Remembering the Aggies Who Led Us to Rams

Last week I called my old friend Frank Faucett to wish him a happy 93^rd birthday. He was not only a member of the 1949 Raisin Bowl team, but also played halfback next to Eddie Hannah and Jack Christiansen. Faucett and his wife, Barb, sit next to me at Canvas Stadium -- the third CSU football stadium they have had season tickets to watch the Rams in action. During our call, he noted many of his friends had passed away.

Earlier that week, I met with Kevin Dorsey, son of Colorado A&M halfback Al Dorsey, who lost his fight against cancer in March of 2021 at the age of 88. Al was a tough, bruising halfback from 1951-1953 who stayed very active in clubs and get-togethers among former CSU athletes. Kevin had many of his father's treasured items he wanted to donate back to the school, including the game ball from the 1953 win over Kansas State at Colorado Field. Many of them will go on display around campus this year.

During our conversation in the parking lot of Costco, Kevin and I rattled off all the old Aggies who Al knew and used to hang around with in the old former athlete's lounge at Hughes Stadium. We quickly realized many of our Aggie-era players in all sports are in their late 80s or early 90s. We also realized how many of them have passed on over recent years.

The Aggie era can be defined by athletes who played sports at CSU between 1899 and 1959. It was around 1959 the school started to officially recognize in media guides and programs the Rams name, adopted by students in 1945. Just like WWII veterans, we are losing the Aggies and along with them the stories and history of the university when it was still just a small college.

In 1992, I first started researching and collecting information about the history of Colorado State University athletics when I was on the yearbook staff. I was fortunate enough to interview Charles Bresnahan who lettered in every sport, all four of them, between 1918 and 1922. I did an audio tape interview with Earl Lory, son of legendary CSU president Charles Lory and a former athlete in the mid 1920s. I also received a letter from Norm Cable, a fine football and track athlete who was coached by Harry Hughes and his assistant coach, Glenn Morris, in the mid 1930s.

Former Aggie after former Aggie wrote or spoke to me about those days on this campus, and all were happy to tell their stories when they came to Rams' sporting events. Two of the best former athletes who contributed to the stories of Aggie days athletics were Gary Glick and Alan Ashbaugh. Ashbaugh can possibly be considered the first volunteer CSU athletic historian, collecting photos from former athletes and hanging them on the walls in the former athlete's lounge.

Ashbaugh also collected several letter sweaters, cleats, helmets, and even a gym bag which are all still on display on campus. He wanted his era and the past eras of Aggie athletes to be recognized, so Ashbaugh searched photos and learned the stories of athletes he never played with, also helping form the Hall of Fame with former Ram athlete Jim Smith, a kid who played in the 1960s.

Glick, a legendary CSU star and also the only football player in school history to be the overall first pick in the NFL draft was vocal about CSU's athletic history. Glick said to me during a reception in the Hughes Room before a football game, "All we former players want is to be remembered for what we did for the school."

Glick, Ashbaugh, Cable, Earl Lory, Bresnahan, Fum McGraw, Jack Christiansen and so may more great names in CSU athletics are gone, and there are only a few remaining who can recount the Aggie days. Just as we thank a veteran for their service, all CSU fans should stop and talk to anybody from the Aggie era, hear their stores of playing for Davis or running at the Colorado Field track and thank them for helping advance CSU to where we are today.

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