Cotton Warburton

Bio

At 5-7 and 145-pounds, Irvine "Cotton" Warburton might have been overlooked as a collegiate back. 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 unanimous 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.

Career Highlights

• 1933 All-West Coast
• 1933 Unanimous All-America