Athletics a good start for a lifetime of achievements

By Charlie Barnes, Executive Director - Seminole Boosters

Our Seminoles last lost a bowl game on Jan. 1, 1981 - a soul-wrenching 18-17 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl. One measure of how long ago that was is that the quarterback who beat us is now a U. S. Congressman.

Some of our men on that '80 team went on to become professional players of some renown ­ men like Bobby Butler, Zeke Mowatt, Rohn Starke, Dennis McKinnon and Weegie Thompson.

But this isn't about college athletes who become professionals. This is about those who excelled on the playing field and then became leaders in their professions after college.

In the years since that Orange Bowl, quite a number of men from that squad have achieved notable success. And some have given back to the university, financially and through personal involvement. Defensive end Scott Warren is a physician, a Golden Chief and a member of the National Seminole Booster Board of Directors. Tight end Sam Childers is a Silver Chief. Cornerback James Harris has served on the National Alumni Association.

Some are attorneys, including sports agent Phil Williams (WR). Three are outstanding college coaches: Jeff Bowden (WR, now at FSU), Rick Stockstill (QB, now at Clemson), and Reggie Herring (LB). Safety Monk Bonasorte is helping raise $1.8 million from former lettermen for construction at Doak Campbell Stadium.

That Sooner quarterback, J.C. Watts, is one of only two black Republicans in Congress. Seven other Congressmen played college ball: Steve Largent (Tulsa), J.D. Hayworth (N.C. State), Richard Burr (Wake Forest), David Bonier (Iowa), Norman Dicks (Washington), Pete Geren (Georgia Tech), and Jim Traficant (Pitt). Please note that three of the eight are from ACC schools, with none from the SEC.

Florida State boasts many of its own student-athletes who have achieved prominence beyond athletics. Bill Parker, past national chairman of both the Alumni Association and the Seminole Boosters, was one of the first to letter in three sports. Former Speaker of the Florida House and now president of Tallahassee Community College, T.K. Wetherell, was a receiver for the Seminoles. Judge Kim Hammond was his quarterback.

Model and professional volleyball player Gabby Reece played volleyball for the Seminoles. Now she's the host of her own TV series, The Extremists.

Gabby's teammates included Candi Orsini, a prominent Hollywood stunt coordinator, and Barbara Harris, editor-in-chief of Shape magazine.

Seminole halfback Burt Reynolds had a 54-yard run against Auburn; the man who tackled him at the goal line was Fob James, now governor of Alabama.

And when the call went out just last month asking for help to build a Letterman's Club in the new University Center, actor and former Seminole center Robert Urich's $50,000 was the first gift.

Movie villain Jack Palance played basketball and football for North Carolina. Movie hero John Wayne played football at Southern Cal.

Singer Kris Kristofferson played football at a small college in California, and rugby while studying as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Country singer Larry Gatlin was a split end for Houston, and caught a touchdown pass in the infamous 100-6 victory over Tulsa in 1969. He majored in pre-Law.

Bill Cosby played football and ran track for Temple University. "And I was great!" says the Coz.

Comedian Jerry Clower walked on at Mississippi State. When they asked him what position he played, he replied, "Sir, I am the man what runs with the football." They made him a defensive tackle.

ABC's Ted Koppel played varsity soccer for the Syracuse University Orangemen.

Jesse Jackson brought his North Carolina A&T team down here to take on Jake Gaither's Rattlers in 1964. It was not a good idea, as you can imagine. FAMU won 46-24, and Jake allowed later that maybe Jesse was a better preacher than he was a quarterback.

President Richard Nixon played football at Whittier College; Gerald Ford was an All-Big-Ten center at Michigan, and Ronald Reagan played football and baseball at Eureka College.

Vice president Al Gore was on the freshman basketball team at Harvard, but he never had the athletic ability of his roommate, actor Tommy Lee Jones, who played football for the Crimson.

President George Bush played first base and was team captain at Yale. Vice-President Dan Quayle was a four-year letterman and top player as a senior on DePauw's varsity golf team. Sen. Bob Dole was on the freshman basketball team at Kansas in 1942-43, before enlisting in the Army.

Former Congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp played quarterback for the Buffalo Bills after college, and he says the experience gave him a realistic view of politics.

"It gave me a good sense of perspective for the political arena," he said. "I had already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded and hanged in effigy."

I would think all these men and women could affirm the value of discipline, teamwork and the camaraderie of college athletics. We are fortunate at Florida State to continue to have young men and women who exemplify the highest standard of the NCAA student-athlete.