Today, Clell “Butch” Hobson Sr. is celebrating his 92nd birthday. The Tuscaloosa native is one of the oldest living former University of Alabama quarterbacks. Tot Fikes, who quarterbacked the two-hand touch women’s football team from the 1940s, is technically the oldest living quarterback for the University of Alabama. The University of Alabama discontinued women’s football after one of the players was seriously injured.
Alabama Today spoke on Sunday with his son, Clell “Butch” Hobson Jr., about his father’s career.
Hobson played for Coach Harold Drew, who was head coach of the University of Alabama from 1947 to 1954. Drew succeeded legendary Coach Frank Thomas.
Hobson lettered for Alabama in 1950, 1951, and 1952. Alabama finished 9-2, 5-6, and 10-2 during Hobson’s career. Freshmen were not allowed to play during that era.
Hobson will be one of this year’s Grand Marshalls at the West Alabama Christmas Parade on December 5 in Tuscaloosa.
The University of Alabama was 10 and 2 in Hobson’s senior year in 1952. That season was capped off with an Orange Bowl victory over Syracuse.
Even though most teams in those days preferred to run the ball, Hobson threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Luna for Alabama’s first score of the game. Syracuse tightened the game to 7 to 6 in the first quarter, but Alabama blew the game open in the second quarter. Hobson’s 50-yard pass to Thomas Tharp made it a 21 to 6 game. Eventually, Hobson’s backup quarterback, Bart Starr, would come into the game. He also threw a touchdown as Alabama routed the Syracuse Orangemen 61 to 6. The game is still the largest margin of victory for a Tide team in a bowl in program history and was the largest margin of victory in any bowl game until 2008.
Hobson had 107 completions for 1,299 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career at Alabama. He also rushed 164 times for 453 yards.
Following his career at the University, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians organization as well as by the Cleveland Browns. Hobson chose to make baseball his career. He spent several years in the minor league but never was called up to the majors.
Once his playing career was over, he returned to the University of Alabama as a graduate assistant under legendary football Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Hobson spent many years coaching high school football in Alabama before moving into administration, where he became a vice principal.
His son, Butch, followed in his father’s footsteps playing both football and baseball as his father had done.
“I learned a lot from my father and Coach Bryant,” the younger Hobson, now age 71, said.
The younger Hobson also played quarterback for the University of Alabama and also went on to play minor-league baseball. Butch gave up football in his senior season to focus on baseball. Butch would play in the Boston Red Sox farm system, though, unlike his father, Butch was eventually called up to the major leagues, where he played for eight seasons, six of them for the Red Sox. Butch followed his father into coaching, going on to manage numerous minor league baseball teams. From 1992 to 1994, he managed the MLB Red Sox. Now 71, he is still in baseball as the manager of the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball.
The elder Hobson is still not a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Butch said that he has forwarded information on his father to the Hall and hopes that he will be in the next class.
“I would like to get this done for my dad before he dies,” Hobson told Alabama Today.
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