Topic: Sad news Reggie Oliver

[W0lfman]

https://twitter.com/keithmorehouse/status/1029496875395764224

[luvherd]

God Bless the family. I met Reggie at an Ohio U tailgate. I have my picture taken with him in which I cherish . A really good guy.

[biggreenarms]

That's sad news indeed. Thoughts prayers to his family.

[LUVTHATHERD]

Truly heartbreaking.  Love and prayers for his family.

[The E-Man]

I have a very, very, heavy heart, Reggie is like a big brother to me.  :(I was hoping he would pull through and get better. There's a reason why after all these years, that Reggie went back home to take care of his sick mother. Our loss is heaven's gain. RIP, big brother!

[Garbanjo]

Sad news :(

[herdorbust]

Sad indeed. Prayers to his family.

[Big City]

This is one of those threads you see as you log on and your heart just sinks.

Prayers for the Marshall community and Reggie’s family. We lost a great man.

[herd2win]

Reggie was an inspiration to all Herd fans...one of the cornerstones to the program...he will be missed.

[svherd]

Very sad to hear. His speech at the Fountain ceremony was awesome.

[herdfan48]

Very sad news. A huge loss for us here, but now he’s reunited with the 75. Prayers for his Mother and family.


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[marcbuff]

RIP Reggie. A true Son Of Marshall.

[mu79grad]

I will never forget the euphoric feeling I had when Reggie completed the game winning pass against Xavier.  Prayers for his family during this difficult time.

[Scottyo614]

To any family and friends who may read this.

I never watched Reggie play however Reggie holds a great place in my heart. He is Marshall football to me. Michael Payton was my first Superman, Chad and Byron may be the first round picks, Randy may be the best ever, but Reggie is Marshall. Reggie kept the Young Thundering Herd together. Later on in movie world he helped get Terry Gardner in the We Are Marshall movie when they couldn’t find him in Columbus. Let’s be honest, a generic Terry would never have worked in our story. He kept coming back to keep the memory of those who were lost alive. When you talk Marshall he needs mentioned at the top.

Reggie lived in Columbus.  Always wanted to meet him but never did. My dad got to a few times at Scioto Downs. (horse racing) He will be missed greatly. But it’s time  for Reggie to join the 75, with Nate and Terry and get the best view in the sky on game day. RIP Reggie

[luvherd]

I will never forget the euphoric feeling I had when Reggie completed the game winning pass against Xavier.  Prayers for his family during this difficult time.

Greatest play in Herd football history. RIP Reggie.

[coalherd]

RIP, Reggie.  If MU EVER retired someone's number not based so much on a bunch of glowing stats or a career with a sparkling W-L record, it would be Reggie's.  This solely based on what he did, along with his teammates, to continue the football program, in its tragic decimated state, and establish a foundation for all the success and glory that Herd football has attained in the decades since 1971!!!!!

[saherdfan]

RIP.  Prayers for his family!

[Flat Tire 2]

I don't see it mentioned much, but Reggie was head football coach at Alabama A&M University for one season 1994. He had a record of 4-7. He also was assistant coach at Bowling Green.

https://static.aamusports.com/custompages/FB/2009/Media%20Guide%20-%20ALL.pdf

[parshall2marshall]

RIP, Reggie.  If MU EVER retired someone's number not based so much on a bunch of glowing stats or a career with a sparkling W-L record, it would be Reggie's.  This solely based on what he did, along with his teammates, to continue the football program, in its tragic decimated state, and establish a foundation for all the success and glory that Herd football has attained in the decades since 1971!!!!!

As I understand it, the Dallas Cowboys ( obviously a very strong NFL team for that period of time ) gave Reggie a fairly long look in training camp. That in itself seems an accomplishment and indicator of how good a QB he really was.

[Ovaltine Jenkins]

It came down to him and Danny White who could punt and ended up doing so for a number of years until Staubach retired.

[The E-Man]

It came down to him and Danny White who could punt and ended up doing so for a number of years until Staubach retired.

And, at that time, black QB's in the NFL was unheard of.

[Flat Tire 2]

Reggie ended up playing for the Jacksonville Sharks in the short lived WFL. I was living in Jacksonville during that period and went to see him play in a game.  I had attended NFL games (a buddy's father had season tickets to the Bengals and when it got cold, we ended up with the tickets) and the WFL was a lower level of play compared to the NFL. I think the Jacksonville experience was the end of his playing days?

Interesting the other team playing the Sharks that game had a member of the undefeated 1969  Marshall Freshman football team playing for team playing for them, Ron Mikolajczyk. Ron played on the offensive line and was huge. Ron also worked as a bouncer at the bar on 20th Street north of the Third Avenue, I think it was called The Library. When the recruiting scandal hit, MU players were allowed to transfer to another school without sitting out a year for the transfer rule. Ron ended up going to the University of Tampa.

Interesting article about that period from a former player.

http://diverseeducation.com/article/16712/

[coalherd]

Reggie ended up playing for the Jacksonville Sharks in the short lived WFL. I was living in Jacksonville during that period and went to see him play in a game.  I had attended NFL games (a buddy's father had season tickets to the Bengals and when it got cold, we ended up with the tickets) and the WFL was a lower level of play compared to the NFL. I think the Jacksonville experience was the end of his playing days?

