The Last Snap: October 1983

My college football career amounted to being the scout team QB at Centre College. Yes, I was at the bottom of the depth chart. But, everyday, I got to play QB against the first string defense and to say I enjoyed every snap would be an understatement. Those were great days. 

 In the car today, on the radio, was the countdown of the Top 40 from this week in 1983. It sure brought back a bunch of memories to my last day of football. 

It was a Wednesday (October, 1983). I remember heading down that hill to the practice field. It was a sunny, cool day. Perfect. Everyday in class I would look forward to the afternoon and this was going to be another great day. 

Early in team defense that afternoon, throwing the ball to my left, one of our scout team lineman got caved into the outside of my right knee. It hurt bad. I struggled to put weight on it. And, it felt strange. But, after missing one play, I could walk on it. In those days it was sort of standard... if you can walk, you play. No one coerced me. I WANTED to play. I jumped back in the huddle and kept going. About 5 plays later, rolling to my right, I planted my weight on that right leg to throw the ball. I felt a big pop in my knee and hit the ground. At 18 years old, that was by far the worst pain I had ever experienced.

After that pop, the knee started burning. My teammate, Charlie Royse, tried to help me cope with the pain. I remember squeezing his hand inside of those lineman gloves (black, padded, open fingers). I can still see those gloves. I will always appreciate Charlie for being there and trying to help me. The sky seemed particularly sunny and blue. I guess when you're on your back, staring up into the October sky, it will seem that way. 

As it turned out, I had a torn ACL. And, it also turned out, that was my last play of football, ever.  When the day started, I had no idea I would be facing one of the most significant milestones in my life, ever. 

I don't have much in common with my Quarterback heroes growing up, Bart Starr and Fran Tarkenton. But, one thing I do have in common with both of them,  every player in Canton, and every HS kid that will take the field this Friday night, we all have our LAST SNAP. It may be an injury, graduation, or just a decision to hang up the cleats. It may be in practice, or a game, even the Super Bowl.  But, we all have our LAST SNAP.

As we head toward the end of October, alot of guys are facing their last snap over the next few weeks.   Be the best you can. Enjoy it. Feel great about your effort and investment that you give your teammates on the field, in the weightroom, and preparing each week. Be in the moment. Be where your feet are. It is a special, special time. 

When I scratch the inside of my right knee, I feel it on the outside. Very strange sensation. But, I am thankful for anything that reminds me of a bright, sunny, cool, perfect October day, playing football... even if it was the last one of all.

 

Alvis Johnson: It's a Hog, Not a Wildcat

The rest of the world calls it the “Wildcat.” At Mason County, we call it “Hog” and it’s variations are “Henry,” “Jack”, and “Venus”. One of the most popular trends in football right now is a form of the old fashioned single wing. No one runs the single wing today as well as Alvis Johnson’s teams did at Harrodsburg High School back in the 70s and 80s. Harrodsburg and Mercer County merged school systems in 2006. But, when my dad went to Mercer, and then when I played and coached at Mercer, the Harrodsburg “Hogs “ were our rival- and they were very good. Coach Johnson’s teams were unique on both sides of the ball. Offensively, it was the single wing. Defensively, it was an even front with man coverage and lot’s of blitzing. On our schedule, the two best teams were Boyle County and the Hogs. I still remember a lot about both of those teams from when I was a player. As good as the Hogs were, Coach Johnson made the biggest impression on me in how he treated me as a player and a coach. 

 Henry Parks was the best HS football player I had ever seen play the game until I came to Mason. And, I would still have to say, I have only seen two or three guys that might have been as good or better. The first time I saw him play he made an impression. I was on the sideline with my dad in 1975 when Mercer was playing at Harrodsburg. On the opening kickoff, the Mercer return team opens up a huge hole and our returner has probably 15-20 yards on anyone else on the field. I see this #25 coming across the field like a freight train. He didn’t tackle our ball carrier- he ran over him! 

 In high school, I played defensive end against the Hogs’ Single Wing. It felt like every play was an off-tackle play and half the town of Harrodsburg was coming to kick out the defensive end. My senior year of high school, 1982, it was a big deal when the Hogs put in some offense that required a QB. 

Excited to meet Henry Parks, on HIS field in NOVEMBER (2018), when he was our "Hog" 

 Jack Robertson was an outstanding offensive lineman at Harrodsburg High and then we coached together at Mercer. Later, Jack was back on the staff at Harrodsburg after I came to Mason. Jack has been a great resource for me as we have incorporated some of the single wing concepts in our offense. “Hog” is our base single wing set. “Henry” (Parks), “Venus” (Meaux- another great Harrodsburg player), and “Jack” (Robertson) are the variations that we also use. We have blended those ideas with our base offense and it has been very good for us. 

 Still, it was Coach Johnson’s defense that affected me the most. My senior year, we played the Hogs the week after we played Boyle. Although we had lost, our offense had enjoyed quite a bit of success moving the ball against a very good Rebel defense. Boyle played a 6-2 defense and did a great job with it. But, there were opportunities to throw the ball against that defense. Like most defenses in that time period, it was heavily geared toward stopping the run. As our QB, I knew there was really only one blitz that we had to be concerned with and one simple audible handled that the only time they ran it. 

 The Harrodsburg defense was completely different. They blitzed our passing game all night. The facemask of one of their linebacker’s was usually about 3 feet from my facemask before every snap and they were fast. Our offensive line made a good effort to pick up those blitzes but we were outmatched. That was the most beat up I ever got in a game. 

 Between the white lines, Coach Johnson made life tough. But, what stands out more to me was how he treated me. He was always very nice to me and complimentary in person and in the media. It seemed like he went out of his way to do that and I thought it was first class. We struggled my senior year of high school football and I was especially appreciative of the kind words. 

 The only time I got a bad vibe from Coach Johnson was in the fall of 1987. We were playing the Hogs in the opener for both teams. Coach Johnson and Coach French had one heck of a game of cat and mouse that summer hiding when we would each scrimmage. It felt like he stared a hole through me when I made that long walk down to what is now Alvis Johnson Field to scout their scrimmage. Supposedly one night a couple Harrodsburg coaches were sitting near 127, waiting for our bus, to follow us to our scrimmage. Coach French had us take the back roads out of town. We won that opener in overtime that season. The Hogs and Dogs had some great games. 

 The Saturday before Stephanie and I were married, we traveled to a school in western Kentucky that offered me their head coaching job. Before they interviewed me, they had already offered me the job, and it was from Coach Johnson’s recommendation. The single wing and that defense were impressive. But, Coach Johnson was always first class to me and I will remember that the most.