Wildcats find NFL a
different game
Part
of the ‘Remembrance of Games Past’ series
By Rusty Rae of the McMinnville
N-R/News-Register. Oct. 30, 2020
You
don’t have to be a pencil-necked geek Monday Night Football broadcaster to
understand how the game played in the National Football League differs from
what happens on the Wildcat gridiron_. True, it’s still blocking, tackling,
running, passing and kicking.
And
yet, those from Wildcatville who advanced to the big show, regard the sport in
a different light.
Here’s
a four-pack of Linfield players who found places in the NFL: Fred Von Appen,
Randy Marshall, Jim Massey and Paul Dombrowski – each with a story illustrating
their different perspective of football.
Von
Appen entered Linfield as an undersized offensive guard from South Eugene High
School.
“Clearly,
at 180 pounds, my size was a limiting factor at the time. And, quite frankly,
my fundamentals were not very good either,” Von Appen admitted.
However,
Larry Burleson, former player and assistant line coach for the ‘Cats, took Von
Appen under his tutelage.
“I
asked him to help me become a better football player, and he put me on a weight
program and taught me to eat better,” Von Appen said.
The
following fall, Von Appen, now 220 pounds with an improved technique, was the
starting guard for the ‘Cats.
Eventually,
he earned a pair of all-conference seasons at guard over the next three years
before an invitation to tryout with the San Diego Chargers. Though Von Appen
trained maniacally for his chance to play in the NFL, an injury redirected him
to coaching.
His
journey as coach began at an instructional clinic at Lewis & Clark, where
Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles spoke. Broyles told Von Appen,”If you show
up, I’ll put you to work (as a volunteer coach.)” Von Appen and his wife packed
everything they owned into their car and traveled to Fayetteville where he
became immersed in the life of a football coach.
His
career included a multitude of stops and starts. The head coaches he worked
with seemed a virtual who’s-who list of Hall of Famers. From 1983 through 1988,
he worked in several positions under San Francisco 49er head coach Bill Walsh,
and remains the only Wildcat to have snagged a pair of Super Bowl rings.
Now
retired, he lives near Missoula, Montana.
Recruited
to the football team by graduate assistant coach Pete Dengenis (a teammate of
Von Appen’s), Randy Marshall, from Santiam High School, was originally called
to Linfield to play basketball. One major difference Marshall noticed was the
business aspect of the game during his first training camp with the Atlanta Falcons.
Marshall
played two years under Paul Durham followed by two years with Ad Rutschman,
earning all-conference honors three years and an all-America selection his
senior year. An unstoppable force in the Northwest Conference, and a sixth
round pick in the draft by the Atlanta Falcons, Marshall received a baptism of
sorts in the pros. Flying with mild trepidation to East Tennessee State
University and the Falcon training camp, Marshall remembers, “I had no idea
what or where I was headed.”
What
he found was a completely different atmosphere. “The pro game is a business,
and there is more individual focus at times rather than the team focus I had at
Linfield,” he said.
Marshall
found training camp something of a vets-versus-rookies scenario with the
newbies definitely at the bottom of the pecking order. Caste systems were not
in Marshall’s psyche – he simply wanted to play football.
Standing
in line the first day of practice for a blocking drill, a veteran yelled at
Marshall, “Hey rookie, it’s your turn, get in there!”
Well,
it wasn’t Marshall’s turn, as he informed the veteran player in no uncertain
terms. Subsequently, a fight broke out between them.
“The
coaches and players just let us go at it. I whipped his butt and later found
out I wasn’t supposed to do that,” he said.
That
veteran was none other than Tommy Nobis, the all-pro linebacker and first-round
pick in the Falcons’ initial draft.
Marshall
made the team’s taxi squad for the 1970 season and was later called up to
replace an injured player. For his aggression against Denver, he was named
“Lineman of the Week.” Later in the season against the New Orleans Saints, he
tackled QB Billy Kilmer in the end zone, forcing and recovering a fumble for a
touchdown.
A
knee injury drove Marshall from the game after he was traded to the Buffalo
Bills. Today he lives on his ranch in the Tigh Valley.
Another
player with small-town roots, Jim Massey of Neah-Kah-Nie High School on the
North Oregon coast, injected a competitive toughness and thoroughbred speed to
the Wildcat running back position. A transfer from the University of Oregon,
Massey powered his new team to success – the Wildcats won or shared the
Northwest Conference title in each of his seasons.
With
uncanny speed, he clicked off a 9.9 100-yard dash in a track meet against
Pacific University.
He
was a 10th round draft choice by the Los Angeles Rams in 1972, and eventually
spent two years as a cornerback with the New England Patriots under head coach
Chuck Fairbanks. Speed and unflinching toughness allowed Massey to compete on
the defensive side of the ball after a career as a running back at Linfield.
Today, Massey and his wife, Diane, live in McMinnville.
Perhaps
one of the more successful Linfield graduates graduating to the pros was Paul
Dombrowski, who spent six years in the NFL as a defensive back and kick
returner.
However,
Dombrowski, a 1978 Linfield alum, recalls a circuitous route to both Linfield
and the pros.
He
was supposed to attend Linfield but wound up at the University of Hawaii in his
home state his freshman year. After sparse playing time at Hawaii, he decided
to transfer to Linfield, but still didn’t experience much playing time with
veterans Mike Rex and Chris Knudsen ahead of him. He decided to return to
Hawaii.
As
a confused and somewhat lost soul, Dombrowski listened to advice from his
father, who convinced him he needed his degree. He returned to Linfield. The
elder Dombrowski blamed the distraction of the beach and his friends; his son
should concentrate on his studies and football.
Linfield
head coach Ad Rutschman became a father figure for Dombrowski, and the lessons
he learned in McMinnville would guide him the rest of his life, both in the NFL
and after his playing days.
“The
thing that has stuck with me through the years is Ad one time told me, ‘Once
you learn to quit, it become easy to quit again.’
“Ad
was more about developing you as a person and I wouldn’t be the person I am
today without his guidance. In the pros you’re just a commodity – a cog in a
multi-billion dollar business,” he said.
Dombrowski
made the team with the Kansas City Chiefs, and also played for the Patriots and
Cleveland Browns before retiring. During retirement, he survived a rare bout of
breast cancer. Today, he lives in the Tampa Bay area.
Even
some 45 years later, Dombrowski remembers his time at Linfield; his
appreciation for playing football under Rutschman still warms his heart.
Four
Wildcats whose football lessons at Linfield allowed bestowed the key to success
in the NFL and beyond.
