WINNING STREAK

Way back in 1961, I graduated from tiny Clifton Heights High School. Although the school was tiny, our football team was an undefeated dynamo in my junior and senior years. In fact, we owned the longest winning streak in the state of Pennsylvania. As a result, college scouts attended most of our games.

Two of my teammates were recruited by the University of Miami. One was a three-year starter in the same backfield with future NFL quarterback George Mira. As for myself, I was recruited by three schools:

1. Columbia
2. Delaware
3. Navy

I chose Navy, and they sent me to prep for a year at the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) in Bainbridge, Maryland. At that time, most colleges sent their recruits to prep school for a year to mature and to get bigger and stronger. It was an interesting and thrilling experience for me at NAPS, and I got to play both football and basketball.

Our football team played a tough schedule that included other prep schools, trade schools, junior colleges, and college freshmen teams. In those days, freshmen weren’t allowed to play on the varsity.

We played the Navy Plebes in Annapolis – with Roger Staubach at quarterback – and the Temple frosh at Temple Stadium.

I’d like to say that the happy ending to this story was having Roger Staubach throwing passes to me for two years, winning a Bowl game or two, and being named to the All-American team. Then, being commissioned an officer and a gentleman upon graduation and serving my country around the world for the next twenty years or so.

But none of that happened.

In fact, I got kicked out of the program three days before the buses pulled out to begin Plebe summer.

So there I was, back home on the Fourth of July with no idea what came next.

I got a job at the bubble gum factory in Havertown from Monday thru Friday. Every evening, I threw the ball around at the Clifton field with three buddies:

1. Clifton teammate and running back Jimmy Hess who was attending Miami.
2. Vince Grubb, who played running back at Bonner and was starting his sophomore year at West Chester.
3. Vince’s older brother Bill Grubb, who also played at Bonner and was the starting quarterback at Temple.

Bill threw passes while the rest of us took turns running pass patterns.

On weekends, Vince and I went to Wildwood and pretended to be twenty-one.

GETTING LATE

As the summer passed, I still had no idea what came next. By the middle of August, I was planning to take a year off from going to college – but my parents would have none of that.

My father, the athletic director at Collingdale High, made a few phone calls.

Next thing I knew, I was sitting in an office with Temple coach George Makris and Bill Grubb, and we were watching film of the NAPS game versus Temple.

The coach liked what he saw and said he wanted me. I envisioned having Bill Grubb throwing passes to me – just like he had all summer. But there was a problem.

Since it was so late in the recruiting season, Temple had already allocated its quota of football scholarships. I would have to pay my own way to get started. Coach Makris assured me that there would be drop-outs by the end of the first semester and he’d be able to offer me a free ride at that time.

Would that be amenable to me?

For some reason – irrational as I look back on it now – I didn’t want my parents to have to pay for my college education. So I said “no.”

• No playing for Temple.
• No catching passes from Bill Grubb.
• No playing on the same team with Bill Cosby.

That’s how close I came to playing for Temple. And that close call has made me pay attention to the Temple program ever since. I’m delighted to see the success the team’s enjoying this season. I hope they beat Notre Dame this week, win a Bowl game, and finish the season undefeated.

In addition to being the official Eagles Outsider for BlameMyFather.com, Barry Bowe is also the author of:

• Born to Be Wild
• 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant
• 12 Best Eagles QBs
• Birth of the Birds
• Soon-to-be-published sexy, police procedural Caribbean Queen
• Soon-to-be-published novel Stosh Wadzinski
• Soon-to-be-published novel Polish Widow