Mike Reid, fullback, kicker and hero for the Gophers in the ’60s, has died at 83

Mike Reid, a two-year starter for the Gophers football team and former Gophers assistant coach, died Sunday.

Reid, who was a fullback and placekicker on the 1963 and 1964 teams, was living in St. Paul. He was 83.

A Wisconsin native from Spring Valley, about 60 miles east of Minneapolis, Reid provided the highlights for the Gophers in the 1963 season finale against Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium.

The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 23 but was postponed after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22 in Dallas. The game was played Nov. 28 — Thanksgiving Day — and Reid scored both touchdowns and kicked both PATs in the Gophers’ 14-0 victory. It was the Gophers’ first shutout of the Badgers since 1948 and left them with a 3-6 record.

Following the 1964 season, he was named second-team All-Big Ten and played in the Blue-Gray Football Classic all-star game in Montgomery, Ala. Reid kicked a field goal and an extra point in the Blue team’s 10-6 victory over Gray. The Blue team was coached by Gophers coach Murray Warmath. In June 1965, Reid played in the All-America football all-star game in Buffalo.

Reid was an assistant coach on Warmath’s staff for four seasons beginning in 1967. He left in May 1971 to go into business.


Go Gophers!!

How many Golden Gophers have scored all the points in a victory? Cmon statboys.

Mike "all the points" Reid

It blows my mind that players from Warmath's glory years are in their 80's.

There is a back-story to Reid's big day vs. the Badgers. The previous game, at Purdue, had a bitter, Gopheresque ending. Down 13-11 late in the game, Aaron Brown got loose with a Bob Sadek pass and was seemingly headed for a winning touchdown. However, he pulled up lame and was caught from behind. The Gophers had to resort to a short field goal try, which Reid missed. The photo in the paper showed how he felt, lots of raw emotion. The next Saturday was supposed to be the finale at home vs. Wisconsin but was delayed to Thanksgiving Day due to the Kennedy assassination. Reid's 14-point day gave him the last laugh and vindication but Eller also had a huge game, his last for Minnesota. He personally led two goal line stands that ruined Wisconsin's only chances to score. Reid's anguished scene at Purdue was repeated late in the 1965 game at Ohio State. John Hankinson connected with Brown on a late, long pass, with the Gophers down 11-10. Alas, on the last play of the game an offensive lineman named Darryl Ramey missed a short field goal, which he felt sure was good. He could not believe the call by the officials and went on a rage.