EDITOR’S NOTE: Despite what you see to the left, the article below was written by Kevin Fitzpatrick, a long-time member of the Temple chain gang who is hanging up the poles (really handing them off, deciding to retire) after 38 years on the job. Thanks for your service, Kevin.

By Kevin Fitzpatrick

For the love of the game, I’ve been involved in Temple for 38 years on the chain crew.

No more.

My final game was two Saturdays ago.

First off I’d like to shout out to the many guys that have been on the crew over those
years. The current group is about half Philadelphia Catholic league grads (St Joe’s
Prep, North Catholic and Father Judge) and half South Jersey guys. A little less than
half are Temple grads (me included). I was invited on the crew by a co-worker whose
father, also on the crew, was going to miss time with a knee replacement. It was during
the Bruce Arains, Paul Palmer years. A great time to start. We played all the big time
Eastern programs, which at that time were much more relevant nationally too.

The venues were Veterans Stadium, Franklin Field and Lincoln Financial Field. The turf at the Vet
was really rough; my knees and back hurt from just standing on it for three and a half
hours. I can’t imagine being driven into the turf or sliding on it.
I was just happy to be close to the action. That’s why I titled this for the love of the
game. It is a different game up close. The speed is incredible. I got rolled up by a
player in my first game but never again, although there were many close calls.

The teams I saw included some of the best players of that era: Bruce Smith, Donovan
McNabb, Michael Vick, Matt Ryan and too many Penn State and Miami players to
mention. We were always at a disadvantage against those teams but played them
tougher than I’ve seen us play lesser teams the last few years. I don’t remember giving
up 50 or more points until the Bobby Wallace years. After we turned it around in the Al
Golden years and kept it going for a decade, I never thought I would see that garbage
again.

Our current situation with a new coach coming in makes me think of other coaches
I’ve seen and their approach to the game. Two that impressed me were Andy Talley of
Villanova and Joe Paterno of PSU. Both were CEO types that could watch the game
and pick apart a weakness in-game. They didn’t wait until halftime to make

adjustments.

They just turned around and told their coordinator or position coach what
they saw or what would work against that look. Talley had a knack for calling runs on
obvious passing downs and passes on running downs and making it work. Joe Paterno
could look at the opposing team and see who was just a yard or two from where they
should be and what would work against them. They also generally respected the refs
and would plant seeds about a missed call rather than berate the refs. That’s not the
norm. The language can get pretty bad on the field. One of our coaches, Steve
Addazio, called the refs every name in the book. But most of our coaches did not
berate the refs. Again the speed of the game makes it really difficult for the refs but
they usually do a great job. This year was an exception with many head scratching
calls.

Our last two coaches show that different approaches don’t always give different
results. Coach Carey was a screamer and was hard on the players hard creating a very tense
team. Coach Drayton was more positive, and player focused yet they got the same
results.

The tendency when something goes wrong is to blame the coach but remember they
are working with 18-23 year olds. What were you like at that age?

All in all I loved my time on the chain crew and will end with some of the lasting
memories from my time on the field.

Best play: Michael Vick weaved through our entire defense back and forth at the Vet for
a 70-80 yard touchdown run.
Fastest get off at the snap: Dan Klecko, who left O linemen grasping at air.
Couldn’t believe he got up: Walter Washington was lifted into the air and slammed to the
turf with the defender placing all his weight on him, yet the QB got up slowly and didn’t
leave the field.
Most impressive game and best offensive player I saw for the Owls: Paul Palmer and
his then record 300+ rushing yards vs ECU

Best defensive Owl: tie between Lance Johnstone and Tyler Matakevich
Best game ( as if there is any doubt) : beating Penn State at the Linc, with the Notre
Dame game a close second.

Here’s hoping Coach Keeler can make some similar memories for future chain crews.