Interesting the other team playing the Sharks that game had a member of the undefeated 1969  Marshall Freshman football team playing for team playing for them, Ron Mikolajczyk. Ron played on the offensive line and was huge. Ron also worked as a bouncer at the bar on 20th Street north of the Third Avenue, I think it was called The Library. When the recruiting scandal hit, MU players were allowed to transfer to another school without sitting out a year for the transfer rule. Ron ended up going to the University of Tampa.

Interesting article about that period from a former player.

http://diverseeducation.com/article/16712/

Yeah, Flat Tire 2, that 69 freshman team was talent rich to be sure.  The product of Perry Moss's "No rules" recruiting which led to many things, NCAA sanctions, MAC expulsion, etc., etc.

Mikolajczyk was a "big time" get, on the recruiting lists of some big Eastern Powers and some Big 10 schools per newspaper reports.  Herd freshmen team also had a small but quick halfback by name of Robby Giardino, or something close on the last name, who ended up at Tampa with Mikolajczyk.  Ironically, where MU football suffered penalties, etc., from these guys, and others, recruiting, and later much worse (the crash), it was the Univ. of Tampa, or Tampa U., which wound up dropping football, and NOT Marshall!

Oh, yes, Mikolajczyk was from New Jersey as were two others who starred on the ill-fated 1970 Herd Team:  Marcelo Lajtermann (sp), the great kicker, and Lionel "Ted" Shoebridge, a phenomenal freshman and varsity QB.  Anyone who saw these two play and knew something about football back in that time realized that both could have been playing in the NFL at some future point!  I believe the 1969 frosh wound up 5-0, and one win was over the UK frosh, I believe, in a game played at "Ye Olde Fairfied".

[Flat Tire 2]

 Ted or "Shoe" as we called him was also a MLB prospect. I was always afraid that Shoe would leave Marshall for a pro baseball career.  I have a friend who lives in my neighborhood who was a couple of years younger than Ted and they both grew up together in Lyndhurst, NJ. You should hear the stories he tells about Ted playing America Legion baseball in NJ. My neighbor, who ended playing basketball in the Big Ten tells me that Ted was his idol when he was growing up and one of the best all around athletes he has ever seen. If you watch Ted play in his last game, you can see how great an arm he had. In reality, the MU offensive line was very small and didn't offer Ted much protection. I think if Ted had a full college career, he might have been the best QB ever to play at MU, JMHO.

The football players could transfer without sitting a year due to the NCAA infractions, a lot players left MU. UCLA tried to get Shoe to transfer to be the Bruins QB. Tampa was an "outlaw" school at that time and I believe they played in the NAIA. Tampa took a lot of players from other schools that had issues. Ron was a great guy and made friends with a lot of us Huntington students. I always wonder why Ron ended up at Tampa. I never talked to Ron after he left MU.

If you check out the the 1969 Chief Justice (MU yearbook) you will see the Freshman football games results listed above the Varsity Results. All of the Freshman games were played away except the last game against the WV Tech JV. The results October 3 MU 27-UK 16; OCT 12 MU 24-Dayton 7; OCT 21 MU 42-Xavier 0; NOV 8 MU 7-OU 6; NOV 15 MU 34-WVTJV 0. I usually don't blame the officials, but the OU game was called very one sided for OU.

Just found the below link regarding Ron and his pro football career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mikolajczyk

[Always THE HERD]

Ted or "Shoe" as we called him was also a MLB prospect. I was always afraid that Shoe would leave Marshall for a pro baseball career.  I have a friend who lives in my neighborhood who was a couple of years younger than Ted and they both grew up together in Lyndhurst, NJ. You should hear the stories he tells about Ted playing America Legion baseball in NJ. My neighbor, who ended playing basketball in the Big Ten tells me that Ted was his idol when he was growing up and one of the best all around athletes he has ever seen. If you watch Ted play in his last game, you can see how great an arm he had. In reality, the MU offensive line was very small and didn't offer Ted much protection. I think if Ted had a full college career, he might have been the best QB ever to play at MU, JMHO.

The football players could transfer without sitting a year due to the NCAA infractions, a lot players left MU. UCLA tried to get Shoe to transfer to be the Bruins QB. Tampa was an "outlaw" school at that time and I believe they played in the NAIA. Tampa took a lot of players from other schools that had issues. Ron was a great guy and made friends with a lot of us Huntington students. I always wonder why Ron ended up at Tampa. I never talked to Ron after he left MU.

If you check out the the 1969 Chief Justice (MU yearbook) you will see the Freshman football games results listed above the Varsity Results. All of the Freshman games were played away except the last game against the WV Tech JV. The results October 3 MU 27-UK 16; OCT 12 MU 24-Dayton 7; OCT 21 MU 42-Xavier 0; NOV 8 MU 7-OU 6; NOV 15 MU 34-WVTJV 0. I usually don't blame the officials, but the OU game was called very one sided for OU.

Just found the below link regarding Ron and his pro football career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mikolajczyk

Are you "positive" this was the "69" freshmen team?