The Old Guy Rules

When I think about what I have in my life, I realize that I owe many of those blessings to my alma mater, Eureka College.  A small private college in central Illinois, Eureka taught me many lessons about the benefits of hard work and about being a man.  I was recruited to Eureka by Head Coach Warner McCollum, one of the finest men I've met in my life.  He sat in my living room, looked me in the eye, and said, "You won't start right away at Eureka.  You won't be the big frog in the pond anymore; you'll be a little tadpole."  He was the ONLY man who recruited me who didn't promise me I'd start my first year in college.  His honesty and kindness were what sold me on Eureka, and I'll always owe him a debt for that.  I loved my four years at Eureka, and I'll always maintain that they were four of the best years of my life.  Now, my daughter is getting ready to start attending Eureka in the fall.  Having just visited the campus, I couldn't help thinking about my time there, playing football with guys like Mark Klokkenga, Rod Wertz, Mike Nardini, Rick Rogy, Dave Smith, Eric McClain, Joe Fezzuoglio, Ray McAfee, and many others, all tough guys who taught me a lot about football and even more about being a man.  However, no one taught me more about that subject than defensive line coach Leo Traister.  Traister, a Eureka legend as a football player who once beat Bradley University almost single-handedly by scoring every point in a 35-33 game, was as hard-nosed as they come, and he worked me and my teammates harder than we thought possible, but when gametime came, we were ready.  Coach Traister was my high school football coach Drew Potthoff's coach at Eureka as well, and Coach Potthoff had a big part in my attending Eureka, for which I will always be grateful.  (To give you an idea of how much I think of Coach Potthoff, he was the best man at my wedding.)  I worshipped Coach Traister, so much so that I had him introduce me when I was inducted in the Eureka College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.  Coach, if you ever read this, thank you for everything you did for me.  And thank you to Eureka College and all my professors and coaches for giving me the foundation for what has since transpired in my life.

This is a picture of Coach Leo Traister and yours truly the night he presented me for induction into the Eureka College Athletic Hall of Fame.  As honored as I was by my induction, I was every bit as honored to have Coach Traister there presenting me.

These pictures were taken in 1985 during my senior year at Eureka.  In the top picture, I'm discussing strategy with a Eureka legend, Coach Leo Traister.  Yes, our football field was surrounded by a field of corn.  I want it noted that I actually had enough hair to get in my eyes.

My buddy Mark Klokkenga started an initiative to raise money for Eureka's weightroom, which has machines and weights that were there when he and I played over 20 years ago.  Eureka is a small, private school that does not have the financial resources of bigger colleges and universities, so new machines and weights for the weightroom are not high on the funding priority list.  However, the kids in Eureka's athletic programs deserve better than what they have, so we're trying to raise some money to help them out.  So far, donations have been trickling in, but we're nowhere close to what we'd like to have for the kids.  If you'd like to help us out, Old Guys, you can send a check (made out to the Eureka College Athletic Dept.) to the following address:

Eureka College
Athletic Dept.    Football Project
300 East College
Eureka, Illinois 61530

If you guys donate money to the weightroom, please do me a favor.  Email me at oldguyrules@gmail.com and tell me that you donated so I can write you back and thank you personally.  This is a project that is near and dear to my heart, since I spent a lot of hours in that weightroom during my four years at Eureka.  Thanks, Old Guys, for supporting a good cause.