From 1979...

sealhall74 · Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:46 am

Maybe it is just me and/or the fact that FB players are a little heavier today, but from the these pictures, I sort of get the impression that today's players do not have the lower extremity muscle that these guys did.

wiu712 · Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:54 am

The west side grandstand looks better in these photos with the Purple paint in comparison to that sandstone-color of today.

Fri Jan 08, 2016 9:42 am

sealhall74 wrote:Maybe it is just me and/or the fact that FB players are a little heavier today, but from the these pictures, I sort of get the impression that today's players do not have the lower extremity muscle that these guys did.

Could be perspective...differences in padding "technology"...idk.

I'm sure some still do though...

sealhall74 · Fri Jan 08, 2016 9:46 am

ST_Lawson wrote:
sealhall74 wrote:Maybe it is just me and/or the fact that FB players are a little heavier today, but from the these pictures, I sort of get the impression that today's players do not have the lower extremity muscle that these guys did.
Could be perspective...differences in padding "technology"...idk.

I'm sure some still do though...

Nikko was the exception. I was thinking more linemen and linebackers. Also, white always makes you look bigger. Just ask most women.

Leatherneck57 · Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:04 am

sealhall74 wrote:
ST_Lawson wrote:[tweet]685313383349022721[/tweet]
Is that Pete Rodriquez lower left. He was the only WIU coach to ever tell me leave the premises while a practice was going on. LOL

That's Pete! It was his first year. Honestly...I didn't care for him as a head coach. He didn't mingle well with the community and kept pretty much to himself. He came to us from Iowa State where he was the defensive coordinator for Earl Bruce. He took the Cyclones from last place in the Big 8 to first statistically. Think about that back then when OU and Nebraska were powerhouses even Missouri held their own.

What I never understood was he was a genius as a defensive guy but when he came to Western he took over the offense. Try and figure that one out??? Pete needed to go in 1982...he set the program back and then Bruce Craddock came in from Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State) and revived it.

After that Pete went on to become a very successful coach in the USFL and NFL as a D-Line coach and Special Teams Coordinator. He coached with Raiders, Redskins, Seahawks, and Jaguars in the NFL. In 1986 he was the DC at Northern Iowa...

Former Neck

BobLovely · Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:34 am

This sounds like Pete. When he was DC at Western under Mudra he was more or less a "hard ass" and aloof. However, once you got to know him over time, he did warm up. He actually wrote a letter of recommendation for me for my "placement file" at WIU. I agree that he was not a very good HC. Defense was his forte...

Bob

yokedneck · Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:42 pm

It appears you had a couple of different helmets designs? I actually create and collect mini helmets. Might have to work up a few Western 'throwbacks.'

Tom

Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:56 pm

yokedneck wrote:It appears you had a couple of different helmets designs? I actually create and collect mini helmets. Might have to work up a few Western 'throwbacks.'

Tom

Helmet project website might help with some of the design stuff: http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/mvfc.htm
They don't have all of ours through the years, but personally, I think the gold helmet with the purple "oval" W would be pretty cool...

yokedneck · Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:58 pm

Yeah that was my next stop. Appears to be a void in our history in the 70s

Tom

Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:04 pm

57 is tweeting again...

[tweet]685897877344915457[/tweet]