I can't tell you how great it was to read an article this morning on a name that I heard many a time when I first started attending USC games...
Shelton Diggs made an indelible connection with Pat Haden, and to USC history...
The flanker's game-winning catch gave USC a gutsy two-point conversion, an 18-17 victory over Ohio State in the 1975 Rose Bowl and a share of the national championship.
And, not least, it earned the unassuming Diggs an honorable and unassailable post in Trojans football lore.
"That's my little claim to fame, that catch right there," Diggs acknowledges. "I didn't think about it then, and I don't think about it a lot now, but it's nice to know I did something to help USC win a national championship."
I can't tell you how many times I remember hearing that name as a kid.
Diggs had big shoes to fill when he replaced Lynn Swann in 1974. And true to form, USC Head Coach John McKay thought that Diggs could be better than Swann.
He never lived up to that hype but McKay's faith in Diggs had to be something special.
I don't remember any one play that Diggs made that I saw in person...I do remember this catch because I saw it on TV, my dad chose not to go the Rose Bowl that year in favor of attending a big family gathering.
Those were some great times!
I am glad that Diggs is getting some recognition all these years later. Sometimes we forget some of the little back stories that have built the history of this great program. With all the negativity we have to read about the team of late it is nice to look back on nostalgia.
Diggs had an unremarkable NFL career but he will always be known in Trojan lore for that catch!
This story brings back a ton of great family memories!