The University of Southern California won its first college football national championship during 1928. The Trojan’s success during previous seasons, partly attributed to the big uglies in the gridiron trenches, helped prep USC for that championship season. ”Uglies” had become a term used with affection. By chance, a couple of those trench teammates, following their college football careers, became Hollywood stars.

When John Ford was seeking talent for his 1929 football film “Salute” that centered around the Army-Navy rivalry, the director decided to cast some of the “uglies” as Midshipmen. “Get me that one with the ugly face,” Ford reportedly said as he gestured toward one player who was given the role of Midshipman Harold. A teammate and close friend of the handpicked player worked as a prop boy and uncredited extra for the film. The two players remained close friends for life and together they became huge talents on the big and small screens.

Midshipman Harold’s actual name was Ward Bond. His friend the prop guy was Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne. They worked together with John Ford again on the film “Stagecoach” and often teamed on other western films.

While John would become an icon on the screen, Ward settled into a prosperous career as a stuntman, toughie, baddie, or ugly. He estimated that he played these roles in about 150 films. During the late 1950s, after two decades of sensational supporting work, Ward finally received a leading role in television’s “Wagon Train.”

Ward died suddenly after only a few years starring in the role as the wagon master on that show. His loss impacted everyone in the business, including his former USC teammate. Their friendship was deep. In his will, as a way to tweak John for his masterful handling of guns in all those westerns, Ward left “The Duke” the shotgun that the star had accidently fired during a hunting trip. With that shotgun, John had injured his friend, one of USC’s top Uglies.

This is the first baseball season in 82 years without Ed Lucas. The name might, as with a 100 mph fastball, whiz by you. But, if you have followed the New York teams the last handful of decades, you’ve heard about him, watched interviews with him, or read his articles. A close friend was Phil Rizzuto, who frequently mentioned Ed on Yankee broadcasts.

The New York Giants had just won the 1951 pennant when 12-year-old Ed ran from his Jersey City apartment to play baseball with his friends. He didn’t pitch often due to poor vision (he was legally blind), but he took the ball that day when several other boys had left the field. Without his thick glasses, Ed threw and the batter swung at the pitch. The ball struck Ed between the eyes.

The accident detached Ed’s retinas. His vision continued to deteriorate and he became fully blind on December 11, a day he always associated with the retirement of Joe DiMaggio. Surgery was unsuccessful to reattach Ed’s retinas, which had been weakened at birth due to insufficient oxygen. Mom Rosanna tried to raise her son’s spirits by writing letters to the Giants, Yankees and Dodgers with the hope that players, coaches and broadcasters from the game Ed loved would offer encouragement.

Giants’ manager Leo Durocher invited Ed to the Polo Grounds. When Rosanna learned that the Yankees shortstop worked during the off-season at a men’s clothing store in Newark, she and her husband took Ed to see him and to buy a suit. This started a five decades friendship.

To continue his education, Ed attended St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City and then the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind in the Bronx. His love for the game remained strong though he no longer could see the field or the players. At the Bronx school, he formed a group of baseball fans who invited players to speak to the class. Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle were among several who visited the students.

Ed then attended Seton Hall University, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications and hosting a show on the school’s radio station that featured interviews with baseball personalities. He also wrote part-time about the game for several newspapers, including The Hudson Dispatch and The Journal. Unfortunately, a full-time professional job in the sports business following graduation did not develop for Ed. It’s not an easy profession to crack even for a cub reporter who could see the game.

To earn a living, Ed became an insurance salesman. He later became a public relations director at Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital in Secaucus and served as an ambassador, fund-raiser and board member of the St. Joseph’s School.

Then, during the 1980s, Ed decided to pursue baseball full-time. Assignments included a weekly radio show on WMCA-AM during the baseball seasons. His contributions to the Yankees’ YES Network website earned him a 2009 New York Emmy Award. The majority of his work was conducted at Yankee Stadium, surrounded by many players, coaches, managers and executives. One of them was Joe DiMaggio, who sat next to him in the press box on opening day of the 1976 season. Joe told Ed to turn off his transistor radio and remove the headset that he always used to follow the games. The Yankee Clipper delivered a personal play-by-play.