Garnet and Great

Definitely Not Your Average Joe: From blocking for Steve Tensi to brandishing three Super Bowl rings

How do you top the thrill of three Super Bowl rings? You don't. But Joe Avezzano -- who anchored the OL at FSU from 1963 through '65 -- is equally proud of the less glitzy awards from his peers. He's the only three-time winner of the NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year award voted by NFL special teams coaches. His Dallas Cowboy units consistently finished near the top in all four major kicking game stats, while blocking 23 kicks and returning 18 punts and kickoffs for TDs.

Joe's long relationship with the Cowboys covered 13 years and three Super Bowls ('92, '93 and '95). In 2002, he served as Head Coach of the Arena League's Dallas Desperados' as well as Cowboys' special teams guru. Among Joe's coaching stops at the college level were FSU in 1968, Iowa State from 1969 thru '72, and head coach at Oregon State from 1980-84.

After finishing his career with the Raiders, Joe hung up his whistle in 2006. But he never slowed down. He and his son Tony own and operate two sports bars in the Dallas area -- gruelling work as you can tell by the photo above -- and he talks Cowboys on the radio during the season. Joe recently took time out to chat with us about his playing and coaching career.

What's your best memory of FSU's breakout season of '64?
"Sure, I enjoy the memory of the wonderful '64 season. But it's the people: me and Freddy and Steve and George D'Allessandro and (Phil) Spooner and (Terry) Gavin and (Dale) MacKenzie and (Tom) West and (Jack) Edwards -- we all came in as Coach Peterson's first recruiting class. And we just had a bond as a freshmen team. We were cocky. We believed in each other, we liked each other. And we just knew we could be good. And the journey with those guys, and Coach Peterson, the coaches that we really enjoyed... Winning that Gator Bowl in '64 was the destination, but if you don't enjoy the journey then you really can't enjoy the rest of it."

How was it rooming with Steve Tensi your freshmen year?
"I moved into my room, waiting to see who my roommate would be. And it's this gangly 6 foot 5" guy from Cincinnati Elder High School, which I'd never heard of. He was an absolute Elvis Presley freak, and had every record, knew every word of Elvis's songs. Could imitate him. And I had to deal with that until finally he got married. But I loved it."

TRIBE Vs. TIDE, GAME TWO: An eye-witness account of the ambush of Bama

by Howard Ellis, Class of ‘67

It can’t have been forty years!  That beautiful fall day seems like yesterday. Except for the fact that I’ve told this story probably 100 times since then. Our young, unpredictable Seminoles (“What’s a Seminole?” was a question we used to answer a lot forty years ago) were scheduled to be the Alabama Crimson Tide’s football sacrifice du jour at Birmingham’s Legion Field on Saturday the 23rd of September 1967.

I remember the date because it was the day after my 23rd birthday. As a birthday present, my sweetheart at the time had purchased tickets for the game and arranged for another couple to drive up with us to see FSU play one of the biggest games ever…against an Alabama team lead by Kenny “The Snake” Stabler and coached by Bear Bryant, legend in a pork pie hat.

Being poor college students, we packed a lunch and all chipped in for gas. Among the four of us, the most reliable car was my friend’s Nash Rambler station wagon. We all  piled into it and headed out from Tallahassee for the evening game in Birmingham. We barely got there for the kick off, and would have missed it had we not bought a newspaper from the kid selling them at an intersection where we were stopped for a red light. We initially told the young boy, who looked to be about sixteen, we didn’t need a paper, but could use directions to Legion Field. After being told to turn right and drive straight for five miles, we decided a paper would helpful in getting information on the game. Handing over the newspaper, the kid then gave us an entirely new set of directions that began with turning left…The kid was street wise on several levels.

The stadium was packed. As Seminole fans, the four of us were outnumbered about a thousand to one. The game was a wild offensive display by both teams. Kim Hammond had quite a night throwing to Ron Sellers. “Jingle Joints,” as he became known, hauled in twelve or thirteen passes for over a hundred and fifty yards. We couldn’t believe it! Alabama was a legitimate contender for the national title and here was little old FSU (at the time) running up and down the field with them. After a couple of series, we overcame the intimidation of being so out-numbered and started screaming support for the guys in garnet and gold.

