Red Erickson Day

Lately I have been watching the re-runs of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. It’s a very fun series if you life keeping up with the Jones’s. Young Indy meets the people who shaped the first half of the 20th Century before they made their impact.

It reminded me once again of my grandfather and his brothers. Last year I wrote about Mox the boxer. This year I am looking forward to the recognition of Red the football player.

While I couldn’t find a picture of Red, I did find this well know figure playing football the same year Red graduated (hint: The 40th President of The United States.)


Alma College Athletic Hall of Fame
Cliff “Red” Erickson
Hall of Fame Athlete Football
Class of 1930
- Inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual athlete.
- Participated in football.
- All-MIAA in 1928 and 1929.
- “Erickson playing fullback was a sensation in the conference this year. His hard hitting placed him as the foremost fullback. Erickson was also a stone wall on defense.”
- “‘Red’ Erickson the ‘bull of the north’, is playing at guard this year in the most improved manner.”
- “‘Red’ Erickson, a slashing, driving fullback was uncovered. The Newberry kid was hitting and hitting hard and how he did gain ground.”
- “‘Galloping Red Erickson’, The Newberry High School flash is Alma’s other All-MIAA candidate. The big, heavy, maroon and cream, ‘full’ was the outstanding offensive back for the conference. He is fast and plunged low and hard and when he hit the opposing line, it usually gave way.”
-“Albion could not stop this Alma player – Red Erickson, the battering man of the north.”

Escanaba, MI Aug 11, 2007 - The Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet moves to Escanaba in 2008, and it will have a noticeably local flavor.

CLIFFORD “Red” ERICKSON, Newberry. Nicknamed “the battering ram of the North,” Clifford Erickson was selected to the Alma College Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. Regarded by many as “the greatest athlete to come out of Newberry,” Erickson played football at Newberry from 1922-25 and Alma from 1926-29. He was a guard on Alma’s 1927 MIAA champions, then earned all-league honors as a fullback in 1929.