Herr Scholz
5/3/2006, 09:57 AM
gdc, this is not for you. :D
UT's Peter Gardere was the perfect 10
With four wins against OU, he now hooks 'em as Austin businessman
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/texas/stories/050306dnspogardere.2406426.html
09:44 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Peter Gardere, the only starting quarterback on either side of the Texas-Oklahoma football rivalry to win four straight games in the series, still gets recognized around Austin.
The double takes occur when he's jogging on the city's most popular hike-and-bike trail at Town Lake with his dog, Buddy. Or when he's leasing commercial office space for Stratus Properties or out enjoying the nightlife as a single 36-year-old.
Gardere, who spent more than a year assisting a group of NFL agents in 2004 and 2005 before deciding it wasn't for him, jokes how Texas may now be getting ready to retire the No. 10 jersey he wore for the Longhorns.
"If they retire No. 10, I'll be able to honestly say to my kids one day, 'I wore it,' " Gardere said, referring to the number most recently worn by Vince Young, last season's national title game MVP. "Of course, I will have had nothing to do with it being retired. Vince Young had more talent in his right ankle than I had in my whole body."
Gardere went 25-16 as a starter from 1989 to 1992 and also played the outfield for then-baseball coach Cliff Gustafson for three seasons. It would have been four but John Mackovic, who replaced David McWilliams as football coach, demanded Gardere give up baseball the spring before his senior season.
File
Peter Gardere went 25-16 as the starter at UT. "Mackovic told me the starter would be determined by what he saw in practice," Gardere said. "And he meant it. He charted every single pass we threw in practice."
After finishing up his career at Texas, Gardere gave pro football a try – as a punter. Gardere was an all-state punter at Robert E. Lee High School in Houston. He got a training camp invitation with the Seattle Seahawks.
He was beaten out by Rick Tuten, who became a Pro Bowl player. But two days after being cut by Seattle, Gardere was punting for the Sacramento Gold Miners of the Canadian Football League. That gig lasted two seasons before he landed with the CFL's Memphis franchise in 1995.
"It wasn't glamorous, and I'll never forget punting in 5-degree weather in Winnipeg," Gardere said. "I literally melted part of my shoe in that game trying to keep my feet warm next to our propane heater on the sideline."
Gardere knew it was time to give up football after his father, George (nicknamed Pete), died from cancer two months after being diagnosed and after Gardere was cut by the New Orleans Saints in training camp in 1996.
The youngest of four children (two sisters and a brother), Gardere went back to Houston to help his mother, Nancy, recover from the family's loss.
"My dad was my best friend," Gardere said, fighting back tears. "He was my everything."
Gardere's mother and sisters give him a hard time about being single because they want to make sure there's a "fourth generation Longhorn football player" in the family.
Peter Gardere and his dog Buddy are a familiar sight on Austin's Town Lake running trail.
Gardere's grandfather, George, played quarterback at Texas in 1922, and his father, George Jr., broke his neck as a Texas defensive back on the first play of the first game he played in his sophomore year in 1953. His dad never played football again, but he served as Gardere's mentor.
ERICH SCHLEGEL / DMN
Peter Gardere and his dog Buddy are a familiar sight on Austin's Town Lake running trail. Gardere returned to Austin in late 1997 and worked as James Van Der Beek's stunt double in the movie Varsity Blues. He then took a job with Stratus Properties leasing commercial real estate. In 2004, he went to work for Capital Sports & Entertainment in Austin, helping to recruit pro prospects to the group's three NFL agents. After a year and a half, he returned to working for Stratus.
"As Mack Brown says, 'Being an agent is a hard job for an honest man,' " Gardere said. "There's rules and regulations to being an agent but not a lot of people follow them."
Last year, Gardere and former Texas linebacker Brian Jones started the 10/60 Club at Fullmore Middle School in Austin. The club helps kids with attendance, attitude and grade issues by giving them incentives to improve, including meeting Texas football players and taking tours of the UT football complex.
"Austin and the University of Texas have given me a lot," Gardere said. "So I'm trying to give back."
E-mail [email protected]
"Pete Week" topped all hardships
Peter Gardere has never been afraid of rejection.
"I've been booed by 80,000 people, and those were our fans," the former Texas quarterback said with a laugh. "Nothing compares to that."
Gardere said he had 26 derogatory messages on his answering machine after Texas lost to TCU, 23-14, in 1992, ending a 24-game win streak against the Horned Frogs dating to 1968.
"My parents even had to change their phone number," Gardere said.
But what Gardere is remembered for most is what he did on the second Saturday in October from 1989 to 1992, beating Oklahoma four straight times – 28-24, 14-13, 10-7 and 34-24. Gardere downplays the feat.
"I didn't do it myself," he said. "We had some low-scoring games where the defense did everything, and we didn't do much on offense at all."
Gardere's most distinct memory was the chants of "Graduate! Graduate!" from Sooners fans after the 1992 game. Gardere gets calls from reporters every year during the week leading up to the Texas-OU game.
"My friends jokingly call it 'Pete Week,' " he said.
OU fans finally got a measure of revenge when Gardere went to Norman, Okla., with the UT baseball team in 1992. He dropped a fly ball in left field, and OU fans moved to an area behind the outfield fence and heckled him the rest of the game.
"I never heard so many things about my mother that day," Gardere said. "The only thing they said that can be printed in a newspaper was that I should stick to football."
