Old Missoula

This article can be found at EGriz.com

A friend of mine sent me this article and thought I would share!!!

I remember Terry Dillon by Dan Foley, Editor, Montana Kaimin, MSU Student Newspaper

(Editor’s note: This first program for 1964 is dedicated in memory of Terry Dillon, all-time great MSU athlete who was drowned in a construction accident in the Clark Fork River May 28, 1964. Here is a tribute to Dillon, writen by Dan Foley, editor of the Montana Kaimin shortly after Dillon’s tragic death.)

The initial shock of the loss of Terry Dillon is past, one’s thoughts turn to the accomplishments of Terry – both as an athlete and as a man.
His athletic accomplishments are best known. He was one of the all-time Grizzly greats in football–a diamond that glittered where there were few other gems, a near All-American in a chool that has had few grid heroes.
I remember Terry Dillon.
I remember the game against the Bobcats in his senior year. The Grizzlies were down and almost out, trailing by two touchdowns and in danger of losing the ballon downs.
It was Terry who stepped back to punt–at the thime it seemed the only logical thing to do. But a second later the roaring crowd was on its feet as Terry side-stepped a Bobcat rusher, then sprinted down the right sidelines. When they hauled him down 22 yards and a first down later, they were on their way to their greatest victory of the year.
The Cats were sent scampering home with a 36-19 tin can tied to their tails. It was Terry Dillon who led the victory that afternoon, picking up 115 yards in one of the greatest games of his college career.
I remember the thrill of watching Terry on TV late that December as he prpresented MSU in the East-West Shrine game. And I remember leaping to my feet, as did every other football fan in Montana, when Terry intercepted an East pass.
But it wasn’t just on the football field that Terry shone. I remember watching a few of the home runs he hit into the trees across the street from the Clover Bowl. He also starred in intramural basketball and ironically, swimming.
I remember too, the day I heard that Terry had not only been moved to the active roster of the professional Minnesota Vikings, but that he probably would start the following Sunday. And start he did, for the rest of the season.
That was Terry Dillon. He started the year as an unknown rookie and did well in summer camp, before and ankle injury ended his chances of making the roster. He was put on waivers and released.
Other players might of quit, but not Terry. He stayed on, working out with the “Taxi” squad in hopes he might get another chance. And he got his chance as the Vikings moved him onto the varsity squad at mid-season.
We all remember his football records at MSU, most of them as an offensive player;but with the Vikings, Terry was a defensive man and a good one. He had just signed his 1964 contract a few weeks ago and his coaches said they were expecting great things of him.
He wasn’t a big guy, at least not by pro football standards. He carried only 190 pounds on his six-foot frame. Only a week ago he posed on Dornblaser Field with three of the high school athletes who plan to come to MSU on football scholarships. I remember ribbing him at the time because all three towered over him.
But he came to play ball, he had the will to win, and that was the difference between Terry Dillon and a hundred other pro fooball prospects.
But somehow, now, it’s not Terry Dillon the athlet, but Terry Dillon the man, that I remember best. Terry would have graduated next week. He came back winter quarter to pick up those few credits he lacked for a degree in Business Administration.
That was Terry Dillon. He was making good money playing football, but that wouldn’t last forever. There was the future to think about, after his playing days. He planned to be married soon and the degree was insurance for the future.
You would almost have to describe Terry Dillon as shy. He didn’t talk much, and if he did it wasn’t about Terry Dillon. After retruning from his first year as a pro, he came not as someone to bow down to, but as Terry Dillon. He didn’t say much about accomplishments as a pro, and when he did it was only with the greatest of urging.
But again, that was Terry Dillon.
Grizzly football coach Hugh Davidson has suggested retiring Jersy 22, the number Dillon wore as a Grizzly. This has never been done in MSU athletic history and I can think of no finer tribute to Terry Dillon, the athlete and the man.
For in the game of life, as in the game of football, Terry Dillon will always be remembered as a winner.
(Football Jersey Number 22 has been retired by the Montana State University Department of Athletics in memory of Terry Dillon)