John Erby was my teammate at Cal, my friend, a brother in arms, and a fellow Cal football coach. He died unexpectedly and peacefully at home in Sharonville, OH on 11/9/08. His wife, Delores, has written a 108-page paperback book titled "Caught Off Guard - A Memoir of 1st Lieutenant John W. Erby." I've read the book and will tell you how to order it at the end of this post. Since you can buy the book and learn all about a resilient and courageous Golden Bear, I won't spend much time here talking about the book. Instead, I'm going to tell you a couple of personal stories about John Erby for which I have first-hand knowledge.
[U]John Erby - A Brief Chronology[/U] - John was born on 5/7/40 in Arkansas. In 1943 his family moved to Richmond, CA and later settled in Fresno, CA. In 1958, John attends Bakersfield JC where he letters in football and earns a football scholarship to attend Cal Berkeley which he does (1960-62). John gets drafted by the Army in 1964, later attends Officer Candidate School, and receives his 2nd Lieutenant Commission in 1967. As a platoon leader in the 25th Infantry Division in Viet Nam, John's unit comes under heavy fire on 1/10/68 and John receives severe injuries to his lower right leg from an enemy mortar shell that explodes only 3-4 feet away from him. Later John's right leg is amputated below his knee and he is sent to Letterman Hospital at the Presidio of San Francisco to recuperate. In July 1968, John retires from the Army and is hired by Ray Willsey to be a line coach at Cal. This hiring was historic since it made John the first black assistant football coach ever in the Pac-8. When the Willsey Staff was let go in 1972, John quit coaching and embarked on a 25-year career in sales management for Levi Strauss & Co. in the Cincinnati area. During the latter half of his life, John was very involved in veterans' organizations and a crusader for wounded veterans. He even shared a stage with Gen. Colin Powell on behalf of veterans.
[U]Cal @ Duke 10/13/62[/U] - This story is not in the book and I've never seen it mentioned in any history of Cal Football. John Erby was the starting left guard on offense and I was the starting right guard. We both played inside linebackers on defense (Okie Defense). John was a senior and I was a sophomore. This was our first away game of the year and back then we flew to away games via 4-engine prop planes - not jets. After departing Oakland, a poker game started in the back of the plane and lasted most of the 7-hour flight to Durham, NC. Stakes for the game were small (nickel, dime, quarter with only 2 raises allowed and no check and raises allowed). Since I was the only rookie among the linemen, they let me play probably thinking I was too inexperienced to win and they could get my money. Other players included John Erby, Roger Stull, Jim Anderson, Bruce MacDonald, etc.
Eventually, we landed at the Raleigh-Durham Airport and took two buses to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, there were pickets all over the place. Most were black but a few were white. Our head coach, Marv Levy asked John Erby (the only senior black player on our team) to go out and see what the pickets were protesting and what they wanted. John was sitting near me in the middle of the bus, went outside, and talked with the pickets for about 5-10 minutes. He came aboard the bus, whispered something to coach Levy and then came down the aiseway to his seat. I stopped John briefly and asked him what the deal was. He said the pickets didn't want our black players to stay in the hotel because the hotel had a history of never having let blacks stay there before. I asked John where the pickets wanted our six black players to stay. He said in their homes. I then asked what he told the pickets. He told them he'd much rather stay in a nice hotel than their homes and besides he wouldn't mind being among the first blacks to ever stay in that hotel. His logic and leadership were simply brilliant. John broke down a racial barrier that had existed for years without endangering anyone and by simply acting like he belonged there. The team departed the buses and stayed at the hotel for 4 days and 3 nights without incident. BTW, Cal's 6 black players in 1962 were: John Erby, Jim Blakeney, Tyrone Price, Jim Norwood, Matt Baggett, and Dale Rubin.
The next day, Friday, John, Jim Anderson, and myself took a stroll through downtown Durham. Jim acquired a Mason Jar full of White Lightning to be used at a later date. As we walked we had our arms around each other's shoulders like pals will sometimes do. John was in the middle and gave us the look of a reverse oreo cookie. We laughed at the peculiar looks we got from the residents of Durham also on the street with us.
[U]Duke Game Also An Inspiration for Purple Passion[/U] - We lost the Duke game by a score of 21-7. The weather conditions for the game were the worst I've ever encountered. The temperature was 92 deg and the humidity was 94%. There wasn't any air conditioning in our locker room I lost 4.5 lbs putting on my uniform for pre-game warm-ups. During the game, players were puking in the huddle and my legs were shaking uncontrollably. Our team doctor, Dr. Jerry Patmont, was inspired by the Duke game to develop a drink that could be used to rapidly replace body fluids and prevent the puking and shaking associated with playing games in high humidity venues. Dr. Patmont and Jack Williamson (our head trainer) selected Ron Calegari and myself as the guinea pigs for Dr. Patmont's experiments. We were selected because we had the highest percentage weight loss from football practices over many observations. During 1963 and the early part of 1964, Calegari and myself were frequently giving blood and urine samples both before and after practice for Dr. Patmont's analysis. Finally, Dr. Patmont's potion was ready for use at the 10/10/64 game we played against Miami(F) in the old Orange Bowl. Dr. Patmont's potion worked great and we named it Purple Passion. This was a full year before the University of Florida announced their Gatorade invention. Too bad Dr. Patmont didn't patent his Purple Passion because we'd likely be seeing Purple Passion on all the shelves where you now see Gatorade.
