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Tino Sabuco was born on December 20, 1926 in Detroit and attended his local MacKenzie High School. He attended Wayne State College in Michigan for one year and transferred to USF in 1946. At 6’ 1” and 206 lbs., he played center for the Dons.
Under head coach Joe Kuharich, the Dons went undefeated at 9-0 in the 1951 season. With two African-American players on the team in Toler and Matson, they were not invited to any postseason bowl games. The owner of the Gator Bowl Sam Wolfson had made an agreement with the Orange and Sugar Bowls to omit teams with black players. When the Orange Bowl extended an invitation to them on the condition that the two African-American players be excluded, the team unanimously declined and from then on they were called the “undefeated, untied, and uninvited.” Although the Dons had been denied a bowl berth, the entire team was recognized at the 2008 Fiesta Bowl at long last making an appearance in a bowl game.
Unfortunately without post-season funding, USF was forced to shut down its football program the following year. Attendance at the Kezar Stadium games had declined 80% since the arrival of the 49ers in 1946. The squad featured nine future NFL players, including Pro Football Hall of Fame members Matson, Marchetti, and St. Clair, and five earned Pro Bowl selections at some point in their career. The team’s Sports Information Director, Pete Rozelle, served as NFL Commissioner for 29 years.
Sabuco was drafted in the ninth round (52nd pick overall) of the 1949 NFL draft by the Chicago Hornets, but played one season for the San Francisco 49ers. He served in the United States Marine Corps.
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