10/15/2002 - Football
Navy And Boston College Bound Together In Many Ways
By Bob Socci
When it came time to choose a college, Chet Gladchuk decided to follow his father up Chestnut Hill to enroll at Boston College.
The elder Gladchuk had been a Hall of Fame lineman for the Eagles, before becoming a first-round draft choice of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers in 1941.
Thirty years later, just as his father had, Chet Jr. stood over the football as center of B.C.'s offensive line.
He was with the Eagles when they visited Annapolis in consecutive Septembers, in 1971 and '72. For the record, Boston College won the former in a rout, while the Mids pulled out a close victory in the latter.
Back then, Gladchuk wore No. 52 in Maroon and White.
This weekend, though, he'll be sporting a suit and tie. Most likely in Blue. Perhaps with a trace of Gold.
Gladchuk will also be bearing the same title he wore at his alma mater from 1991-96. Only, this time the B.C. graduate, Class of '73, will return to Chestnut Hill as Director of Athletics for the United States Naval Academy.
He'll be present for the 28th game of a series that began in 1928 - a pairing of Eastern rivals bound by much more than one family's ties.
Both Navy and Boston College have experienced watershed moments in the midst of their match-ups. They have seen their brightest stars emerge against the other.
They have shared the field for landmark games. Like when they christened a new stadium in the fifties. Or, far more recently - and more significantly - helped us slowly ease our way toward a new sense of "normalcy."
And they have looked to graduates of one another to either find or become stewards of their football flagships. Be it a B.C. legacy turned Annapolis administrator or the Marine Lieutenant he once hired as his school's coach.
Together, these two programs boast of three Heisman Trophy winners. For each, a coming out occurred as Mids met Eagles.
In the case of Joe Bellino, his breakthrough actually took place with the aid of some scissors.
One of New England's own, he combined speed with strength in rushing for more than 1,600 yards. But while Bellino's massive legs covered so much ground, they also threatened to literally restrict his career.
Opening his junior season at Boston College in 1959, the muscle-bound running back with a set of 18-inch calves took off on a 60-yard dash. Upon reaching the end zone, Bellino fell to the ground.
Assisted by medical personnel from both teams, Bellino's shoes were removed, revealing discolored feet and prompting a diagnosis from the Eagles' longtime trainer, Frank Jones.
As writer Jack Clary details in his new book Field of Valor, "(Jones) knew immediately that the blood flow to (Bellino's) calves and feet was being constricted by the tightness of his pants and stockings."
Navy trainer Red Romo immediately cut the elastic bands of Bellino's pant legs, freeing him to a Hall of Fame future. By the end of the '60 season, Bellino was annointed the Academy's first Heisman winner.
Three years after Bellino's blood-stopping burst against B.C., a sophomore quarterback went from the sideline to stardom. Roger Staubach didn't need a trainer's tools, just an opportunity, to unleash his greatness.
Early in 1962, Staubach stood backup to Ron Klemick, appearing for just six minutes and six incomplete passes in the first three games. With the Mids at 1-2, Klemick was injured against Cornell, forcing Staubach onto the field.
He led Navy to a 41-0 rout and earned his first varsity start the following week - at Boston College. Staubach struggled at the outset and gave way to Klemick, until being summoned again by head coach Wayne Hardin.
"When things didn't change while Ron was playing, (Hardin) put me back in, and we won the game, 26-6," Roger told Cleary in Field of Valor. "It was that game that convinced Wayne that I was for real."
A reality made obvious by 165 yards and three touchdowns passing at the Eagles' expense. Staubach stayed under center and, the following fall, was judged the nation's best player.
Two decades hence, another dynamic quarterback made his starting debut. Also in the season's fifth game. And again, as Navy traveled to Chestnut Hill.
Wearing a running back's number with a kicker's body, the 5-foot-9 Doug Flutie had appeared a week earlier to mop up in a 38-10 loss to Penn State. With B.C. struggling through a 1-3 start, coach Jack Bicknell gave the diminutive freshman the nod against the Mids on October 17.
Flutie passed for 118 yards and was intercepted in Navy's 25-10 victory. Though hardly a rousing debut, he revealed enough promise to remain the Eagles' quarterback.
A week later, Flutie threw for three scores in a win over Army, sparking a 4-2 finish that foreshadowed even more lucrative times to come. In 1982 Flutie enjoyed another three-touchdown day opposite a service academy. This time the opponent was Navy and the outcome was a 31-0 win for Boston College.
Dubbed the 'Little, Big Man,' he led the Eagles to three straight bowl games and gave us college football's answer to baseball's 'Shot Heard Round the World.'
His 'Flutie-to-Phelan' prayer in 1984 produced a 'Miracle in Miami' and created the signature highlight of a Heisman campaign.
This year's Navy-B.C. game unfolds at Alumni Stadium, which was renovated in the mid-nineties and accommodates about 44,500 fans. The Eagles have played home games there since moving out of Fenway Park in 1956.
The original edifice known as Alumni seated about half of today's capacity upon completion. When it opened on Sept. 21, 1957, the Eagles opposed none other than the Midshipmen. The contest had been scheduled with assistance from a then Massachusetts senator named John F. Kennedy.
Last September, it was Boston College's turn to visit Annapolis. And as the Eagles and Mids resumed their series, America continued its recovery from the tragedies of 9/11.
Easily the most trivial matter of the day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was the result - a 38-21 B.C. win. We remembered the victims of the terrorist attacks just 11 days earlier, before the Mids and Eagles eventually stood side-by-side for the singing of 'God Bless America.'
Dave Kindred, the brilliant columnist from The Sporting News, wrote of the experience: "If ever you need be reminded of what America is and what it can be, turn down Farragut Road and a spend a Saturday afternoon at a Navy football game."
One individual who completely understands such sentiment was on the Boston College sideline that day.
Tom O'Brien was in the third game of his fifth season as the Eagles' head coach. He had been hired while Gladchuk was A.D. at B.C. to revitalize a football program in disrepair.
And after a 4-7 record each of O'Brien's first two years in Chestnut Hill, his team was on its way to third straight postseason appearance.
His own brother, a Navy captain, had survived the Sept. 11 attacks, despite being as close as "120 yards" to the point of impact when American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into The Pentagon.
Of course, Tom O'Brien himself is a graduate of the Naval Academy. Class of 1971.
A defensive end for the Mids, he played against Boston College three times - all of them losses. As an assistant coach at Navy, after serving in the Marine Corps in Japan, he saw the Mids drop two more meetings with the Eagles, before winning three in a row from 1978-81.
This week O'Brien again rides a winning streak in the series. After Navy rallied from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit en route to a 32-31 victory in his first season, the Eagles won the last three years - twice in Annapolis.
Now, as they meet once more, perhaps both teams are hoping history repeats itself. Albeit in different ways.
For Boston College, it's the obvious. Duplicate the outcome of the last three Septembers.
And for Navy, it's what we've seen so often in the series. A fresh start, a turning point and, in the end, an October surprise.
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Field of Valor: Duty, Honor, Country, and Winning the Heisman by Jack Clary features an introduction by Roger Staubach and foreword by Joe Bellino. Published by Triumph Books, it is available in area bookstores.
