September 20, 1973


September 20th of 1973 was a memorable day for me. For some time there was a lot of hype surrounding Battle of The Sexes II, a made-for-television tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in the Houston Astrodome.

In this match 55-year old Bobby Riggs had to defend the entire court; basically the doubles court while Billie Jean King defended the inner lines, the singles court. 

That same day the Red Lion Lions freshman football team played York Catholic at their field. It was the 1st game of the season. 


During the entire pre-season I practiced with the tight ends and was schedule to be the starter. Greg Hileman was my backup. In truth we were pretty close - Greg was the better receiver, I was the better blocker. So a few days before the York Catholic game the coaches approached me and asked if I'd play left tackle. So I was the right end when we were on defense, the left tackle on offense, and place kicker for kickoffs.

The second half began with us on defense. After 3 plays the York Catholic Fighting Irish were looking 4th down and they decided to punt. Playing right defensive end I rushed the punter and jumped in an effort to block the punt. The running back protecting the punter blocked me effectively but broke the knuckle on my left big finger on my hand.

Rather than tell the coaches I stayed on the field and played the rest of the game. On the last drive of the day, with our team trailing, a running play was called off left tackle, my position. As I approached the line I realized I'd been blocking the wrong man all game long (remember I was recruited to play tackle only a few days before). By blocking the correct guy Jeff Rexroth was able to run 20 or 30 yards for the winning touchdown. 

After the game, on climbing into the bus, the coaches asked about my hand and the strange way my finger looked. Telling me to ice it when I got home, we went home. 

When my parents saw my finger they took me to the emergency room in the hospital where I was born. A broken finger was diagnosed and I was admitted to the hospital. The next day they operated on my finger and I spent another night in the hospital missing the Battle of the Sexes II broadcast because I was too sleepy from the anesthesia. 

PS Billie Jean King won.




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