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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 10 • 29 BY ALAN KARPICK AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com F rank Burke was a veteran in many ways before he ever set foot on Purdue's campus 50 years ago this fall. First, he was 25 years old, hav- ing served in the Army before en- rolling at Purdue in the fall of 1964. As one of 11 children growing up in Derby, N.Y., outside of Buffalo, he looked to the service as a way to achieve his goals in life. And his life was busy while stationed in Germany. He served as a pole lineman, doing the diffi- cult job of creating electronic con- nections between households. He also met his wife Imgard — they celebrated their golden anniver- sary Sept. 5. He also played the sport he loved as an lineman for the Army team. His team had success, win- ning the European title. It would have played for the "world cham- pionship" in 1963 had John F. Ken- nedy not been assassinated. "My dream was to get good enough to earn a scholarship at Alabama and play for Bear Bryant," Burke re- called. But Burke was a Yankee and his father said that in the tu- multuous 60s, there weren't going to be too many northerners on the Crimson Tide. As Boilermaker luck would have it, three of Burke's coach- es were former Boiler- maker football play- ers, including quarter- back Maury Guttman. "They put me in contact with Coach Jack Mollenkopf and the rest is history, I guess," Burke said Wednesday from his home in Spring, Tex- as. "But I came in as a walk-on and Coach made it clear I had to earn my way onto the team. "All I wanted was an opportunity." D e s p i t e slowly work- ing his way into the lineup, he was making an impact among his teammates. "I remember us calling him the 'Grand- daddy' of our football team," said classmate Jim Bonk, who liked having a 25-year-old freshman alongside him. "We really looked up to him and respect- ed the road he had to take to get to Purdue." It wasn't until the second game of his junior year in 1966, a nationally televised game at Notre Dame, that Burke became a mainstay in the lineup. Freshmen were ineli- gible for varsity com- petition in those days, and Burke saw the field only briefly during his sophomore year in 1965. But the linebacker made the most of his junior year. Some inju- ries provided playing time oppor- tunities and Burke wasted little time taking advantage. When thinking of some of the heroes of the history of Purdue football, Burke's name isn't usu- ally on the short list, but maybe it should be based on what hap- pened the remainder the Boiler- makers' season of destiny. "Yes, he was the old man to a bunch of pups, but that old man could play," said Bob DeMoss, a top assistant coach during Burke's days at Purdue. "If he doesn't make those blocks, we aren't smelling Roses, that much I know." "Those plays" consisted of blocked punts in key Boilermaker victories at Michigan and Minne- sota — he recovered the first for a touchdown— and a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter of Pur- due's 14-13 win over USC in the game coincidentally named "The Granddaddy of Them All." His punt block in the fourth quarter of Purdue's 22-21 win at Michigan just might be the defin- ing play of the 1966 season. That L A F A Y E T T E S A V I N G S P R E S E N T S L A F A Y E T T E L E G E N D : F R A N K B U R K E The Vet Who Helped Deliver Roses 'Old Man' Boilermaker has lived life of service Purdue After a career in the Army, Frank Burke was nearly 30 years old when his Boilermaker football career ended. He has lived a life of service to others, but his service to his teammates as a linebacker on Purdue's first Rose Bowl team cannot be underestimated.