UT's Peter Gardere was the perfect 10
With four wins against OU, he now hooks 'em as Austin businessman
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/texas/stories/050306dnspogardere.2406426.html
09:44 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Peter Gardere, the only starting quarterback on either side of the Texas-Oklahoma football rivalry to win four straight games in the series, still gets recognized around Austin.
The double takes occur when he's jogging on the city's most popular hike-and-bike trail at Town Lake with his dog, Buddy. Or when he's leasing commercial office space for Stratus Properties or out enjoying the nightlife as a single 36-year-old.
Gardere, who spent more than a year assisting a group of NFL agents in 2004 and 2005 before deciding it wasn't for him, jokes how Texas may now be getting ready to retire the No. 10 jersey he wore for the Longhorns.
"If they retire No. 10, I'll be able to honestly say to my kids one day, 'I wore it,' " Gardere said, referring to the number most recently worn by Vince Young, last season's national title game MVP. "Of course, I will have had nothing to do with it being retired. Vince Young had more talent in his right ankle than I had in my whole body."
Gardere went 25-16 as a starter from 1989 to 1992 and also played the outfield for then-baseball coach Cliff Gustafson for three seasons. It would have been four but John Mackovic, who replaced David McWilliams as football coach, demanded Gardere give up baseball the spring before his senior season.
File
Peter Gardere went 25-16 as the starter at UT. "Mackovic told me the starter would be determined by what he saw in practice," Gardere said. "And he meant it. He charted every single pass we threw in practice."
After finishing up his career at Texas, Gardere gave pro football a try – as a punter. Gardere was an all-state punter at Robert E. Lee High School in Houston. He got a training camp invitation with the Seattle Seahawks.
He was beaten out by Rick Tuten, who became a Pro Bowl player. But two days after being cut by Seattle, Gardere was punting for the Sacramento Gold Miners of the Canadian Football League. That gig lasted two seasons before he landed with the CFL's Memphis franchise in 1995.
"It wasn't glamorous, and I'll never forget punting in 5-degree weather in Winnipeg," Gardere said. "I literally melted part of my shoe in that game trying to keep my feet warm next to our propane heater on the sideline."
Gardere knew it was time to give up football after his father, George (nicknamed Pete), died from cancer two months after being diagnosed and after Gardere was cut by the New Orleans Saints in training camp in 1996.
The youngest of four children (two sisters and a brother), Gardere went back to Houston to help his mother, Nancy, recover from the family's loss.
"My dad was my best friend," Gardere said, fighting back tears. "He was my everything."
Gardere's mother and sisters give him a hard time about being single because they want to make sure there's a "fourth generation Longhorn football player" in the family.
Peter Gardere and his dog Buddy are a familiar sight on Austin's Town Lake running trail.
Gardere's grandfather, George, played quarterback at Texas in 1922, and his father, George Jr., broke his neck as a Texas defensive back on the first play of the first game he played in his sophomore year in 1953. His dad never played football again, but he served as Gardere's mentor.
ERICH SCHLEGEL / DMN
Peter Gardere and his dog Buddy are a familiar sight on Austin's Town Lake running trail. Gardere returned to Austin in late 1997 and worked as James Van Der Beek's stunt double in the movie Varsity Blues. He then took a job with Stratus Properties leasing commercial real estate. In 2004, he went to work for Capital Sports & Entertainment in Austin, helping to recruit pro prospects to the group's three NFL agents. After a year and a half, he returned to working for Stratus.
"As Mack Brown says, 'Being an agent is a hard job for an honest man,' " Gardere said. "There's rules and regulations to being an agent but not a lot of people follow them."
Last year, Gardere and former Texas linebacker Brian Jones started the 10/60 Club at Fullmore Middle School in Austin. The club helps kids with attendance, attitude and grade issues by giving them incentives to improve, including meeting Texas football players and taking tours of the UT football complex.
"Austin and the University of Texas have given me a lot," Gardere said. "So I'm trying to give back."
E-mail [email protected]
"Pete Week" topped all hardships
Peter Gardere has never been afraid of rejection.
"I've been booed by 80,000 people, and those were our fans," the former Texas quarterback said with a laugh. "Nothing compares to that."
Gardere said he had 26 derogatory messages on his answering machine after Texas lost to TCU, 23-14, in 1992, ending a 24-game win streak against the Horned Frogs dating to 1968.
"My parents even had to change their phone number," Gardere said.
But what Gardere is remembered for most is what he did on the second Saturday in October from 1989 to 1992, beating Oklahoma four straight times – 28-24, 14-13, 10-7 and 34-24. Gardere downplays the feat.
"I didn't do it myself," he said. "We had some low-scoring games where the defense did everything, and we didn't do much on offense at all."
Gardere's most distinct memory was the chants of "Graduate! Graduate!" from Sooners fans after the 1992 game. Gardere gets calls from reporters every year during the week leading up to the Texas-OU game.
"My friends jokingly call it 'Pete Week,' " he said.
OU fans finally got a measure of revenge when Gardere went to Norman, Okla., with the UT baseball team in 1992. He dropped a fly ball in left field, and OU fans moved to an area behind the outfield fence and heckled him the rest of the game.
"I never heard so many things about my mother that day," Gardere said. "The only thing they said that can be printed in a newspaper was that I should stick to football."