1962 AAHS team one big happy family
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Stories about successful football teams can be generated from so many sources, but one avenue that is always traveled in the literary world is that of the family.
You always hear that football is family, and, in the case of the 1962 Altoona Mountain Lion football team, that was a common theme on Friday night at the Park Hills Country Club.
It was there that more than 400 people packed the restaurant and lounge areas for the 18th induction dinner of the 2018 Blair County Sports Hall of Fame. The 1962 team that went 10-0, the last Mountain Lion team to finish undefeated, got together the night before their induction, which will take place tonight at the Blair County Convention Center.
"Not all of the guys were starters, but we really enjoyed each other's company," said Jerry Sanker, a member of that team who wore No. 69. "We still joke about the suicide squad and what a crazy place it was to be. Those guys would run the opposing team's offense and defense, and that is when they got to hit somebody. They were as much a part of the team as anybody."
It didn't matter to Sanker if a player or two went astray in their personal lives as time went on after high school, they were still considered family.
"Even if a few bad boys turn out later in life, they were still part of our team, this team and we were a group of guys who always did our homework," he said. "You go on to college and you get a smaller group, and you get that feeling a little, but not like you did with our team."
Players on that team from across the country, both west and south of Pennsylvania, are in town this weekend to reunite and reminisce about a squad this is now officially considered one of the best by its induction.
"We were a close group," said Mel Frye, No. 58 on the team. "This is just tremendous seeing everyone. This is 56 years ago and it took us a long time, but we finally got here."
Frye was just a junior on that team, but you weren't discriminated against by what year you were in school.
"I was just so happy to be a part of that. We all treated everyone the same," he said. "Everyone knew who you were. When you went into an opposing town, people would watch us get off the bus. They knew who we were."
Danny McKnight, who is considered the driving force behind gathering the players by everyone involved with the 1962's team induction, was smiling early and often as he greeted team members and their families as they arrived at the club.
"I am not only happy to see my team, but guys like John Ebersole, Ed Flanagan and Doug West. These are people I do not normally see a lot of, but I get to see them tonight," said McKnight, who wore No. 84. "It is nice to see them at an affair like this, still supporting Altoona athletics, and that is amazing to me. The football team is coming because they are being inducted, but these other people … they are coming because they want to say 'Good job,' and that impresses me. The people that left here 50 years ago, our hearts are still here in this city."
Tom Kerns is an Altoona graduate whose brother, the late John Kerns, was on that team. He was in attendance to pay honor to his younger sibling and the team.
"This is embarrassing, because I'm 75, and these guys are like my kids," laughed Kerns, who played collegiately at West Point. "I didn't get to see (my brother) play, and my mom and dad didn't either because they would take a train on Friday night to West Point to come see me."
Long-time Altoona principal Walter "Herk" Betar was a guidance counselor in 1962 during the team's successful run. He couldn't recall anything about the group that made him have a negative thought.
"They really just got along so well together. They were a great group of kids," he said. "I had to look a little harder at some of the faces, but I still recognize them. We didn't have any problems with them."
A New Jersey resident, Sanker, who played football at Penn State after graduating from Altoona, said he was able to get together with some of his old friends recently over the holidays.
"This here is just phenomenal, but it was nice that we got to have breakfast at Christmas time, and it was the first time I got to attend that," he recalled. "I got to see people like Ray Caracciolo, Rick Riccio, guys who played behind me or in front of me … Ed Flanagan. We just had a ball together. We really enjoyed ourselves."
Sanker was also grateful for McKnight putting a lot of work into getting the team together for the historic weekend.
"It's interesting to see some of the people that I have not seen in probably 45 years," he said. "Danny has put a lot into this. He has been working hard, doing a lot of communicating and it's exciting because of all the work he has put into it."
What: 18th Blair County Sports Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony
When: 6 p.m. today
Where: Blair County Convention Center
Inductees: Tracey (Slogik) Biesecker, Bill Kagarise, Curtis Miller, Vince Nedimyer, Jim Restauri
Lifetime Achievement Award: Jake Webb
Guest speaker: Cael Sanderson
Emcee: Stan Savran
Tickets: The event is sold out with more than 850 expected