When the smoke settled, the scoreboard read FSU—37  Alabama—37.  The ‘Noles had given it everything they had. In the stands, we had done the same. And I’ll never forget what great fans the Tide loyalists turned out to be. Although it was a disappointing outcome for them, many who had been seated around us shook our hands and congratulated us on FSU’s mighty effort. 

We drove a long way to see that historic game. The FSU Football program covered a lot of ground that weekend too. It was the beginning of a drive for national recognition that peaked in 1993 when we won our first title, and the making of a tradition I feel privileged to have been a part of.

TRIBE Vs. TIDE, GAME TWO: More memories of the day the Bear was fit to be tied

We tracked down Mike Bugar, a junior defensive lineman for the Noles in 1967. Mike went on to be an assistant coach on the college level, but says he's never forgotten the 37 - 37 tie with Bama -- even if it was 40 years ago:

"The game in '65 we felt kind of tentative. But the one in '67, we felt good about ourselves. We really felt that we should have won that game. But Alabama kinda woke up and got pissed off.

"One of the things I remember about that game is we returned a punt for a touchdown (or a long gain). And it was run to Alabama's sideline. As I was going by I remember Bear Bryant taking off his hat and throwing it on the ground and asking 'Do we have our best in the there!?'

"I remember missing a tackle on Ken Stabler on an option play on Alabama's two-point conversion that made it a tie. I remember feeling bad after the game because I missed that tackle.

"We felt like we were going to spring a surprise on Alabama. Danny Ford played in that game, he was an offensive tackle. I later worked for Danny at Clemson. He never would say much about that game except that we were lucky."

Photos courtesy of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Tuscaloosa.

TRIBE Vs. TIDE, GAME TWO: Lost and Found Sound of 1967's Classic 37 - 37 Shootout

Perhaps the most impressive
win of the pre-Bowden era was actually a tie. But for FSU fans of the day, it was every bit a victory. The year was 1967 and FSU had lost its opener to Houston in the Astrodome. Next up was Alabama, riding a 21-game win streak. It looked like Bear Bryant could name the score. Instead, the Bear was embarrassed as FSU scored more points than Bama gave up the entire previous season.

Here's some rare play-by-play of the final drive as Kim Hammond and company knot the score with a minute left to play. The announcer is Alabama's legendary John Forney, an old-school gentlemen who paid tribute to FSU's tieing touchdown ("We cannot give Kim Hammond enough credit, that was a magnificent pass").

While the quality is not great -- with the radio reception fading in and out -- it's worth a listen as a monumental moment in a young football program barely 20 years old at the time.
MP3 File

TRIBE Vs. TIDE, GAME ONE: Bama and The Bear Take Care of Business

By Rich Halten

For two major schools in bordering states,
the FSU - Alabama series is surprisingly brief and, by college football standards, ancient history. Its three games are confined to a ten-year period more than 30 years ago. But what it lacks in history, it makes up for in drama -- with one notable exception.

Alabama's 21 - 0 domination in the first meeting in October '65 was nothing to write home about. I know, because I covered the game for FSU's student newspaper, The Florida Flambeau. I recall a methodical Bama ground game and FSU's inability to generate much offense (Tensi and Biletnikoff had graduated). Most of all I recall supremely confident Tide fans cheering politely but with little spirit, so assured were they of the outcome. Oh, and I'll never forget the great fried chicken served in the press box.

Joe Avezzano was a senior OL in '65. We asked him if the team might have been a little dazzled by the Bear Bryant mystique:

"Going to Alabama, that was a big deal for us. And also we didn't have as good of a football team. In '64, didn't matter where we played -- at home or away -- we knew we were going to beat anybody we played. And if we didn't, it was a huge surprise to us. In '65, we weren't the same team. I'm glad we went and wish we could have played better. But it was just one of those experiences."

In the first half, the Noles drove to the Alabama 18, and later the 38. But both drives stalled out.

The closest FSU came to scoring was a second-half drive to the Tide's 15-yard line, but an interception killed any hope of points.

The Bear threw some minor praise FSU's way, saying "We had a better football team out there today than I thought we had (referring to the Noles). Although Florida State gained a lot of yardage, they didn't do anything we didn't expect, and our defense played about as well as it could."

