Scholar athletes on center stage

ROGER CARLSON

The Orange County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and

College Hall of Fame has always been a favorite of mine, for a number

of reasons.

First, of course, are the individuals who make up this body.

Secondly, a pretty amazing display of their love for the game.

Monday night at the Anaheim Convention Center they put on their

34th annual Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner with a record number of

honored athletes.

What began in 1970 with seven standouts from around Orange County,

has now ballooned into a massive array of 54 honorees, all with a

minimum of a 3.3 grade point average and first-team all-league

laurels. And, even with those credentials, selection is not

automatic.

Ten of them were 4.0 or better and one of them boasted of a 4.7.

They dressed their honorees up in tuxedos and toasted them in the

best of style.

The guest speaker was former USC All-American and Kansas City

Chiefs standout Brad Budde, whose own son, Beau, was in the mix a

year ago.

In 1979, Budde was a unanimous selection for All-American honors,

and won the Lombardi Trophy as the nation’s No. 1 lineman for the

national champion Trojans.

He recalled a scene just two years earlier when as a sophomore at

USC, his opponent across the line was named the conference’s lineman

of the week for an outstanding effort and the reaction on the

practice field the following Monday by his line coach, Marv Goux.

Goux, one of the game’s great coaches and known for an abrasive

and very noisy style, got into Budde’s face without mercy. No one

could do it better. The result: Two years later Budde was a

first-round selection in the NFL draft with the Lombardi Trophy under

his arm.

Budde’s topic was “Why are you here and they are not?” and it was

a moving description of his own experiences, revolving around the

topics of the “savage [within], the ability to change and to

produce.”

I want to tell you more about Brad Budde, but today we’ll stick

with the event, which is one of the genuine acts of the love of the

game and the hopes and challenges which await these 54 seniors.

Twenty of them received scholarships of $1,000 each. All of them

were recognized for their achievements and potential.

Among the major players were Orange County Chapter President Ken

Purcell, master of ceremonies Paul Salata (who else?) and Dick

Whitney.

Salata, who claimed to be a “Serbian Prince” at one time during

his stint, had the 54 honorees virtually agape, or agog, in the early

going, but it didn’t take them long to warm up to his unique brand of

humor in a jugular vein.

He’s offering some $10,000 to anyone who can “fix” the NFL college

football draft April 24-25 so that Mr. Irrelevant will somehow be

more relevant.

It’s a complicated theory and far too irrelevant to dwell on. I’m

sure we’ll be hearing more on this.

Among the honored for coaching prowess over the years was former

Corona del Mar High Coach Dave Holland, Saddleback High Coach Jerry

Witte, Troy High Coach John Turek and Pacifica High Coach Bill

Craven.

Included in the field of 54 were Orange Coast College’s Chris

Cassidy and Corona del Mar High’s Andrew Lujan.

There haven’t been all that many so honored from the Newport-Mesa

School District, which serves to point out the level we’re pointing

out.

Here’s how the locals have done, in addition to some Orange Coast

College standouts who became part of the program in later years:

From 1973 -- Newport Harbor’s George Norris.

From 1974 -- Newport Harbor’s Vinnie Mulroy, my all-time favorite

prep receiver.

From 1975 -- Estancia’s Gary Confer.

From 1976 -- Newport Harbor’s Owen Frost and Corona del Mar’s Brad

Stassel.

From 1977 -- Newport Harbor’s Doug Brockmeyer.

From 1978 -- Corona del Mar’s Kurt Brockman and Newport’s Dave

Thompson.

From 1979 -- Corona del Mar’s Scott Carpenter and Newport Harbor’s

Alan Gaddis.

From 1980 -- Costa Mesa’s Max Marold and Newport Harbor’s Clarke

Smith.

From 1981 -- Corona del Mar’s Randy Reyes and Estancia’s Curt

Wenzlaff.

From 1983 -- Costa Mesa’s Scot Hagey and Corona del Mar’s Peter

Stoughton.

From 1984 -- Newport Harbor’s Fritz Howser.

From 1985 -- Corona del Mar’s Steve Chabre.

From 1986 -- Newport Harbor’s Daryl Pessler.

From 1987 -- Costa Mesa’s Terry Bryant.

From 1988 -- Estancia’s Chris Coons and Costa Mesa’s Jim Hastie.

From 1989 -- Estancia’s Oliver Wright.

From 1990 -- Corona del Mar’s Brian Hendricks and Costa Mesa’s

Quoc Pham.

From 1991 -- Newport Harbor’s Marc Barton and Darin Mangnall.

From 1992 -- OCC’s Dan Petrone, Estancia’s all-time leading

receiver.

From 1999 -- Newport Harbor’s Billy Clayton and Estancia’s Matt

Mueller.

From 2000 -- Corona del Mar’s Charlie Alshuler, Costa Mesa’s

Charles Amburgey and Costa Mesa’s Louis Day.

From 2001 -- Newport Harbor’s Brian Gaeta and OCC’s Robbie Pate.

From 2002 -- OCC’s Stephen Herring.

And from 2003 -- CdM’s Lujan.

Overall, about one a year. How many do you remember?

All of them, obviously, were blessed with proud parents. But No. 1

in that category, hands down, was Terry Bryant’s dad.

What does a coach do when he retires?

Saddleback High’s Jerry Witte, who will be at Saddleback for

another six years or so on the teaching staff, is planning on

attending a major game each fall. Coming up this fall: Purdue and

Penn State, in Happy Valley. Saddleback, incidentally, will be naming

the football field on campus “Jerry Witte Field.”

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected].