At Arizona’s 1991 spring graduation ceremony, 18 Wildcat football players earned their degrees. That’s the equivalent of an entire recruiting class. It was something you’d see at Stanford.
It’s no accident they were Dick Tomey’s guys; Tomey was one of those coaches who didn’t just talk about academics, he insisted it be a priority.
Howie Powers would become the owner of a real estate firm in Chicago. Zeno Alexander became a fire chief in Houston. Pete Russell became an NFL scout. And on and on and on.
Offensive lineman Mark Fontana, with a degree in finance, worked in the construction business in Tucson and a few years ago opened the New York Pizza Department restaurant on Wilmot Road. NYPD, get it? Fontana is from Buffalo.
Along the way, Fontana became the line coach at Cienega High School, one of Arizona’s most successful high school programs. He coached his son Vaughn, who would play at Pima College, and for the last three years coached his youngest son, Bryce, a player of note for the Bobcats.
On Sunday evening at the 20th National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame banquet, Mark Fontana walked into the DoubleTree ballroom and there stood his old coach, Tomey, the night’s keynote speaker.
They had seen each other just once in the 26 years since Fontana’s graduation day, but as it goes with Tomey, even though Fontana was not a starter, it didn’t matter a bit. The two men embraced, after which Mark introduced Bryce to his old coach.
It was impossible to know who was the most proud, the father or the coach.
The Southern Arizona Chapter of the College Football Hall of Fame is a rousing success. It originated and coordinated the selections of ex-Wildcats Ricky Hunley, Chuck Cecil, Rob Waldrop and Tedy Bruschi into the Hall of Fame. That’s over the top for any school not named Notre Dame or Nebraska.
But that’s just the tip of it. The Southern Arizona chapter, with such notable leaders as Joe Kearney, Mike Lude, Ted Schmidt, Rick Gonzales and now Nemer Hassey, among others, has awarded college scholarships to 207 of Southern Arizona’s leading scholar-athletes.
It’s a who’s-who list of the top names in Tucson football, from Sabino’s Quinn Gooch and Ironwood Ridge’s Daniel Borg to Canyon del Oro’s Tevis brothers, Aaron and Jared.
On Sunday, Bryce Fontana was among the 10 scholar-athletes honored; it was an emotional night for both his father and Tomey. Four years earlier, Bryce’s brother, Vaughn , was similarly honored. Vaughn left an indelible memory in that 2013 ceremony: A musician of note, he sang to several hundred people while on stage.
Bryce Fontana has a 4.17 GPA at Cienega. He’s the vice president of the school’s senior government organization. He studied ballroom dancing for two years and horsemanship for three more. He starred in two musicals at the Gaslight Theater, “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Life’s not all about football, as Tomey has taught his players since his first day as a coach at Miami of Ohio in 1962. It’s about the other stuff. Can you imagine a more fulfilling life as a high school ballplayer than that of Bryce Fontana?
“In my first year at Cienega, I was put in the lineup and I just got killed,” he said Sunday night. “I got pancaked. You name it. I came off the field and told my dad ‘I don’t know if I can keep doing this.’”
Ultimately, as Mark and Bryce talked about football, Bryce decided to get back on the field. As the Bobcats went 12-1 last fall, reaching the state semifinals, he made 36 tackles, forced two fumbles and had three quarterback sacks.
Cienega coach Pat Nugent said in 26 years of coaching he had never seen one of his players with leadership qualities to match Bryce’s.
After getting to meet Bryce, and listening to his list of accomplishments and the endorsements from Cienega teachers, Tomey put it in context.
“Bryce,” he said, “will be great at whatever he happens to pursue in life.”
That’s the way it has gone all 20 Southern Arizona chapter banquets. Every year you wonder how the 10 honorees can match the previous year’s 10 scholar-athletes, and every year you nod your head in appreciation at the young men Southern Arizona schools produce.
At the beginning of Sunday’s ceremony, Catalina Foothills lineman Cullen Drenkhahn, an Eagle scout who has a 3.9 GPA and has applied to the Air Force Academy, was asked by emcee Dana Cooper if he could recite the Boy Scout oath.
Cooper got it started with “trustworthy.”
Drenkhahn correctly replied with “loyal.”
And then the two rotated, putting the 12-part oath in precise order.
“Helpful,” said Cooper.
“Friendly.”
Courteous.”
“Kind.”
“Obedient.”
“Cheerful.”
“Thrifty.”
“Brave.”
“Clean.”
“Reverent.”
They only missed one: First class.
