football
Making it work the second time around
Tom Cafferty gave it up once -
but stuck it out and made good
By MIKE MARINO
Of the Emerald
Their tales have been chroni
cled in every barroom yarn, bed
time story and movie script.
Time and time again, it’s a case
of the guy who gives up the sport
he loves football — only to re
turn as the hero in the big game,
and be carried off on his
teammate s shoulders.
That's one kind of hero. Then
there's Tom Cafferty.
He, too, left football and for a
while it looked like he wasn't com
ing back When he did, there
wasn't much fanfare. For Cafferty,
the memories are painful.
I quit school my sophomore
year — I was frustrated.' he said
I had broken my ankle at the end
of my freshman year, and then
had to redshirt the next season
At the first of the year, I quit
school and got married — that
lasted nine months
Up to then he d been playing
quarterback for Oregon, a position
he d played in high school but not
his favorite
‘ My idol was Hay berry (the
Colts’ great end of the 50s and
60s)," Cafferty said. "I always
wanted to be an end My brother
was a quarterback, and I always
caught his passes. But in high
school we had a good receiver al
ready, and they needed a quar
terback."
Such was the case for Cafferty
with the 75 Ducks. With the quar
terbacking corps devastated by in
juries, he was forced into a back
up role behind then-sophomore
Jack Henderson. And in a 34-7
loss to Cal that year it came to a
head — Cafferty fumbled twice to
set up Bear scores while calling
the signals
"I ended the year switching
from wide receiver back to quar
terback," he added. "It wasn't too
fun.”
For Tom Cafferty, it's been five
long years. Like Bruce Jensen,
Reggie Grant and Keith Gunther.
Cafferty came to Oregon five
years ago
Before that he d been a star at
Borah High in Boise. Idaho, and
his teams lost but three games
during his career. Then came the
Ducks.
"It was tough getting used to it,
he admitted. "But that wasn’t why I
came here. Not only for football,
anyway.
“In Boise there was nothing
green at all. In the summer it was
brown and in the winter it was
white When I came here, I fell in
love with this place The commun
ity was beautiful.”
In 1973, that was about it. Dick
Enright fell victim at the end of the
season, and Don Read fared no
better Through all that Cafferty
and the others suffered.
Then came Rich Brooks, and
everyone felt a whole lot better
about where things were headed.
But as a senior, Cafferty wasn't
going to be around for the results.
“It’s frustrating that this year
hasn t been a winning year, he
admitted, "but it's more frustrating
that I won't be around later be
cause these are good coaches
They II win here
It won't be a total loss,
though. "If I can do my job well,
then I can leave with some posi
tive memories
One memory that Cafferty
would like to forget happened in
the first game of *he season this
year against Georgia. Showing
some tricks in the offense, the
coaches sent Cafferty on an "end
around" — to pass. But it didn't
turn out that way.
I saw that the receiver was co
vered so I just wanted to throw the
ball out of bounds,'' he recalled.
But their linebacker hit me as I
tried to get rid of the ball, the other
(Georgia) guy was just there to
catch it."
It didn’t help that Georgia went
on to win the game All I wanted
to do was get the ball away. I didn't
want to take the loss. It really
made me feel bad I d never made
a mistake like that before "
By now he s been forgiven. Al
though he's yet to score a touch
down, the guy they call "Blade
has hauled in 27 passes for 347
yards, surpassing his total of 21
last year, his first as a fulltime re
ceiver. And he's done it without
great physical tools
I ve always been skinny, Caf
ferty grinned "And I don't have
much speed
What, then?
"Playing quarterback helped
me learn a lot about pass de
fenses. And I can jump and catch
the ball."
"Basketball is my first love
though. I played it in high school
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PUoto by Mark Stewart
Holding for kicker Roy Geiger is the lone remnant of Tom Cafferty's career as a quarterback. It takes sure
hands, and he's got them either spotting the ball or catching a pass. Says Cafferty, “It also gives me a
chance to control what's going on." The results of the kicking game would tend to say he does that well.
and still do when I can."
His sure hands have lent him to
another job, that of holding the ball
for Roy Geiger on extra points and
field goals. And in recent weeks
he's gutted it out with a sore finger
— the one that holds the ball.
I didn t want to hold at first," he
smiled, ' because I didn t want all
that responsibility. I had such long
legs, too. and I could see some big
linemen flying in and tearing my
knee or breaking something.
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Through it ail he s held up fine,
thank you. Even through this sea
son. ‘ There have been a lot of
positive things — like some long
drives and big scoring plays. You
didn't see that last year.”
Only once. That was against
Washington in Seattle, a 54 yard
touchdown pass — to Cafferty.
“It’s been worth it,” he con
cluded. “A lot of these guys will be
my friends for the rest of my life. I
might not have met them if I'd left
for good.
“And I'd be kicking myself in the
pants for a long time.”
Some things are worth coming
back for. Tom Cafferty would
agree.
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