Another famous name from the football past has a birthday celebration on this day, September 18, 1926.
That’s Skip Minisi. He was a former halfback who played for the University of Pennsylvania and the Navy Midshipmen football programs in the mid-1940s.
Skip played for the Penn Quakers in 1944 and then, while serving his country in World War II, played the 1945 season as a member of the Naval Academy football team. Min, after his service, returned to his studies at the University of Pennsylvania and competed for the Quakers once again in 1946 and 1947.
Minisi’s impact was almost immediate in 44 as he aided the Quakers in an improbable victory over a strong Duke Blue Devils squad.
With his fine play that same season, the Underclassman completed a 69-yard pick-six against Dartmouth College, and in the Michigan game, he tore off a 67-yard touchdown run.
In 1945, as a midshipman player, he helped displace his beloved Penn team by catching a last-minute pass from Navy quarterback Tom Hamilton to give The Middies a 147 victory over the Quakers.
That had to be bittersweet for many in the stadium that day. Still, the very next season, in 46, Minnesota, back in a Quaker uniform, was instrumental in a victory over his former Navy teammates. Wow, what a roller coaster of events.
After college, Skip entered the practice of law in the Philadelphia area, and in his spare time, he headed the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Football Officials. Skip was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame and in the class of 1985.
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