Harold "Bish" Hall

Tackle (1942, 1946-47)

Harold "Bish" Hall grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Tulsa Central High School where he played fullback and linebacker.

After graduating high school in 1942, Harold attended Coffeyville Junior College where he played fullback for the undefeated Red Ravens. Each game took an added significance because players thought every game might be their last because of the war. As the season ended, he was called to the Armed Services in December of 1942 and remained in the service until released in February of 1946.

Since most college athletes had been drafted into the military, no junior college in the state of Kansas fielded football teams in 1943, 1944 and 1945. In the fall of 1946, the veterans returned to college on the GI Bill so all teams returned to the field. In 1946, Coffeyville Junior College had an enrollment of 500 students with 285 of them being veterans. More than 100 men showed up at the first football practice. Eventually the squad was 58, and by the end of the season there were about 45.

"Bish" played tight end on the 1946 team that helped keep the winning streak alive to 35 games. The highlight of the year was when he blocked an extra point in the Independence game to help lead the Ravens to a 13-6 victory. He went on to play in the first bowl game, the Papoose Bowl in Oklahoma City.

In 1947, Hall played tackle and helped lead the Ravens to an 8-2 record. The team played in a second bowl game in Coffeyville. This was his third year of playing junior college football. All veterans were allowed an extra year because of their service in the war.

Harold was also an outstanding tennis player. In the spring of 1948, he won the Kansas State Championship.

He married Shirley Bradly in 1947. Shirley was a Coffeyville girl attending CCC when they met. In 1948, he and Shirley went to Texas Tech, but only stayed two weeks because it was too hot, and the living conditions were poor. They took off for California, were there about a month, and then returned to Kansas to work the remaining semester. A number of former Raven teammates went to New Mexico University, so he joined them and played there for two years. After graduation he was invited to play professional football for the 1950 New York Yanks.

Harold and Shirley returned to Lenapah, Oklahoma, where they ranched for 55 years until retirement in 2004. They have three children, Linda, Susan and Brad, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.