Roffler Helps Carry The Ball Star In 1948 Prep Classic Game Now Assisting With 1995 Version

When the Athletic Round Table began to regain its prominence as a major supporter of athletic activities in Spokane a few years back, it found a logical recruit.

Bud Roffler, considered one of the greatest high school athletes in Spokane history, joined the ART board of directors.

“When I was an athlete, they (ART) were really something,” Roffler said. “I thought if I could help, I’d surely do it.”

When ART agreed to back the East-West Summer Classic football game’s return to Spokane after 15 years, they had the perfect point man for their participation - Bud Roffler.

“The friends you make and the people you meet, there’s nothing that takes that place,” said Roffler, who played in the 1948 game. “It really means a lot to a guy to participate in something like that.”

When Central Valley football coach Rick Giampietri envisioned bringing the game back to Spokane, he contacted Roffler and ART president Lawrence Cary Smith.

“Without their interest,” Giampietri said, “we wouldn’t have it. They played a big part in persuading people to do it.”

They have continued to help Giampietri with the many organizational details associated with the game.

Roffler’s performance in that second annual all-star game helped non-Seattle athletes gain statewide notoriety.

Roffler was certainly a Spokane legend, having been named All-City as a junior and senior in football, basketball and baseball for his efforts at Lewis and Clark High School.

He set a city record with 66 points in six football games and an average of 177 yards per game in total offense his senior year. He led the league in scoring during his junior year of basketball and was second as a senior. In baseball he hit .433 with a 5-1 pitching record as a junior and finished his career with a .391 average and 11-6 record.

During Roffler’s junior year, the Tigers won the City title in all three sports.

“Although he had been a star for his school team …” wrote sports editor Eugene H. Russell in The Seattle Times, “Bud Roffler, All-Star fullback, was not as much publicized in Seattle before the game as some of his All-State teammates. But he covered himself in glory and was the biggest single factor in the All-State victory.”

This week, as the players arrive for Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game at Albi Stadium, UW-bound quarterback Brock Huard from Puyallup won’t suffer the same anonymity Roffler experienced.

Perhaps Roffler can take a small amount of credit for that. He made a name for himself in a hurry, taking the opening kickoff 88 yards to the City 2-yard line and scored two plays later, the first of his three touchdowns, sparking State to a 26-12 win.

“At that time the city of Seattle probably felt like they had the best athletes,” said Roffler.

As a testimony to the State’s talent, the format changed from Seattle vs. the state, eventually becoming an East-West game.

After the game, the rumors spread that Roffler would attend the University of Washington instead of nearby Washington State College. But Roffler wanted to play basketball and baseball in college and UW wanted him for football. That and the steady East-side influence of family and friends took him to Pullman.

Roffler changed his mind about football after watching a few weeks of practice at WSC and turned out late.

“I started going to practice and watching and that was it,” Roffler said. “Thank God I did.”

He capped his senior year by being named defensive back of the week by the Associated Press after leading the Cougars to a 27-25 upset over Washington in Seattle. He called defensive signals and picked off two passes, returning them 26 and 31 yards. He probably had a good case for winning the offensive award as well. Roffler played all 60 minutes against the Huskies, returning kicks and rushing the ball 31 times for 131 yards and completing passes for 77 more.

He also got a chance to play in his second all-star game, participating in the East-West Shrine Game.

Roffler went into the service after college and served for just less than two years - playing on an all-service championship football team - before trying out with the Green Bay Packers. Though an injury prevented him from catching on with the Packers, he later played with the Philadelphia Eagles.

His second season with the Eagles was cut short by an automobile accident and when it came time to return, the interest wasn’t there and he never went back.

“It was time to get on with life,” he said, so he took a job driving a beer truck for Joey August Distributing. A year later, he hooked up with B&B Distributing, where he stayed until retiring two years ago.

In 1976, Roffler was inducted into the Inland Empire Hall of Fame with a class that included Central Valley basketball coaching legend Ray Thacker, former Gonzaga Prep football coaching great Billy Frazier, Joey August, Maury Wills and Jerry Kramer.

Roffler considers himself as lucky, and not a legend. It’s a modest approach he has long followed.

“I’m just so thankful for athletics,” he said. “I was really fortunate. I happened to be on teams with great athletes.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo