custom ad
SportsAugust 31, 2000

Max Neville remembers the opening kickoff at Houck Stadium almost as if it were yesterday. Which is quite remarkable, considering that the boot took place almost 70 years ago. The date was Oct. 3, 1930, and brand-new Houck Stadium was ready for official introduction as the home of Southeast Missouri State University football. It was constructed at an original cost of $150,000...

Max Neville remembers the opening kickoff at Houck Stadium almost as if it were yesterday.

Which is quite remarkable, considering that the boot took place almost 70 years ago.

The date was Oct. 3, 1930, and brand-new Houck Stadium was ready for official introduction as the home of Southeast Missouri State University football. It was constructed at an original cost of $150,000.

Southeast and regional rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale hooked up in that contest, played in front of 6,000 fans. The Salukis kicked off to begin the game, and the ball came to Neville.

"I remember when it was coming down, I said to myself, it's the first kickoff, so don't drop it.' I ran about 25 yards until they hit me," recalled Neville.

SIU went on to win the game 12-6, but Neville's memories of that first contest played at Houck are still sweet.

"That day was something," he said. "We had a big crowd for the new stadium. For that time, it (Houck) was really something, a concrete stadium like that. I imagine that was probably the best stadium of any college in Missouri at the time."

Nearly 70 years later, Houck still serves as the home of Southeast football. There have been various improvements made over the years and many more are planned for the near future, which Neville says are needed.

Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!

"I think it's about time they spruced it up again," he said.

Neville, who lives in Cape Girardeau, said he hasn't attended a Southeast game in a number of years, but it's not because of his health. A spry 92-year-old, he is barely a couple of pounds above his college playing weight of 158 pounds. He walks every day, attends church twice a week, goes dancing and still drives.

"I've always had good health. I don't smoke and I never really drank," he said, and added with a laugh, "I still drive, and I can still run if I have to."

Neville, who has been widowed for 23 years (he has a son and a daughter, along with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren), played two years of football at Southeast after being a standout athlete at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

"I made the all-Southeast Missouri team in football, I was captain of the basketball team and I had the (school) high-jump record for about five or six years. I jumped 5-9 1/2, and in those days you couldn't dive over the bar, you had to jump," he said.

At Southeast, Neville played halfback.

"I carried the ball a lot. I wasn't real big, but I was pretty fast and tricky," he said. "I only played two years because I had to go to work. I worked all through high school and college. I learned to work early."

Neville, who spent a large portion of his life selling insurance in the St. Louis area, loved participating in athletics, but don't ask him much about what's going on in the world of sports these days.

"I'm not too much interested in sports if I'm not participating," he said.

Story Tags
Advertisement

Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:

For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.

Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!