle him myself” if the RB managed to break free yet again. Unfortunately for Cal, it didn’t take long for Brennan to get the chance to live up to that promise.
Michigan once again ended up with the ball with halftime on the horizon when Harmon took a handoff from his own 14-yard line and masterfully weaved his way through a number of Cal defenders he made look absolutely foolish before he once again surged toward the end zone.
While it looked like he had an uncontested path to secure his third TD of the game, things took a turn when Brennan lived up to his word and ran out onto the turf before lunging at Harmon on the goal line only to see the RB casually juke to his right to avoid the tackle and cap off his run with the score that gave Michigan the 21-0 lead.
Police quickly ran out onto the field to escort Brennan off of it, and Cal was similarly unsuccessful in its continued quest to stop the Michigan offense from scoring in a game the Wolverines ultimately won by a score of 41-0.