up next on a second look in an age of segregation, a team took a chance. he is in the hall of fame, he won a super bowl. we talk to madden about his time as a raiders coach. meet the niners who played at kisar. and what's being done right here in the bay area to make football safer for players at every age and level. all straight ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look. i'm julie haener. next sunday night at this time the 49ers could be super bowl champs for the sixth time. the turn around in just two seasons has been legendary. and the bay area is full of football legends. we thought tonight we would take a look at them and efforts to make the game safer. the university of san francisco had what may have been the best

football team in the country. today it has no football program at all. the reason for that program's demise was in large part because of its players. they took a stand for a principal far more important than football. in 2001, george watson brought us this look at the usf dawn's of 1959. today it's as much shadow as stadium. enough remains to plainly see what it once was. tall stately columns support air not steel. grassy knolls surround. square upon the eastern edge of golden gate park. graceful reminders of a place where young men played the game of football. along those who led memories there is the legacy of perhaps the greatest college football

team no one ever heard of. in 1951 university of san francisco dawns. >> i think we were the best team in football at that time. college team in football. no question in my mind if we had the opportunity we could have beaten anybody. >> could have is the key phrase. the 1951 usf football team came to be known as the team that was undefeated, untied and uninvited. at the end of the season there were no bowl invitations for this group. a team that sent 10 players straight to the nfl. three of whom went on to the nfl hall of fame. what happened? >> we were uninvited. we had some opportunities to go to bowl games but they were all in the south. >> two of the finest players in the country played at usf in 1951. center linebacker burl toller

and eventual hall of famer. they told them they could play only if toller and mason were left out of the team. >> they said you can come but you have to leave the two black boys at home. what were we to do. >> at first it was jubilation then they heard the catch. >> everybody exploded and then he says what do you think about ollie and marley. i cannot repeat what they said. that was the end of the jubilation. >> we didn't know. they don't ár -- they didn't want to go. it was that simple. >> for them to say we will only

invite teams without negros and that was unacceptable. the dignity of friendship came without a price. the school's football program was finished. >> it was a great emotional loss that's still the fact that we were so close to each other that we would never never have stood for the fact of leaving our two black players behind. that was just unquestionable. >> reporter: what would be the legacy of this great team besides its athletic which was considerable. 10 players to the nfl hall of fame. gino marqueti, the college player who became the nfl's prototype defensorrive. st. clair the defensive tackle who became so many games.

high school, college and prothat they named the field after him. and ollie matson who some say was the greatest running back of his generation. but the history of usf's team unresolved and unfinished may be found in one man. >> i became an nfl official and family, my six children and now they are all grown and my baby is 24 -- 34 i'm sorry. my oldest is 47 and they're all out of college. >> reporter: uninvited true but forever remembered now for the best of reasons. >> what year is that?

>> that's my sophomore year. >> in 2006, usf honored at their commencement ceremonies. davis was there. >> reporter: students graduating from the university of san francisco rose to their feet and sheered -- cheered an act of bravery by these men. back then usfs team in the darker jerseys had a perfect record of nine wins and no losses. they should have been invited to a postseason bowl game. but this was during segregation. to play in a bowl the team would have to leave its two african american members ollie matson and toller behind but the team unanimously disagreed. this morning, the school gave

the players an honorable doctorate. >> congratulations. >> that was nice. it's just something i never expected to happen. >> reporter: we talked to members of the team at a lunch reception after the ceremony. they're old friend who get together now at least once a year and when asked they recall the contentious time clearly. >> as far as we were concerned there was no race issue. you know, we were a family. and made no difference whether you are black or white or whatever. and it was just one family. >> and what a family. five from the team went to play in the nfl probowl. and three were inducted into the hall of fame. even the team's information director pete rozel became commissioner of the nfl. still to come, john madden talked about his glory days as head coach of the oakland raiders. >> 49ers tight end vernon davis shows off his artistic side.

