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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 73 f BY ALAN KARPICK AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com Editor's Note: This series tells how menu items were named in honor of former Boilermaker legends at the Triple XXX Restaurant. Y ou could excuse Bob Griese and Leroy Keyes if their memories are a little unclear. After all, they have won a few honors over the years. Both are football Hall of Famers and finished either sec- ond or third in the Heisman Trophy race three years run- ning from 1966-68. They are heroes of the Boilermakers' Rose Bowl team that defeated USC 14-13 on Jan. 2, 1967, with Griese at quarterback and Keyes roaming the offen- sive and defensive backfields. Call it an unofficial Purdue Hall of Fame, having a sand- wich named in your honor at the Triple XXX Restaurant, a West Lafayette drive-in that dates back 85 years. But just how those sandwiches came to be named in honor of Griese and Keyes is a little bit of a mystery. According to the current menu, the "Leroy Loin" is a deep-fried pork tenderloin sandwich, and "Bob's BBQ" is pure pork barbecue with a slice of American cheese on top. "I haven't a clue," said Keyes in late June when asked about the name. "I know I have enjoyed a few of those pork tenderloins over the years, but to know how it got named, I am not sure. "When I was in school, if you didn't want to eat in Owen Hall, you went out and got yourself a tenderloin. It was as simple as that. It seemed to be a staple here in West La- fayette, like a Reuben in New York City, a cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Tenderloin was the signature sandwich, at that time, in West Lafayette and Lafayette, and the Triple XXX was the best." When Griese was in school from 1964-67, he would of- ten make the short trek from the Sigma Chi house down Littleton Avenue to the restaurant. But it wasn't for pork barbecue; it was for pork tenderloin. "I used to like to sit at the counter," Griese said. "The food was always good, and it was always in our price range. College students don't have a lot of money, that much I re- member with great clarity." Griese says he has had sandwiches named after him since, and like Keyes, isn't sure when his sandwich got on the Triple XXX menu. " 'Bob's barbecue' sounds good. Heck, I would like to have one now," Griese said with a laugh when reached in late June at his Florida home. "But I don't recall ever having that barbecue sandwich; I am more of a tenderloin guy." Co-owner Greg Ehresman said the mistake is an honest one. The Ehresman family didn't purchase the restaurant until 1980, and the tribute sandwiches to Griese and Keyes were already on the menu. "We thought it was pretty cool that someone thought of P R E S E N T S : T H E S T O R Y B E H I N D T H E S A N D W I C H A Legendary Combination Griese, Keyes made magic for Boilermakers in 1960s Purdue Bob Griese and Leroy Keyes played just one season together but made the most of it, leading the Boilermakers to their only Rose Bowl championship 47 years ago.