Coach Bill Peterson called the loss "humiliating." The next two games in the series would be a far different story.

Next -- Peterson's Revenge: the Noles humble the Tide on national TV.

Steve Tensi talks about Biletnikoff, beating the Gators for the first time, and the Noles breakout season of '64

Tensi to Biletnikoff was the Seminoles first great passing combination. There would be many more to come —  like Hammond to Sellers, Ward to McCorvey, and Weinke to Warrick. But Steve Tensi and Fred Biletnikoff were a tough act to follow.

On this edition of Garnet & Great, Tensi (pictured above with Coach Peterson) tells how he and Biletnikoff and the '64 team took FSU from being barely known outside the South to a number 11 national ranking. If FSU had run a pro-style offense in '62 and '63, who knows how many thousands of yards the duo might have produced.

Out of football for several years, Tensi is now in construction in North Carolina. He hasn't been to an FSU game in decades, but often watches the Noles on TV — when not entertaining his grandchildren. By the way, Steve is still married to the girl he met at freshman orientation, his second day on the FSU campus.

As Biletnikoff Exits the Game, a Moving Tribute Echoes From the Hall of Fame

He was an unhearlded kid out of Erie, PA — skinny, slow and quiet. He was also an All-American, All-Pro and maybe the best receiver in Seminole history.

Now, for the first time in nearly 50 years, he's out of football. Fred Biletnikoff has retired as receivers coach of the Oakland Raiders.

What did Freddie B. mean to football? More than just a dependable, possession receiver. He symbolized a fearless disregard for life and limb — sacrificing those bony joints to make the catch, no matter what the price to be paid.

Fred's career, from high school to Tallahassee to Oakland, is summarized beautifully (hear it below) by Raiders owner Al Davis during Biletnikoff's Hall of Fame induction. We've never heard the mysterious Davis pay such an emotional tribute to any of his players. But then, there was nobody quite like the elusive, determind Freddie B.

The man who made "The Catch" has spent the rest of his life running away from it

Lane Fenner was last heard from in November 1986, on the 20th Anniversary of "The Catch," when Gerald Ensley of The Tallahassee Democrat tracked him down somewhere in the Southwest.
A reluctant Lane talked to Ensley, but made him promise to never tell where he lived. The story Ensley wrote is believed to be the last time Fenner spoke to the media about his moment in FSU history. (Garnet & Great had no luck in locating him 40 years after.)

Our thanks to The Democrat, and Gerald Ensley in particular, for greenlighting this slightly condensded version of that story.

COMPLETING THE LEGEND OF LANE FENNER
by Gerald Ensley
Democrat Staff Writer

Ron Sellers tells the perfect Lane Fenner story.  The year was 1966, the same season Fenner became famous.  The Florida State football team was amid the mountains in El Paso, Texas, preparing for the Sun Bowl.

After one practice, the team was loading up the buses.  Coaches did a head count.  One player was missing...

"It was Lane," recalled Sellers.  "We searched for 20 or 30 minutes before we found him, halfway down the mountain, in a cave, looking for rocks."

Bingo, the quintessential Fenner story, perfect not just because Fenner was a geology major but because Fenner was a maverick.

Fenner was a player who once stood up in a team meeting and criticized head coach Bill Peterson.  A player who refused to join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, to which almost all his FSU teammates belonged.  A player who chewed sunflower seeds while most other Seminoles chewed tobacco.

There's only one thing wrong with Sellers' story.  It's not true.

Long before the warchant, Coach Pete gave FSU fans lots to cheer about

Bill Peterson pulled FSU up by the chin strap from a wanna-be program to a college football powerhouse. He hired assistants who would go on to coach Super Bowl teams. And he made the Noles' offense the most exciting of its time.

His teams were the first to beat the Gators. First to win a major bowl game. First to finish in the Top 25 (#11 in 1964). "Coach Pete" even planted the seeds of a future dynasty when he added a young Bobby Bowden to his staff.

In 1993, Peterson lost his battle with cancer. Fortunately, he left a namesake who was there for FSU's coming out party. Listen as Bill Peterson, Jr. — today an assistant coach at Shorter College in Georgia — recalls how his Dad put Florida State on the college football map. And almost beat "The Bear."