tonight on a second look the rich history of football in the bay area. and one of the key figures in that history is john madden. madden led the oakland raiders to super bowl history and was inducted into the profootball hall of fame. in 1994 when madden was in the middle of a broadcasting career that lasted nearly 30 years, dennis richmond had a chance to talk to him about madden's time in football. >> john madden is many things to many people. but to the real raider fans, the oakland raider fans. john madden will always be coach madden. >> you will never see a better game than this one i'm sure you will agree. >> i was 32 years old when davis named he head coach. >> that was a time according to madden when winning or losing

did not include lawyers just the assistant coaches, the players and madden. >> he was able to keep his shirt tail in the wind. >> why did you have a tag. >> it was probably something they told me to do. they said everybody has a pass and they gave everyone a pass. and you had to wear it and i wore it. i still do on television. they've given me a pass and a credential to get in the game. but i do it. >> you put it on. >> i think they're going to ask me to leave and not let me in or something. and i think at that time i think all coaches were wearing them. and the difference once i didn't wear any kind of jacket or coats and they used to wear coaches would dress up in sports coat and they might have it inside or tucked in some place. i never, i never had any place to tuck anything in. you know.

>> everything hung out. >> yeah, plus when you're heavy, have you ever noticed that the bigger you are the harder it is to keep stuff tucked in. >> in another subject, madden understands what it's like going from winners to losers. he offered a novel solution. >> i've always thought that after you win a super bowl, you ought to be able to have a sabbathical. you know how they gave teachers. they never gave coaches and teams sabbathical. if a team that can win a super bowl can take a sabbatical for a year. go have the parades and banquets for a year just sit there and say we're the champions. >> enjoy it. >> right and not have to go defend it and not have to go through we have to get right

back. we have the mini camp. that's what gets you and i think that's what got him. >> he believes great players do not make great coaches. >> i used to be a teacher before i started coaching, i always felt that the best teachers were the c students because they would understand people that would struggle. anyone can teach an a student because they would get everything the first time it was presented or they would probably learn on their own any way. so the real challenge to teach would be the people that struggled with anything you would teach them. i think they were the real teachers. the geniuses were not the real teachers. the people that struggled to learn were better teachers. the coaches i feel the same way. that the great players can't understand. why can't he do that once and be perfect. because it's hard to be

perfect. my shirt tail is hanging out or something. when i coached, that's when quarterbacks were really field generals and stable was gray. and they called their own plays but now, they can't do it anymore. because they have to put their packages and their situations all their substitution packages and they have to know who's going to be in there. so a coach up in the booth calls down to a coach on the sideline who signals into the quarterback. when i got out of coaching i was never a real good flier any way but i started working for cbs doing a few games and flying and i had chlostorphobia and other things. so i thought, i'm going to have to quick my job. get professional help which i didn't want to do or find another way to travel which was

the way i decided to do it. >> for a while madden tried taking trains all the while hideing the fact from his bosses at cbs -- while hiding the fact from his bosses at cbs. >> for a while i was a closet train rider. they would say, we'll make your plane reservations. i would say no, i'll make my own reservations. i will make my own reservations. and then they would tell me, we'll pick you up at the airport. and i would say, no i will

drive myself. and then it's surprising how many people ask you how was the flight in. and i would just say, the trip in was good. when i go from here to new york i saw all of it. i know how people are in ohio, nebraska, new orleans, every place that you go you know the people. and you kind of you know you can talk to them. >> when we come back on a second look. last week vernon davis was catching touchdowns. the next he was opening his art gallery. >> and what's being done to cut down on concussions in football.

if you watch last sunday's nfc championship game you know 49ers tight end vernon davis can be an artist on the field. but davis is also an artist off the field and in december he

opened his own gallery in the south bay. ktvu's matt keller was there. >> vernon davis arrived in style tonight for his own party at santana row in san jose. and he brought friends. 49ers teammates olson and deshon turned out for the new gallery opening. >> have you ever been to another nfl player's art gallery opening. >> this is definitely the first. we're here to support him. >> we're family. it goes a long way. not just on the field off the field as well. it was a no brainer, i had to be here. >> vernon davis is a great football player. but under his uniform is a great artist. some of his acrylics on display in the gallery. >> basically vernon used paint to express his inner feelings. if you look around you these are all vernon's paintings. >> gallery 85 is the

