[A group of men posing for a photo Description automatically generated]
Mud Bowl 1976 – L to R Bottom: George Rogers, Barney Eredia, Brad Bassi, Don DeCamp, Tom White, Steve Couture. 2nd Row: Vanston Shaw, Paul Seideman. 3rd Row: Chris Couture (hidden), Greg Sutton, Ken White, John Machado, Dave Henry, Dave Swain (hidden), Shel Thompson Scott DeCamp, Jim Coito, Dave Wherry, Jim Meikle, Dough Highiet. Back Row: Ron ?, Jeff Highiet.
The Mud Bowl 2023
60 Years and Counting
Ken White
The Mud Bowl. It’s about tradition and community, friendship and football. It is the longest, continuous mud football game still being played in the nation. It was 60 years ago that some high school classmates played separate football games at Roosevelt Junior High and Pike Park. A couple years later, they combined their games and gathered on a Thanksgiving morning at Thousand Oaks, now Kewin, Park to play a football game in the mud.
At first, they picked teams. Then they divided into the Davis Class of ’66 versus “The Other Guys,” which included younger brothers and Downey guys. It was tackle, then touch, then flag, then touch again. There were drawn-up plays, stats, and trophies. A banquet the night before, a highlights video, commemorative apparel, breakfast at The ‘Dial the morning of, post-game cocktails after, and poker the night of. There have been injuries and some of the originals are no longer with us.
The players that gathered that first Thanksgiving grew to 20 regulars plus or minus and now there may be as many as 40 players subbing in and out. Over the years, more than 500 players have participated. One current player quarterbacked his team to two national flag football championships. Another QB, who played with NFL great Gino Marchetti at MJC, hopes to still be playing at his century mark.
To celebrate 60 years of refusing to grow up, the McHenry Museum is hosting an exhibit that chronicles and celebrates the players and the game. The exhibit opens October 13th and closes November 26th. The Museum is open 12-4 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It is located at 1402 I Street in downtown Modesto.
The rest of the story is told in my book, Brighter Day, which can be purchased locally at the McHenry Museum Bookstore and The Graffiti Museum, as well as online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
