People > Players 1920s-1930s > Al Barabas
Al Barabas, CC 1935
KF-79: To this day it remains among the most famous play calls in Columbia football history. Al Barabas, the only sophomore starter from the 1933 squad, became a hero following that New Year's Day.
On the rain-drenched field at the Rose Bowl, Columbia quarterback Cliff Montgomery took the snap, turned to handoff to his halfback Ed Brominski who was sprinting right, but pulled the ball back. With the Stanford defense in pursuit after Brominski, Montgomery slipped the ball to Barabas who was headed around the left end. Barabas raced into the end zone untouched. A successful extra point gave Columbia a 7-0 lead, a margin that would remain intact until the final horn.
Barabas also excelled on the baseball diamond and after graduating from Columbia he played both sports professionally for three years, playing football for the Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball for the Boston Red Sox's AAA team in Little Rock, Arkansas.