Ameche Alan - Alan Ameche the story of the Horse

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A LAN A MECHE

The Story of The Horse

Dan Manoyan

T ERRACE B OOKS

A TRADE IMPRINT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS

Terrace Books

A trade imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press

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Copyright 2012

The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

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Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Manoyan, Dan.

Alan Ameche: the story of The Horse / Dan Manoyan.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-299-29010-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-299-29013-9 (e-book)

1. Ameche, Alan, 19331988. 2. Football playersUnited StatesBiography.

3. Football playersWisconsinBiography. I. Title.

GV939.A595M36 2012

796.332092dc23

[B]

2012016788

This book is dedicated to

E D , E LAINE , E DDIE , R ANDY , B ARB , and J UDY

and to M ELBA W IXOM , my inspirational

high school English teacher at WTHS.

Pat Richter

Any football-minded kid growing up on Madisons East Side in the fall of 1950 was undoubtedly a huge fan of the Madison East Purgolders and the Wisconsin Badgers. The Purgolders played in the Big Eight, and one of the schools in the conference was Kenosha Bradford. Its 1950 team was regarded as one of the best ever in the state of Wisconsin.

It was an extraordinarily talented bunch, which included quarterback Mario Bonofiglio, who started college at the University of Wisconsin and then transferred to play football at the University of Miami; end Tom Braatz, who played at Marquette and in the NFL; and Bobby Hinds who accepted a boxing scholarship at the University of Wisconsin and also boxed professionally. In addition there were two other players who went on to star at the University of Wisconsin. One was guard and placekicker Paul Shwaiko, and the other was the Horse, Alan Ameche. Ameches successor at running back at Kenosha, Eddie Hart, was aptly named the Pony.

Five doors down from our house on Rutledge Street lived our Purgolder hero, Gary Messner, who went on to play center on the Wisconsin football team and become a teammate of Alan Ameche. On occasion Gary would have some of the Badger players over to his house, and invariably word would get around that they were coming and thats where we headed. What a thrill it was to meet the players and get their autographs, but the guy who generated the most excitement and gave us the biggest thrill of all was the Horse. For us, he was no longer the feared running back of Madison Easts rival, Kenosha. Now he was to be cheered, for he was now a Wisconsin Badger.

Alan was a great player for four years at Wisconsin, and his punishing running style gave credence to the nickname the Horse. He capped off his illustrious career by being named the recipient of the Heisman Trophy, the most coveted award in college football. He was the first player so honored from the University of Wisconsin.

We naturally followed his subsequent NFL career with the Baltimore Colts because he was still our hero, the Horse. We were thrilled and proud of his being a Badger when he scored the winning touchdown in what has been called the Greatest Game Ever Played, the Baltimore Colts win over the New York Giants in 1958.

During Alans six-year NFL career, he and teammate Gino Marchetti embarked on a very successful business career. Gino was a very tough defensive end who I played against when I joined the Washington Redskins in 1963. They made a great team, on and off the field.

On occasion, Alan would return to Madison after he retired, and it was gratifying to see that he was as genuinely gracious and humble as he was when we first met him at Gary Messners house in the early 1950s. The humility that was his trademark, coupled with his on- and off-the-field success, had provided Alan, his wife Yvonne, and family, an opportunity to share that success with others. Their philanthropy meant as much to Alan and the family as Alans football prowess meant to his fans.

In retirement, the Horse became an even bigger hero to us all.

Like Alan Ameche, Pat Richter enjoyed a legendary athletic career at the University of Wisconsin. Richter is Wisconsins last three-sport letterman, having lettered in football, basketball, and baseball in the same school year on three occasions. As the Badgersfootball tight end, Richter led the nation in receiving as a junior, was a two-time all-American, and set a Rose Bowl record with 11 receptions for 163 yards against Southern California in the 1963 game. He was Wisconsins director of Intercollegiate Athletics for nearly fifteen years before retiring in 2004.

Ill never forget the day I first met Yvonne Ameche. Being the only woman in America to be the widow of two Heisman Trophy winners (Alan Ameche and Glenn Davis) and the mother-in-law of Michael Cappelletti, brother of 1973 Heisman winner, John Cappelletti, makes her a unique and interesting woman. But it was the circumstances under which we met that day that will always be indelibly etched upon my memory.

I had driven from Wisconsin to suburban Philadelphia to meet Mrs. Ameche and was delayed half a day by what some described as the blizzard of the decade in Pennsylvania. The snow had forced me to abandon the Pennsylvania Turnpike about halfway across the state and hunker down somewhere in between. The following afternoon, hours behind schedule, I arrived in a still-snow-shocked Philadelphia. After navigating the spiderweb-like roadways of that citys northern suburbs (I think the British must have designed the road patterns before retreating to Canada) to find Mrs. Ameches cul-de-sac, I was stunned and dismayed to see that it was untouched by snow removal equipment.

I called her to inform of her of the dilemma, a situation that she was obviously well aware of. I tracked down the lone snow plow in the area, two blocks over, and asked the kind man if he could plow Mrs. Ameches street next. I told him it was an emergency. I lied a little. He was gracious enough to comply, but there was yet another problem. Mrs. Ameches house is half a football field off the road, and her yard was covered by nearly two feet of snow.