Alumni Reconnect in Record Fashion
April 18, 2016 | Football
By Brooks Hatch
OSUBeavers.com
Oregon State football alums from six decades reminisced, renewed old ties and forged new friendships and connections last Friday at a sold-out 2016 OSU Football Alumni Golf Scramble.
Former players from the 1957 and 1965 Rose Bowl teams, the Giants Killers, the 2000 Fiesta Bowl, and from all eras before or since gathered at the Corvallis Country Club on the eve of the annual Spring Game for an afternoon of golf, camaraderie, and to connect with second-year head coach Gary Andersen and his staff.
The guest list included All-Americans Chris Gibson, Sean Mannion, Greg Krpalek, James Rodgers, and Richard Seigler; recent Super Bowl participant Dwan Edwards; second-generation Beaver star Tony O'Billovich, and a host of other luminaries who thrilled several generations of Beaver Nation.
“It's always fun, and it's even more fun now because you get to really know the new coaches,” said Mike Fessler (1997-2000) of Silverton, the punter on the Pac-10 co-champion 2000 team that destroyed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. “Meeting Gary and his staff was fun, and it's new.”
Friday's event drew the largest turnout in the event's 17-year history. More than 120 alums participated, ranging from letterman Craig McMicken of Florence, Ore., who played for Lon Stiner in 1948 and for Kip Taylor in 1949, to punter Keith Kostol, who completed his career in 2014.
Twins Harry (1977-81) and Hank (1977-80) Myers of Myrtle Point said it was an “honor” to come back, to meet the coaches, and to mingle with those who preceded and succeeded them in the program.
“It's a brotherhood that will bond us for life,” Harry said. “Also, people get to see the support former players have for the current group of players who are striving to become winners.
“I know they are going to become winners in life, and I know they will be winners on the field.”
O'Billovich (1990-93) – the son of OSU Hall of Fame linebacker Jack “Mad Dog” O'Billovich and an anchor of coordinator Rocky Long's rock-solid defenses of the Jerry Pettibone coaching era – played in a foursome with teammates Cory Huot (1991-94), Chad DeSully (1990-93) and Thomas Bookman (1990-91), and re-connected with teammates Michael Hale (1991-94), JJ Young (1991-94), Jason Barry (1991-95) and Herschel Currie (1992-93).
“It's awesome, it's always great seeing your old friends” said O'Billovich, whose oldest daughter is an OSU sophomore. “My family has been coming down to OSU a lot recently, for baseball games, for the women's basketball games.”
Many of Friday's attendees hadn't met Andersen and his staff. But they follow OSU athletics closely and like what they've read, heard and seen of Andersen's mantra of personal accountability, community involvement, academic success and teamwork.
Hank Myers, who worked in the corrections field for more than 28 years after graduating from OSU, said it's a message that will influence and guide the players long after their playing days are over.
“A lot of people devalue sports and don't measure how they prepare you to grow up in life,” he said. “You get the highs and the lows, and you learn to work through adversity.
“If you can do that playing on the football field, you can do that in the private world. Football is one of the first places you actually get to learn about life, and about how to succeed.
“I worked in corrections and got to see people who failed in society. So I understand that putting that kind of work ethic and life ethic first, right now, is going to be a step up for this program and for society in general.”
The lettermen were not fazed by OSU's record in Andersen's first year. The Beavers were winless in conference in Fessler's freshman season, but they played in a bowl game his junior year and then captured a Pac-10 co-championship and the Fiesta Bowl title in his senior season.
“I love the direction coach Andersen is taking the program,” Fessler said. “It's exciting, it's new.
“Obviously we had great coaches here but it was getting a little stagnant. To freshen it up, to change the look of things, it's always a good thing.”
Added O'Billovich:
“The cupboard was bare, so he's had to rebuild, and anybody who knows football knows that. He's putting it back together.
“Gary is actually helping directly on the defensive line. I think we're going to be fine. I'm not worried about it.”
The post-golf banquet was held at the Loge at Reser Stadium.
“That way everybody had a front-row seat to watch the progress of the Victory Through Valley project, as we build a stronger future for Beaver football,” said scramble organizer Scott Spiegelberg, the director of Varsity OSU.
“We want to engage our former football players with the current staff and keep them connected to the program, and this is a great way to do it.”
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