A Standout at the Agricultural College
of Utah (Utah State) from 1914-1917 and member of the
AAU National Champion basketball team of 1916, Romney
was called to service when the United States mobilized
for World War I on April 6, 1917. Stationed
at the newly opened Camp Lewis, south of Tacoma, he and
the best players from the 12-team inter-divisional teams
were selected to play as All-Stars in place of the
collegiate and club teams that could not field teams.
This team would rack up huge scores with the exception
of their wartime rivals, the Mare Island Marines, who
were also filled with former college stars. Romney
led all scoring in the Northwest from his halfback
position.
In a decision that went all the way to
the White House, the annual Rose Bowl game, thought to
be dead in the water due to the war, would be played by
the two best teams on the coast. Camp Lewis and
Mare Island. Camp Lewis would fall short, but
Romney would not be held out of the endzone, scoring the
only TD for the soldiers and in so doing, scored the
only points the Marines gave up the entire season.
*Historical note: Romney
returned to Utah State as a coach where a new football
stadium built in 1968 would bear his name until it was
replaced in 2015. Dick is a distant cousin to
former Presidential candidates George and Mitt Romney of
Massachusettes.
