REST OF THE STORY: ROGERS ISHIZU
Posted 4/12/2021 Wildcatville
Many remember watching and cheering on Wildcat football player Rogers Ishizu (1967 BS, 1968 Med). But, not as many know Rogers' story getting onto the Linfield football team.
He came to McMinnville from Maui. Hawaii, in September 1962, but was not eligible to play football the 1962 season because of low high school grades. He got his grades up, so in spring 1963 he competed for Linfield Track & Field. But, somehow, “during track season my grades dropped so I was ineligible to play football” in the 1963 season, he said.
“That's when Coach Durham called me into his office and designed a new curriculum which included taking classes from him. I became eligible to play football in 1964. My second year of football was in 1965. In 1966, I played my third season of football,” said Rogers.
Then, Rogers got his military draft notice in the mail. “I left school and went back home to Maui to join the Army Reserve. I went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for six months and did my Army basic training.
"After my training, I went home and then transferred Army units from Maui to the Oregon National Guard Luckily, I was in shape because of basic training prior to playing my last season (1967) of Linfield football.”
After graduating from Linfield in 1967 he stayed at Linfield during the 1967-1968 academic year and earned his Master’s degree in Education. “I was the head coach for Linfield's 1968 freshmen team working under Coach Rutschman. That really helped start my coaching career.”
