Hall of Fame
Position: Quarterback
Years: 1932-1934
Place of Birth: San Diego, CA
Date of Birth: Oct 08, 1911
Place of Death: Culver City, CA
Date of Death: Jun 21, 1982
Jersey Number: 13
Height: 5-7
Weight: 145
High School: San Diego, CA (San Diego HS)
At 5-7 and a scant 145-pounds, Irvine "Cotton" Warburton might have been overlooked as a collegiate back. In fact, that's exactly what happened. The Southern Cal quarterback spent most of his Saturdays eluding enemy tacklers. Obviously, his mastery of elusion led to a mastery of illusion in later life. "Cotton" became a successful Hollywood film editor and won an Oscar for his work on the box office hit "Mary Poppins." Small but mighty, Warburton became the most publicized open-field runner of the 1930s, leading USC through a pair of smash gridiron hits in 1932 and 1933, earning All-America laurels in the latter year. During those two campaigns, the Trojans won 20 games, lost but one (13-7 to Stanford) and tied one (0-0 against Oregon State). Warburton's contribution to those triumphs included team leadership in rushing and scoring. His career average gain was over four yards per carry. There was a good reason for his ground-gaining accomplishments. The San Diego, California, native brought state championship speed to USC after winning the California schoolboy quarter-mile in 1930. Somebody had to open the holes, however - even for the elusive "Cotton." It was Hall of Fame guard Aaron Rosenberg who also made it big in the movies as a director and producer.
