Scot A. posted this on my wall in Facebook.
My Dad was #44 fourth from right, second from the top. It was his Senior year and he always did say he was pretty small for every position he ever played. Standing behind that giant #77 kind of brings the point home. He looks fierce. He doesn't look anything like I remember him. It is definitely his Marine face expression but on a much different face. The guy in the picture looks like a handsome tough guy. That guy isn't my big jovial dumb dumb daddy-o. That guy is a champion!
Sometime early in his career at Maryland he had taken a knee to the top of his helmet and it shattered most of his teeth. He said he spent everything he had on the gold the Dentist students at U of M installed for free as a bridge and fake teeth. He said he spent months in the dentist chair. He said he didn't miss a game or a practice. He said it was only a mouthful of shattered teeth.
Maybe this was the source of one of his daddyoism, "It only hurts when I breathe!" When I would get hurt or injured and I did that a lot. He'd say something like, "Come on, you'll be fine, it will only hurt when you breathe!"
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