The LIFE cover that never was

In 1963 LIFE Magazine said that Roger Staubach, Navy's quarterback, was going to appear on the cover of their November 29th issue. His parents were enthusiastic and he was sure that after being on the cover of LIFE, his road to the Heisman Trophy would have been much easier. On November 22nd Staubach was gearing up for the Army-Navy game, trying to bring his team to a 9-1 record.

Few days earlier Budd Thalman was on campus, talking to a LIFE photographer trying to take some shots of the academy and their athletic faculty. Budd asked him what could've happened in order to keep Roger off the cover:

Only a catastropheThat's what the LIFE photographer said. So everyone was really confident about the issue actually being printed out. Before the magazine was pressed out and hit the newsstand, Budd received 3 copies of the magazine draft with Staubach on the cover.

While Staubach was preparing for the biggest football game of the year, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was in Dallas, sitting in the back of the Presidential limo, where he was assassinated by a sniper. The catastrophe happened.

LIFE prepared a 36-page special issue on JFK, ditching the Staubach cover. The Navy - Army game was posponed to December 7th due to the assassination. Almost (all) the magazines with the Navy QB on the front were destroyed.

Staubach went on to win the Heisman Trophy, 2 Super Bowl rings and 6 Pro Bowl selections. The Army - Navy game was won by the Navy team, that went on to beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, but never had the chance to appear on the cover of LIFE again.