09/02/2025
Super Bowl Sunday will always be special for me and my family. I tell this story bc it’s the one that sticks out the most to me of being with my Dad at the Super Bowls.
We (coaches kids) were not on the field for this game but up in the stands. As the game was winding down and the Cowboys clearly going to win…. My Dad motioned for me to come down to the field with him with 3-4 minutes left in the game. 9 years earlier he had been fired from Oregon State with the worst winning % in the history of Division 1 football. He also spent a year away from coaching after being targeted by the NCAA and fired at Texas A&M.
The sites, sounds, and energy of the Super Bowl are unmatched by anything I’ve ever been around in my life. It 100% lives up to the hype. As the game ended in the Rose Bowl my Dad and I walked to the middle of the field with fireworks exploding and I was so excited for him. What an unbelievable ride. As we reached the middle of the Rose Bowl field… I looked at my Dad and he hadn’t cracked a smile…. (I can’t count how many times of over the years they would win a big game and I’d be excited and bewildered by his lack of excitement and he would always say “At least we get to keep our jobs one more week”) this time… I shook him and said POP (yes I always called him POP) YALL WON THE FU***NG SUPER BOWL… WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! He looked at me with tears coming down his face with the biggest smile… we both watched the fire works for a couple minutes and just took it all in. I’m grateful to be his Son. He always included me and let me experience the roller coaster (highs and lows) with him. I miss him dearly.
