Fantastic Four

FOUR EARS. FOUR PLAYERS. FOUR STORIES.

JAKE CROUTHAMEL '60

RUNNING BACK AND DEFENSIVE BACK

"I always seemed to got penalties called against me when we were playing Princeton. In 1958 I drew two pass-interference calls: the next season I get another. I wanted to go and slap the ref around a little bit but the coach got me out of there in a hurry. The calls finally went our way the next year. Anything that went your way against Princeton was good."

"In 1959 Governor Nelson Rocke- feller '30 came to congratulate the team after a game and asked to see me. I had no idea why I was being called away from my locker and didn't bother to put on any "clothes. I was afraid to make eye contact. I kicked myself in the behind for not at least taking a towel with me."

"When I spent a preseason with the Dallas Cowboys, Don Meredith was my roommate. He used make fun of me for being from a farm community. When Don moved to New York to host Monday Night Football, he actually bought a house there, in Porkasie. Pennsylvania. It put my hometown on the map." "Bob Blackman meant my career, literally. He introduced me as a player to college football and, later, as an assistant coach. I can't envision anything more profound in terms of mentorship. But when I became head coach I learned it's never easy to follow a legend, it's not ensy to have two legends back-to-back."

Crouthamel retired in 2005 after27 years as Syracuse University'sathletic director. The former DartmouthAll-American and coach lives in Centerville, Massachusetts,where lie plays tennis—andthe ukulele. The football lounge inDartmouth's new Florcn VarsityHouse will be named in his honor.

JAY FIEDKER '94

QUARTERBACK

"I enjoyed being just another engineering student at Dartmouth and not standing out for ray football gone to a bigger school I might have gotten lost in their football program. One of the reasons the Ivy League was high on my list was that! wanted go somewhere where I could play right away."

"in the NFL some attention was paid to my being Jewish because there aren't that many Jewish professional athletes, I wanted to be the best quarterback in the league, not the best Jewish quarterback."

"I didn't feel there was any kind of gap between me and most of my NFL teammates just because I'd gone to an Ivy League school, A lot of guys played chess during lunch, did crossword puzzles or played cards. When you're going from meetings to Weightlifting, there isn't whole lot of downtime."

"Even though I loved to hate Princeton when I was playing for Darmouth, I've stayed friendly with their running back Kaith Elias, who was drafted by the Giants. We kept tabs on other Ivy guys coming into "the pros. It's kind of surprising that more of them have been coming into the league. I'd like to think that I had a little bit to do with it."

Fiedler played in the NFL for theEagles, Vikings, Jaguars, Jets,Buccaneers and Dolphins. He hasfounded Trinity EntertainmentGroup, which owns andmanages minor-league basketballteams and concert tours, He liveson Long Island.

JOHN CLAYTON '51

QUARTERBACK

"In my day quarterbacks called their own plays, so coaches must have been pulling their hair out. My specialty was a pass-and-trap offense. I'd drop back and fake a handoff. It had to be a meaningful fake to work, and it usually was."

"My senior year we lost to the University of Michigan, 27-7. We actually made a game out of it. When Michigan went on to win the Rose Bowl that gave us extra-special satisfaction."

"When we played at Princeton in 1950 a hurricane hit, and it really was a hurricane, not just some high winds. Equipment trunks were blowing all over the field. A snap blew over the punter's head and I really couldn't pass so I had to run. They had [Heisman Trophy winner] Dick Kazmaier at running back. We lost 13-7. In reality the game was probably closer than it might have been because of the weather."

"It's hard for me to understand how the kids today get to be as big as they are. The biggest guy on our team was tackle Jonathan Jenkins '49. who weighed 235. Everybody was definitely much smaller back then and quarterbacks didn't get beat up as much as the others."

Clayton works in real estate andlives in Grantham, New Hampshaire.A skier, golfer and tennisplayer, he can be spotted in thestands during every home gamewearing a Dartmouth baseballcap.

REGGIE WILLIAMS '76

"I got banged up a bit playing in the NFL because I'd seen so much contanct in college. With the Bengals I had injuries to my knees, nose, fingers, thighs and head, Before those happened I'd already torn my rotator cuff at Dartmouth and ligaments in my knee working a summer job. The injuries are the cost of the love I have for Dartmouth. I gave my body to the school."

"My very first tackle as a pro was taking down [Yale's] Calvin Hill during a game against the Cleveland Browns. It was then that I realized I could make someone disappear if I hit him hard enough. After I did, I thought, 'Where did he go?'"

"I think of my right arm as a battle club. I used it in wrestling, too—I even set a record of six seconds for fastest pin in a heavyweight match against Tufts. It was an exercise in that creative freedom you have in college."

"I think it's important for athletes to be role models. The Ivy League expects all of its graduates to fee role models. For me, football created a frontier to make a difference in the community in which you reside. Those values were only entrenched in my undergraduate years."

Williams, a former Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, isnow a vice president with DisneySports Attractions in Orlando,Florida. He Will be inducted intothe College Football flail of Famein December.