USD Football 1991

JOE KAPP n the gridiron and the hardwood, Cal 's Kapp was one tough Golden Bear.

soon became fast friends because they had similar personalities and a tremendous desire to succeed. "With Joe, it was every day, every way," Hart said. "In all the years I've been in ath- letics as a player, coach and fan, the two greatest competitors I've been around are Joe Kapp and Dick Butkus. Joe didn't know what fear was. He's one of the most compet- itive and driven people I've ever seen. "He wasn't a highly-regarded high school quarterback, but he was determined to suc- ceed. He didn't throw picture passes, but he did what had to be done to win. We were co-captains of the freshman team (1955), fourth-string at the start of our sophomore year, starters by the fourth game and co-captains again as seniors on the Rose Bowl team." Kapp's penchant for rising to the occa- sion was evident from those humble begin- nings. After beating out three quarterbacks as a sophomore, Kapp climaxed the season with an emotional performance in the Big Game against Stanford. It was Pappy Waldorf's final game as Cal's coach, and Kapp did his best to send him out a winner. Stanford was a heavy favorite behind All-American senior quarterback John Brodie. But Kapp rushed for I06 yards and the Bears posted a 20-18 upset. Pete Elliot took over as coach in 1957, and Cal's only victory was a 12-0 drubbing of Southern Cal, the school 's first victory over the Trojans in seven years. Coming off a 1-9 season, the Bears weren't expected to be contenders in 1958. In fact, they were picked near the bouom of the PCC, and it seemed an accurate evaluation when College of the Pacific jolted Cal in the season opener, 24-20. Kapp scored a pair of touchdowns, includ- ing a 50-yard run, and had a great day, but was overshadowed by COP standout Dick Bass, who rushed for 215 yards. The Bears were crushed 32-12 at Michigan State the next week, so Hart and Kapp huddled on the plane ride home and decided it was time for Cal to stop being a loser. The team railied for seven victories in eight games and went to the Rose Bowl. Kapp's interception of a conversion pass prevented a tie and saved a 14-12 victory over USC, the last time the Bears would defeat the Trojans until 1970. The team improved to 4-2 with a 23-6 rout of Oregon, in which Kapp broke the game

"Nearly all the other schools had more talent, but they didn't have Joe." -Jack Hart tinction of throwing 29 interceptions com- pared to merely eight touchdown passes? How else could Kapp, as a senior in 1958, overcome an 0-2 start to lead the Golden Bears to the Pacific Coast Conference Championship and a Rose Bowl berth? That was 33 years ago, and Cal still hasn't been back to Pasadena on New Year's Day. How else could he possibly defeat the champion Green Bay Packers twice as a Minnesota Vikings rookie in I967? Or, how could Kapp, a man known for lhrow- ing wobbly passes, fire a record-tying seven TD passes against the Baltimore Colts in 1969, the season in which he remarkably became the MVP of the NFL? Joe Kapp was unique. He was an athlete of substance more than style, leaving an indelible imprint on teammates and oppo- nents. He even managed to leave his mark on a short-lived coaching career, being on the sidelines as a rookie in 1982 when his Golden Bears etched themselves into col- lege football lore with The Play, a multi-lat- eral phenomenon that stunned Stanford and its marching band in a bizarre Big Game. Those who know Joe Kapp couldn't have been surprised. Because he was the ulti- mate underdog as an athlete, his legendary career was brimming with upsets. That trend started not long after he was recruited out of Hart High in Southern California on a basketball scholarship by Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell. "There were no football scholarships available," Newell recalled. "I wanted him because he was a skilled basketball player. Red Sanders wanted him for the UCLA football team, but told Joe he couldn't play basketball. He came to Cal because he was told he could play both sports." Jack Hart, now a Bay Area advertising executive following a coaching career that included stops at Cal and Illinois, enrolled at Berkeley the same lime as Kapp. They

BY NICK PETERS Warren Moon is still trying, but Joe Kapp holds the distinction of being the only quar- terback in history to lead teams to the Rose Bowl, the Grey Cup and the Super Bowl. That's regarded as somewhat of a quirk because Kapp doesn't rate among the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Instead, he's revered as a colorful and controversial leader of men who frequently performed the unexpected. How else can you explain the fiercely determined Kapp being branded as a winner al the University of California despite an 11-20 three-year record and the dubious dis- Nick Peters covers baseball and college sports for the Sacramento Bee after spe- cializing 011 Cal football and basketball during his days as sports editor of the defunct Berkeley Daily Gazelle and later with the Oakland Tribune. He has authored "100 years of Cal Football" and "GiantsAlmanac."

TOUCHDOWN ILLUSTRATED