Ordering Caught Off Guard - To order a copy of the paperback book, send your name, address, and a check for $18.00 ($14 + $4 shipping) payable to Delores Erby, Erby Memoir, 10046 Indian Springs Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45241-3631. The first printing sold out quickly and the second printing just arrived.
[U]John Erby - A Brief Chronology[/U] - John was born on 5/7/40 in Arkansas. In 1943 his family moved to Richmond, CA and later settled in Fresno, CA. In 1958, John attends Bakersfield JC where he letters in football and earns a football scholarship to attend Cal Berkeley which he does (1960-62). John gets drafted by the Army in 1964, later attends Officer Candidate School, and receives his 2nd Lieutenant Commission in 1967. As a platoon leader in the 25th Infantry Division in Viet Nam, John's unit comes under heavy fire on 1/10/68 and John receives severe injuries to his lower right leg from an enemy mortar shell that explodes only 3-4 feet away from him. Later John's right leg is amputated below his knee and he is sent to Letterman Hospital at the Presidio of San Francisco to recuperate. In July 1968, John retires from the Army and is hired by Ray Willsey to be a line coach at Cal. This hiring was historic since it made John the first black assistant football coach ever in the Pac-8. When the Willsey Staff was let go in 1972, John quit coaching and embarked on a 25-year career in sales management for Levi Strauss & Co. in the Cincinnati area. During the latter half of his life, John was very involved in veterans' organizations and a crusader for wounded veterans. He even shared a stage with Gen. Colin Powell on behalf of veterans.
[U]Cal @ Duke 10/13/62[/U] - This story is not in the book and I've never seen it mentioned in any history of Cal Football. John Erby was the starting left guard on offense and I was the starting right guard. We both played inside linebackers on defense (Okie Defense). John was a senior and I was a sophomore. This was our first away game of the year and back then we flew to away games via 4-engine prop planes - not jets. After departing Oakland, a poker game started in the back of the plane and lasted most of the 7-hour flight to Durham, NC. Stakes for the game were small (nickel, dime, quarter with only 2 raises allowed and no check and raises allowed). Since I was the only rookie among the linemen, they let me play probably thinking I was too inexperienced to win and they could get my money. Other players included John Erby, Roger Stull, Jim Anderson, Bruce MacDonald, etc.
Eventually, we landed at the Raleigh-Durham Airport and took two buses to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, there were pickets all over the place. Most were black but a few were white. Our head coach, Marv Levy asked John Erby (the only senior black player on our team) to go out and see what the pickets were protesting and what they wanted. John was sitting near me in the middle of the bus, went outside, and talked with the pickets for about 5-10 minutes. He came aboard the bus, whispered something to coach Levy and then came down the aiseway to his seat. I stopped John briefly and asked him what the deal was. He said the pickets didn't want our black players to stay in the hotel because the hotel had a history of never having let blacks stay there before. I asked John where the pickets wanted our six black players to stay. He said in their homes. I then asked what he told the pickets. He told them he'd much rather stay in a nice hotel than their homes and besides he wouldn't mind being among the first blacks to ever stay in that hotel. His logic and leadership were simply brilliant. John broke down a racial barrier that had existed for years without endangering anyone and by simply acting like he belonged there. The team departed the buses and stayed at the hotel for 4 days and 3 nights without incident. BTW, Cal's 6 black players in 1962 were: John Erby, Jim Blakeney, Tyrone Price, Jim Norwood, Matt Baggett, and Dale Rubin.
The next day, Friday, John, Jim Anderson, and myself took a stroll through downtown Durham. Jim acquired a Mason Jar full of White Lightning to be used at a later date. As we walked we had our arms around each other's shoulders like pals will sometimes do. John was in the middle and gave us the look of a reverse oreo cookie. We laughed at the peculiar looks we got from the residents of Durham also on the street with us.
[U]Duke Game Also An Inspiration for Purple Passion[/U] - We lost the Duke game by a score of 21-7. The weather conditions for the game were the worst I've ever encountered. The temperature was 92 deg and the humidity was 94%. There wasn't any air conditioning in our locker room I lost 4.5 lbs putting on my uniform for pre-game warm-ups. During the game, players were puking in the huddle and my legs were shaking uncontrollably. Our team doctor, Dr. Jerry Patmont, was inspired by the Duke game to develop a drink that could be used to rapidly replace body fluids and prevent the puking and shaking associated with playing games in high humidity venues. Dr. Patmont and Jack Williamson (our head trainer) selected Ron Calegari and myself as the guinea pigs for Dr. Patmont's experiments. We were selected because we had the highest percentage weight loss from football practices over many observations. During 1963 and the early part of 1964, Calegari and myself were frequently giving blood and urine samples both before and after practice for Dr. Patmont's analysis. Finally, Dr. Patmont's potion was ready for use at the 10/10/64 game we played against Miami(F) in the old Orange Bowl. Dr. Patmont's potion worked great and we named it Purple Passion. This was a full year before the University of Florida announced their Gatorade invention. Too bad Dr. Patmont didn't patent his Purple Passion because we'd likely be seeing Purple Passion on all the shelves where you now see Gatorade.
Ordering Caught Off Guard - To order a copy of the paperback book, send your name, address, and a check for $18.00 ($14 + $4 shipping) payable to Delores Erby, Erby Memoir, 10046 Indian Springs Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45241-3631. The first printing sold out quickly and the second printing just arrived.
