Former Syracuse Football Players Reminisce About Dick MacPherson

Legendary Syracuse football head coach Dick MacPherson has passed away due to natural causes. Former players shared their thoughts on his passing.

In a mixed emotional week ITLH has learned of the passing of legendary Syracuse football head coach Dick MacPherson due to natural causes at 86.

The reason we say mixed emotions is because from people that we’ve talked too coach Mac hasn’t been doing well lately. So it’s bittersweet to see him go, but also to understand that he’s in a better place.

With that being said at the radio station that I work, The Score 1260, we’ve gotten the opportunity to hear some great stories from former players on a variety of our local programming. Here’s some of the best stories we’ve collected over the last several days:

Daryl ‘Moose’ Johnston

1985-1988

The biggest name we spoke with is current NFL broadcaster for Fox, Daryl ‘Moose’ Johnston. He

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told a lot of great stories, but the best one being about Syracuse being his only D1 offer coming out of high school:

"“[Moose on going to Syracuse] I thought it would be a very good fit. I was very flattered and very excited about coach MacPherson he reminded me of the coach from Cheers haha. Believe it or not, Syracuse was my only D1 offer. I sent out a tweet on this and it’s 100% true. He believed in me before I did. He took a flier on me and he opened up a ton of doors for me at Syracuse and obviously beyond.”"

Blake Bednarz

Another former player who shared his thoughts was former Orange OL Blake Bednarz. He joined us in the 11 O’Clock hour as well to give his best memories and thoughts on his former coach.

"“It was a mixed bag of emotions and I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. The man was 86 years old it was inevitable that he was going to go, we just didn’t know when. I was surprised by how hard the emotions hit me. I mean this is a guy that gave me a chance and I was the only one from my family to go to college. So not only was I a part of the ‘Mac era’ but they were also a part of that Mac experience. He was a bigger than life personality.”"

Have to give a shoutout to Syracuse University for releasing this tribute video this week, a wonderful job.

But from all the former players that came on, one thing ran true, opportunity. This was a guy who was willing to give people chances. Moose went on to win three Super Bowls and have an amazing broadcasting career.

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Bednarz is a teacher and gives back and has had an amazing life. Coach Mac’s impact on not only Orange nation but his former players is evident. The world lost a great man, but the emotions were definitely a mixed bag and a lot of great reminiscing about a terrific guy.

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