First Flight

By Rich Kaipust, ’87

UNO’s football program has reached some great heights in the last 70 years, but it first took flight in 1930. A short flight, but a flight that was meaningful enough to land the university in the College Football Hall of Fame. The 1930 Omaha University team recently went on display at the Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. Its accomplishment? Omaha U. is believed to be the first college football team ever to travel by airplane to a football game.

Former Omahan Gary Wiren brought this to the attention of the College Football Hall of Fame staff in early October. By the end of the month, the hall had an 11-inch by 17-inch picture and short story on the Cardinals’ trip wedged next to Red Grange’s jersey.

"It's prominently located because it's probably next to our most prized piece of memorabilia," said Kent Stephens, collections manager for the hall. "We always thought the first (team to fly) was at the University of New Mexico later in the '30s. Our first reaction was that it was something that was unknown to us."

It’s somewhat buried in UNO’s proud football history. The school has a 1930 team picture in its Sapp Fieldhouse display case, but didn’t have the same photograph Wiren came up with from former Omaha U. player John Barber.

It happened on Oct. 3, 1930, when the Cardinals made the short flight to Fremont to play Midland Lutheran College. The teams played to a 0-0 tie and the Omaha U. team returned to campus by bus.

Wiren got the photo—and story—from Barber by accident. Barber, now 91, and Wiren were meeting in Eugene, Ore., earlier this fall when they happened to come across the fact that both were Omaha natives.

Barber told Wiren about playing football at Omaha U. and about the Cardinals' unique traveling situation. He even dug up a picture. It shows 12 players standing on and around the single-engine airplane, with a helmet resting on one of the propellers.

Wiren then did the rest.

"When he brought out the picture, right away I knew," Wiren said. "I've set up museums before, so I know a little about what's museum material. I said, 'John, that's a classic.' To me, right away my mind said: College Football Hall of Fame."

Gary Anderson, UNO's sports information director, and Don Leahy, UNO's former athletic director, said they had never seen the picture before. The 1930 team picture displayed in Sapp Fieldhouse does have a type-written caption telling about the one-way flight to Fremont.

Anderson said he didn't know of Omaha U. and UNO previously being a part of any College Football Hall of Fame exhibits.

"It's a neat thing to have our program included in something like that," Anderson said. "I think it just adds to a tradition that a lot of people around here have overlooked."

Barber recalled playing center on the 1930 team. Future Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt had played quarterback in previous seasons for Omaha U., Barber said, but wasn't on the 1930 team.

Barber said the team took off from Omaha Municipal Airfield. Because the airplane had limited passenger space, it took three trips to get the team to Fremont, with the plane landing each time in a field adjacent to the football stadium.

An Omaha World-Herald report the day after the game stated: "The first-string Omaha eleven made the trip to Fremont by air, but because of poor lighting conditions the return trip was made by bus." The information was buried at the bottom of a five-paragraph report about the game.

Barber said it was mostly a "publicity stunt" for a team that would struggle through a 3-4-2 season.

"It was an interesting experience," Barber said. "After all, we were not a real good team and we didn't have a good record."

Stephens said the College Football Hall of Fame had the New Mexico information archived and was planning to put it on display in the 1930s section. Instead, the staff redid the 1920s (Barber and Wiren thought the flight happened in 1929) and the Omaha U. historical flight likely will stay up until January of 2002.

"It wasn't too long ago that we got the photograph from people at the University of New Mexico," Stephens said. "When we got something that predated that, we were quite surprised. It's interesting the way the team got there, with the guy shuttling back and forth. And the fact that the plane landed right next to the field was kind of neat, too."

Wiren is an Omaha Creighton Prep graduate and a member of the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame. He now lives in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Wiren said he was thumbing through some old newspaper clippings when he came across Barber's name in an Omaha U. story. He framed it and took it to Barber, which led to their conversation about the airplane ride.

"I called John before I left on a recent trip and said, 'John, congratulations,' " Wiren said. "He asked why and I said, 'You're in the College Football Hall of Fame.' He was really happy."