Colby Mules (1972)

These days, I live about 20 minutes from Waterville, Maine, and Colby College, which, according to the townsfolk, is either singlehandedly leading the revival of downtown Waterville or is "that place on the hill" singlehandedly taking over the city, whether the residents like it or not.

One thing everyone can agree on is this: Colby is not known for football (well, outside of Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta). From 1962-78, the Mules had only one winning record and have had but two since 2000. Today, we're going to look at the 1972 bunch -- the lone winner in that aforementioned 17-year span. (I should eventually profile the 2000 team that shared the NESCAC title, which is kinda like Columbia winning the Ivy League or Rhody taking the CAA.) More importantly, the '72 Mules answer a question that has been on America's minds for decades: What if you mashed up the Baltimore Colts unis with those of the Detroit Lions?

About five years ago, I profiled the 1962 team that resembled the latter-day Baltimore/early Indianapolis Colts.

Colby players were full of joy in 1972.

The Team: Colby went 7-1, the Mules' best record since the 1940 bunch went undefeated (6-0-1), and their most wins since 1909 (7-0). Colby outscored its opponents 222-150; toss out a 49-0 loss to Hobart, and the margin is 222-101.

The Players: The leader of this team was sophomore Peter Gorniewicz, who set school records with 1,170 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns and 90 points scored. He finished his career with 4,114 yards, which apparently was a New England record at one point. QB Brian Cone, who was named team MVP, handed the ball off to Gorniewicz and also kicked field goals. Cornerback Aubrey Moore led the team in interceptions with four.

The Coach: Dick McGee guided the Mules from 1967-78, going 29-64 (the '72 team was his best, by far), and also was athletic director from 1974-87. He also did quite a bit for community sports in central Maine, as you can read here in this excellent tribute following his death in 2015 (and I'm not just saying that because I work for the Central Maine papers! 😎).

Colby players take in the action, 1973.

The Uniforms: Now, time to answer that question America was debating in '72. The result? Not bad. The blue seems to be a little darker than that used by the Lions or Colts (side rant: I've never liked the term "Honolulu blue" to describe the Lions' jerseys), but it works well. The horseshoe on the silver helmet doesn't look too much out of place; I found it odd only upon first sight. The striping, names and number fonts and pure Champion all the way, very similar to what Boston College had in the 70s. Interesting that the Mules wore names on the back; most teams (at least around New England) still eschewed the practice at this point in time.

True fact: The Maine Legislature outlawed
live animal mascots in the 1960s.

The Aftermath: Gorniewicz had another big season in '73, but the Mules fell to 1-7 and didn't  had another winning season until 1979.

(The bulk of the info on this team, plus the pictures, came from this excellent article from The Colby Alumnus, Fall 1972. Check it out.)

A headline from the Colby Echo describes Colby's lone
win of the '73 season, over Bates. So much for academic schools
having more intelligent humor.