Vox in the Box

Dear Vox,

What happened to football referee "Red" Friesell after he refereed the "fifth down" game between Dartmouth and Cornell in 1940? Did his faux pas do him in as an officiaior did he live it down?

DEAR JOHN,

For readers who missed the game; late in the fourth quarter, Cornell's fourth-down pass fellincomplete. Friesell then gave Cornell another down. Cornell scored and won the game 7-3. Days later Friesell admitted his error, and Cornell, which hadan 18-game winning streak, forfeited. Friesell continued officiating until 1944. He never did live down the flub. His class secretary referred to him as "Fifth Down" Friesell in a 1965 edition of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. Friesell's death was noted in The New York Times solely because of the error. Were it not for the fifth down game, Friesell's whistle and shoes probably would not be sitting today in the National Football Hall of Fame.

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