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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 77 ever, what I remember most from that trip is that we stayed an extra day in Los Angeles, which was a huge surprise to everyone as Coach Tiller never did things like that. On the extra day, Coach Tiller did not tell us where we were heading after we left Universal Stu- dios, but as the buses drove up to the Rose Bowl, everybody went crazy. When the bus stopped, Coach Tiller asked us to soak it all in and really visualize and believe that we would one day, in the near future, be playing for a Rose Bowl title. So as I walked on the field with my teammates and looked into the empty stadium, I remember visualizing playing and representing Purdue and the Big Ten Confer- ence in this game with so much history. "What did I learn? You need to have a clear vision and believe in that vision of what you want to accomplish to be successful. Belief was a huge part of Tiller's messages over my career." Ben Smith, Defensive Back Executive, Pharmaceutical industry Fishers, Ind. "I was invited to an event in early December, a reunion of the players and coaches from the great teams under Coach Jim Young, and it hit me there was a common thread between us. The guys from the late 1970s have gone on to have success in their personal and professional lives, and they have stayed close as a group. And that has happened with the guys on the Rose Bowl team. We stick together and are on our way to having productive, meaningful lives. That is pretty cool. " Tim Stratton, Tight End Business Owner Chicago "O ne thing that sticks with me today is the feeling that you can never count yourself out. I learned that after we lost at Penn State with those two botched punts that literally handed them the game. I remember telling Morgan Burke after the game, 'I don't know if we will ever be good enough to win this league.' Morgan lis- tened, but I was really down. But we came back, had that great run in October and got to Pasade- na. So even today, no matter what I am doing, I don't discount what is possible." Joe Tiller, Football coach (retired) Buffalo, Wyo. "A s far as me being on the team that last played in a Rose Bowl for Purdue is pretty special. Unfortunately, the last five to six years, the Purdue program has been dismal. When true Purdue fans find out I played on the Rose Bowl team, they usually light up with excitement and start asking a ton of questions about the Big Ten championship journey. The Rose Bowl still has this exclusiveness even during the Playoff era that everyone understands the significant ac- complishment as a player. In most conversations, including my business endeavors, being a player linked to the Rose Bowl represents a winner." Donald Winston, Receiver Executive, Packaging Industry Carmel, Ind.