For three years we worked in the same building downtown when he was with Thomson McKinnon which was acquired by Prudential Securities. Al was a great guy and played 8 years in the CFL. He died in 2012 after a battle with Alzheimer's - for a couple of years he was actually my landlord. I used to see John Petitbon at some of the ND New Orleans Alumni events, and of course Joe Heap was a Notre Dame and Holy Cross (HS) legend. I love these stories, Olson.
Ecuyer was in the 1955 ND Frosh class...the same class HS teammate Richie Petitbon should have been in
In his sophomore year (the only varsity season he wasn't named to an All American team) Ecuyer had a broken thumb, sprained ankle and pinched nerve in his neck...and still played the most minutes of any guard on the ND roster - 324 minutes & was 4th on the team in tackles
Ecuyer led the '57 Irish in tackles & made a number of All American teams
As a senior in '58, Ecuyer led the team in tackles again...no one else was even close-the #2 defensive player had 25 less tackles than Ecuyer...and he made All American again
also lettered at ND as a varsity wrestler
of the later 50's. That was when I first started seeing them on news stands and reading them. I was about 9 years old and I specifically remember seeing pictures of him in Street and Smith, as I recall, and perhaps others. I was a Notre Dame fan after having read a book on Rockne and I didn't even know the school colors. When I looked in the back of the magazine where they carried the team schedules, name of the head coach, mascot and team colors I was a bit anxious because I hated the color red and hoped for something in blue or green. Bingo! The magazine said "Gold and Blue" and I was thrilled. Later I saw pictures from earlier seasons and was perplexed to see Green as well but, hey, that was my favorite color. I lucked out in ND using my favorite colors in the world. Ah, to be a kid again.
second college football magazine I can remember buying. The first one had Minnesota's Bobby Cox on the cover and was probably in 1956.
Nice little writeup for us Catholic school kids.
really something. And Norbert Roy- a name from the past- I think he was Billy Cannon's teammate at Istrouma. His uncle, Alvin Roy, had a gym in Baton Rouge and was a pioneer in weight training and isometric exercises for athletes- guys like Bob Petit, Billy Cannon, and Norb Roy. You could do a story on that one day. Fascinating stuff. Olson, you are the master. The New Orleans/Baton Rouge to ND (Catholic school) connection is fascinating. IN the 50s and 60s, the Jesuit vs Holy Cross game at City Park (Tad Gormley) stadium would draw 30,000 people. It would be carried live on WWL (Loyola's own radio and TV station).
interesting. Not sure if it is as strong today as it once was. I assume it all arose out of Catholicism in the state, a pretty rare thing in the South back then.
I cannot overemphasize how important those games were. They sold me on ND and John Huarte said as much to me the few times I talked with him at my cousin’s ranch picnics up in the mountains.
last 5, and 5 in last 30 years.
the Oilers win the first two AFL Championships.
Another winner, Mr. Olson. As stated previously, keep them coming!