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98 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED the first practice he threw a ball that hit me in the chest and bounced 20 feet away. "And sure enough next practice they asked me if I wanted to be a defensive back. So I said, 'OK,' I will be a defensive back.' That is what I remember: How hard Bob worked to get where he was, and how bad a re- ceiver I was." Yet Catavolos, who enjoyed a ca- reer in football that included 28 years as an assistant in the NFL, did have good enough hands to make the most important interception in Purdue history. The Trojans, and their river- boat gambler coach (and former Boil- ermaker) John McKay, had scored a touchdown with just over two min- utes left in the game and decided to go for the win. Catavolos recalled it with minute detail as if it was yester- day. "They lined up with trips to our left. We had two outstanding defen- sive ends in George Olion and Bob Holmes and one of them pressured the quarterback (Troy Winslow) so he had to throw it earlier than he wanted to. "And our All-America safety (and Rose Bowl MVP) John Charles cov- ered their top receiver and jammed him up at the line of scrimmage so that he couldn't pick me. So I had the easy job while they had the two hard jobs and I slid in and happened to make the play. "I was probably trying to knock it down but somehow it stuck in my hands, and unlike my earlier expe- riences as a receiver, I caught it," Catavolos continued. "But if you ask Griese about the play before (when USC scored) he would say it was my fault as I allowed the touchdown since I was the closest guy to (USC receiver) Rod Sherman." Catavolos and Griese have re- mained close throughout the years, and enjoyed renewing that relation- ship on Homecoming. But the bond was forever forged a week after the Rose Bowl when the duo were in Hawaii for the Hula Bowl. Catavolos and Griese had decided to go body surfing near Makupu Point about 10 miles from where they were staying in Waikiki Beach, but misjudged the riptide and nearly drowned. "We got to the beach and no one was swimming in the area where we were and we thought, 'Great we have it all to ourselves," Catovolas recalled. "We couldn't have misjudged it more and in the end I thought I was going to die out in the water." And his teammate was in trouble too. As it turns out a couple of island- ers saved Griese and Catavolos. "I still recall Bob being carried out of the water by those guys," said Catavolos in a much more somber tone. "It was terrifying and I know that Bob and I are just lucky to have lived to enjoy a reunion like this." For linebacker Frank Burke, the Rose Bowl experience remains both emotional and humorous, especially as it pertains to his family. Burke, who enrolled at Purdue and decided to walk on the team at age 25 after stints in the military and working world, was one of the reasons the Boilermakers not only earned the trip to Pasadena, but were able to prevail in the "Granddaddy of Them All." Burke blocked three kicks in 1966, including one at Michigan that deliv- Leroy Keyes, a sophomore in '66, teamed up with classmates Perry Wil- liams (right, who scored both of Purdue's touchdowns in the Rose Bowl), and middle guard Chuck Kyle, who still holds the school record for tackles in a game (27), and Rose Bowl hero George Catavolos (far left) to sing "Shout!" during their visit to Ross-Ade Stadium for Homecoming Oct. 15. "They handed me the mic, and I had to do something," Keyes said with a laugh. "So we did our best to be like the Temptations and Four Tops. Not sure we succeeded, but it sure was fun. "Boy it was great to walk on that field with those guys once again." Lyrical Leroy Tom Campbell