culmination of vernon's passion for art. it promotes appreciate for arts for kids and gives out scholarships. >> to reach out to kids to say it's safe, it's okay to be an artist. you don't have to play football or basketball to be cool. >> how does tonight's celebration compare to his game winning catch. >> what's more emotional for you seeing this or catching a ball in the play offs? >> probably the play offs. this is something but it's more for the kids than for myself. >> with the new santa clara stadium in the works. the 49ers will likely play at candle stick only one more season. but there was another stadium before candle stick, kizar. the 49ers held a public practice at kizar and some of the stars of the kizar days were there. so was joe fonzi. >> reporter: it was a night to

reminisce at kizar stadium in san francisco. 49ers held a public practice at kizar tonight. some 33 years after playing their last season here. in those days, kizar looked like this. fans battled fog, wind and sea gulls to see a team that came close but never won a championship. still there was no shortage of memories. >> well, i'll be 62 next year. and it's from high school to this is just another great part of my life. >> i just remember the game in 1957 when they played the detroit lions, i waited out here on arnasas for 17 hours in the rain to get a ticket. and sat in the east stands with my wife who was my girlfriend at the time. >> the players were there tonight as well. bob sin claire played his high school, college and procareer at kizar. the stadium is now named after

him. >> i am a hometown kid. i grew up here. i said to myself, oh boy i hope some day i grow as big as these guys. >> sinclaire was one of many players that the 49ers played tribute tonight. they maybe slower and now gray haired but their memories are as big as they were. >> they would hit most of the game. it was everybody knew it was coming. >> we won several games in the last few seconds and that enabled you know the name to become a biword in football history. >> this was the second of two public practices the 49ers held this year. they expect to have more next year but nothing will feel quite like returning to their roots tonight. when we come back on a second look. vie rent hit, their part of the game but is -- violent hits, they're part of the game but is there a way to make the game safer?

bay area researchers are doing studies to find out. of course. uncle ralph? sure. a roman gladiator? you bet. the thing under my bed? why not? ♪ yes. [ female announcer ] get more with embassy suites. book early and save up to 20%. growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two shows. and if mom was recording her dumb show and dad was recording his dumb show then, by george, that's all we watched. and we liked it! today's kids got it so good. [ male announcer ] get u-verse tv for just $19 a month for 1 year when you bundle tv and internet. rethink possible.

in the past few years both professional and college football have developed an intensified interest in preventing concussions. penalty flags for helmet to helmet hits are now virtually automatic. researchers at stanford university have been at the center of efforts to make the sport safer. and earlier this month ktvu 's health and science editor john fowler is looking into what research is being done. >> just how violent, how risky is this. this is stanford's championship game. >> i hope it's a game changer. i've said to myself that i will not allow my kids to play the sport of football until there's an answer. >> reporter: stanford researchers compared two years of mouth guard data to super high speed video like this discovering exactly the

direction and energy of hits on helmets. yet brain injuries remain unpredictable. >> we don't really understand precisely when an injury happens and what the threshold is. >> reporter: researchers studied a hit at 140-miles-an- hour. but head rotation may be just as important. >> your brain essentially starts sloshing around and leads to sheering motion. we think that maybe part of the injury. >> it's not just helmet to helmet. this brutal hit in the chest in the seahawks game caused walker's concussion. the mouthpiece technology was offered to the nfl but the league turned it down. this week doctors revealed junior seau committed suicide after he suffered brain damage from repeated head injuries.

pop warner, tens of thousands of hits to the head appear cumulative. >> these low level sub threshold injuries that happen throughout the time. that can put you at risk. they have difficult remembering things and being able to concentrate. their interactions with people become affected they become more angry and emotional at times. >> more troubling research has found the same hit that's no problem for one player may cause a concussion on another. >> we're so used to thinking of injuries as a black and white thing and this is not black or white or gray. it's something entirely totally different. >> players at all levels are getting bigger and faster. hits getting harder and harder. >> all of my close friends and colleagues they put their life on the line literally speaking every saturday. >> researchers say they hope to predict the risks of any given