The 99 Yarder -- A Brooklyn Story Circa 1970 | Philip A. Farruggio

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A really great memoir from Phil...

Philip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust

April 30, 2015

The skinny-legged wide receiver with 4.7 speed* (fast for a white guy in 1970) was running like "a thief from a grocery store" down the sidelines.

It was a late Saturday morning in October. The royal blue cloudless sky complemented the sunny brilliance of this "Indian Summer" day. Such a contrast to the pale, dirt-brown city grass field and the fire engine red of his uniform. His hands cradled the pigskin tucked close to his body.

The only sound he could hear was the wind whistling through his sweaty helmet. The poorly formed yard markers, chalked white like some giant checkerboard, passed below him rhythmically. In the distance, an empty end zone. His heart and mind raced along with his legs.

To ponder back at one's youth, like leafing through pages of a history book -- so many trapped memories escape. 1970 was one of the 'key years" in my life as a college student residing in Brooklyn, New York., "3rd largest city" of the whole US of A.

An air of uneasiness dominated, as this thing called Vietnam was sucking both our energy and our spirit. Friends and acquaintances from my Ave. U neighborhood would disappear, then suddenly reappear in their military dress uniforms, and then vanish once again -- some never to return alive.

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