Tag Archives: fiction

02.16.26
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Tribute to a couple of loyal Temple football Owls

When he had a choice of representing Temple or Washington, Tre always picked the Owls.

They say no news is good news so it shouldn’t be surprising when there is news on a couple of Owls, it wasn’t good.

First and most important, Tre Johnson–a great offensive lineman from the Jerry Berndt/Ron Dickerson Era–passed away suddenly on a family trip at the all-too-young age of 54.

No cause of death and it’s none of our business but it’s incredibly sad when someone that young passes.

Second and less important was the fact that Shaun Bradley hung up the cleats after five years in the NFL as a linebacker and special teams player. Ironically, Bradley wore number 54 with the Philadelphia Eagles and No. 23 at Temple before being awarded a single digit (5) before his junior season.

Both had something in common in that they spent their entire college careers as Temple Owls, something that will be less and less common as the years go on, unfortunately.

Both were leaders.

Johnson was drafted No. 31 overall–that would make him a first-round pick today–in 1994 but, then, it was high second-round. The pick turned out to be a good one for the then Washington Redskin as he made the pro bowl in 1999. Johnson actually spanned three eras as he was in the last recruiting class of Bruce Arians and played three years for Berndt and finished up with Dickerson.

Bradley was a sixth-round pick of the hometown Philadelphia Eagles and was one of the best special team players as a rookie.

In 2019, Bradley help bridge the transition between Geoff Collins and Rod Carey and was captain of the team in his senior year. The Owls won seven games in Shaun’s junior year and eight games in his senior season and Carey gave him credit for keeping the team together after Collins left for Georgia Tech.

Bradley had two key stops in a goal-line stand in a 20-17 win over 21st-ranked Maryland, which beat No. 23-ranked Syracuse, 56-21, the week before they lost to the Owls. In fact, for two straight years Bradley was Maryland’s worst nightmare as he helped win the 2018 game at Maryland, 35-14, with a Pick 6.

The second time he beat Maryland was one of the most exciting goal line stands in Temple history The Terrapins had a first-and-goal from the 2 and ended the series back on the 5, going for it on fourth down.

Bradley also had the key play to end Cincinnati’s unbeaten season at Temple’s Homecoming, an interception that ended the game.

As he went out of bounds on the Cincy sideline, he waved goodbye to that team.

Bradley said he’s “excited for the future” and we’re sure that Temple education will bring him good things ahead. His life is just beginning so, while it’s sad he’s leaving football, the worst news of the days was we won’t get to see Tre Johnson anymore.

Johnson made an incredible impact in his 54 years and will be remembered as one of the team’s best offensive linemen in history.

Friday: A Significant Difference

12.07.25
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A bowl selection Sunday to remember for Temple

My three-letter reaction when I heard the news on Sunday night.

The last Bowl Selection Sunday that went this bad for Temple came in 2010, when an 8-4 Temple team was told there was no bowl for them.

That time it was the bad guys’ fault. This time the blame falls on the good guys.

Both TE Peter Clarke and DE Cam’Ron Stewart wanted to play.

It was pretty hard, even in those days of 2010, for an 8-4 Temple team to not be chosen but that’s exactly what happened.

“Guys, it’s over,” Al Golden said in a team meeting. “We didn’t get picked.”

A few hours later, Golden left for the Miami job and had to have another meeting to give those kids further bad news.

That was a pretty good Temple team. They beat a BCS bowl (Fiesta) team (UConn) by 20 points and deserved to a chance to bring back some hardware for the Edberg Olson trophy case. The bad guys didn’t want to give Temple a bowl spot that day.

So much for the bad guys.

The question might be who held a gun to Temple’s Temple?

Five weeks ago, Temple was sitting on a 5-3 record and looked like a sure shot for a bowl game. The the Owls lost four-straight games to close out the season and bowl hopes went out the window.

Or so we thought.

A nice bowl trophy fell into their laps on Sunday afternoon–not to mention a nice trip to a warmer place and three weeks of needed practice–and the Owls said thanks but no thanks to a Birmingham Bowl spot that would have put them up against 6-6 Georgia Southern. In my estimation, the Owls would have been a double-digit favorite in such a game and a bowl win, even for a 5-7 team, would put a nice taste in everyone’s mouths and maybe even helped ticket sales for next season.

My guess is that call was made above the K.C. Keeler level but we should find that out in the next few days.

Whoever made the call, though, is a supposed good guy representing Temple.

There are reasons for turning it down including costs, travel and players, but those reasons apply more to the other teams who turned the bid down, not Temple. These Owls were three points away from 7-5 and, in those two games, some extremely questionable calls by the refs robbed them.

These kids deserved a bowl, too.

Back 15 years ago, the prevailing thought was maybe that someday Karma would pay Temple back by giving the Owls a bid on a day they didn’t expect it.

Sunday was the day that something nice fell into their laps and, instead of dusting it off putting it in a place of honor, they threw it out the window.

Somebody has got some explaining to do.

Update: Temple statement below….

So you’re basically saying everybody either said no or “get back to us” but App State said, “Hell Yes!!!! Where do I sign?”

Friday: Room At The Top