Senior Pirates reminisce
They’ve gathered for a hall of fame induction or two, but it probably says more that they met for lunch just because, well, because they could and because Coach was coming to town.
So it was on Tuesday, when 17 former Whitworth football players, showed up to say hi to Sam Adams.
It’s not like they never see him. It was just last homecoming when Adams’ 1960 team was inducted into the Whitworth Hall of Fame. And there was Adams going into the Inland Empire Hall of Fame prior to that.
The din in a back room of Five Mile Heights Pizza on Tuesday belied that familiarity as they talked about golf games, riding lawnmowers and the disappointing Mariners like long-lost friends.
“It looks like he could still play,” one former Pirate said about a teammate across the room. “The rest of us can’t even see to tie our shoes.”
Ron Haffner spearheaded this informal reunion – loosely centered on the 9-1 teams of 1960 and ‘61 – and picked up the tab.
“A couple, three times a year I talk to Sam,” said Haffner, a linebacker, who missed last fall’s festivities. “What started it was Sam mentioning he would like to come see me. I said why not see a bunch of us and it ballooned from there. It started out as a get-together with the guys in Spokane and branched out.”
Haffner, Rex Schimke and the late Leo Hutchins, called “an unforgettable character,” stayed together from first grade at Arlington through high school at Rogers (Class of ‘58) and Whitworth, Lynda Hutchins said. She also pointed to some dear friends from their days together on Ball and Chain Lane, which was their name for married student housing.
Sally Haffner assumed the role of greeter and hostess because of her husband’s failing eyesight.
There was an obvious affection among the former teammates.
“You’re looking good,” an exchange started.
“So are you.”
“You ready to go 40 yards?”
“You bet, just put me in a car and I’ll make it.”
Adams, 79, who lives in Pullman, was amazed so many players showed up for no particular reason.
“Of course it’s very exciting, nostalgic … you can’t put it into words,” he said. “Now it seems we get together once or twice a year. They like each other; they have great respect for each other.”
Adams coached seven seasons, from 1958 through 1964, and after starting with a 3-6 record went 44-11-1 the rest of the way.
The coach seemed to be just one of the guys. When he entered the room his former players jumped up and lined up to greet him, more with hugs than handshakes, not a typical exchange with a revered figure.
“He was just the same way, low key, just the facts,” Pete Black, a lineman from Wenatchee, recalled. “He always put together a good plan.”
“He’s knowledgeable, about athletics in general,” said John Murio, a two-way end who came from San Francisco. “He knows people … he’s a people person. He could get this conglomerate of yahoos in line and get them to play together. He knew talent.”
Murio, who returned to California to coach before settling in Wenatchee, was one of the headliners back in the day, catching enough passes from the late Denny Spurlock and adding points through his place kicking duties to lead the nation in scoring in 1961.
“I never thought about (individual recognition),” said Murio, who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1962. “First off, we were primarily a defensive team, even though we were known as an offensive team. Our stats weren’t that great because we beat the heck out of teams and had to let up. A lot of us played both ways. When I came out of a game to rest it was on offense. We hardly threw the ball, we were just good at it when we did.”
Adams couldn’t single out a best team from his time at Whitworth.
“It’s hard to say,” he said. “Offensively, as long as Spurlock was there we were good offensively. Defensively we had one great team after another.”
Looking around, he continued, “These guys were real football players. They were all so smart. These guys could have played with anybody. One of your reporters, I can’t remember his name, said we could have probably beat Washington State. That’s hypothetical, of course. Four or five of these guys could have played for anybody.”
The 1961 team was ineligible for a championship, put on probation for what several players called bogus charges against Adams for illegal recruiting of a transfer who barely played.
“It didn’t make any difference to us because we didn’t win the championship,” Murio said. “If you win all your games, you’re champion. We didn’t care. It didn’t mean anything to us. We played for fun, it was that way my whole career.”
And they’re still having fun.
In addition to Adams, Haffner, Murio, Schimke and Black the gathering included Tom Black, Pete’s older brother, Jim Upchurch, Les Hogan, Jerry O’Callahan, Lex Rorey (whose daughter Leslie and three children stopped by to hug some old “uncles”), Jim Breymeyer, Fred Shaffer, Norm Harding, Charlie Reed, Mike Edmonds, Lavaughn Stevens, Shorty Bennett (and his wife Marcella) and Gene Baker.