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by Jim Johnston
Rich Glover is the most publicized
college football lineman since Notre
Dame's Leon Hart won the Heisman
Trophy in 1949. He's had more re-runs
on television than John Wayne. He draws
outlandish priase from every opposing
center and coach. They say he can make
tackles from sideline to sideline.
It's enough to make a guy get a little
cocky.
"I feel strange when I meet people,"
Glover said. "I feel like people are
watching me and saying, 'Hey, there's
Rich Glover, the big hot dog.' "
But Rich Glover is not a hot dog. In
fact, he's rather shy.
"People come up to me and say
'Damn, you looked rrfean in that game. I
thought you were about 6-5 and 260."
But Rich Glover doesn't look mean
around campus in his blue dungarees with
rolled-up cuffs. His physical statistics are
a more modest 6-1 and 234. His heavy,
sleepy eyelids and soft, slow talk leave
the impression of a gentle person.
Gentle? Now, wait a minute. Isn't this
the same Rich Glover who plays mickKe
guard for Nebraska. The guy who had a
hand in 22 tackles, recovered a fumble
and finally crushed Jack Mildren against
Oklahoma last year? The same Rich
Glover who says "I try to let centers
know they're in for a long afternoon. I
don't say nothing to 'em. I just look 'em
in the eye."
It's the same guy, all right. But you
wouldn't be able to convince people of it
whew he's not in his football uniform.
He's too quiet to be so mean. He's known
by his teammates as "Cool Breeze,"
"Jersey" or "Frog."
"My older brother Sonny hung that
name Frog on me when I was a little
kid," Glover said. "It has something to do
with my big eyes and droopy lids. It
don't bother me. They can call me what
they want."
Glover has always been shy, even
during his grade school days in Jersey
City, N.J. He is the fourth child in a
family of 10. His father was killed in an
accident when Rich was 11.
"My mother was pregnant when my
dad and it was really tough for a while,"
Glover said. "But we managed all right.
We were never really poor."
The Glovers lived in an eight-room,
brown-shingled structure. Most of the
houses in the Greenville section are
similar. You can look across New York
Bay at the Statue of Liberty and the
World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
It used to be a comfortable place to
live, Rich said. There were several small
stores where the fellas could hang out.
And it was only a 15-minute trip through
the "tube" (a tunnel under the Hudson
River) to New York City.
"Most of the stores are bare now,"
Glover said. "The Black Panthers scared
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-Bill Ganel
'em away. It used to be nice there, but its
getting bad."
The mayor of Jersey City was
sentenced to a 15-year jail sentence a few
years back for conspiracy.
Glover first started playing football in
Jersey City. He was in a Pop Warner
football league at age 10. He practiced at
fullback, but was switched to the line on
the game day because he was over the
120-pound offensive back limit. By the
time Rich was a 15-yuar-old freshman, he
was six-feet tall and weighed 200 pounds.
"I took an early liking to football,"
Glover said. "It was the only place where
you could go out and hit people and not
get locked up."
Surviving the hiqh school football
scene in Hudson County was not easy.
Snyder High School was a step below
most of the schools in the area in both
athletic and academic programs. Only last
year, Snyder revamped its program so
that it might retain its accreditation.
Snyder wasn't considered a football
power in the area. But its reputation
changed when Glover and his buddies
were sophomores. The Snyder Tigers won
three straight city championships in
Rich's final three years.
High School football in Hudson
County was rough, even downright dirty
at times.
Glover recalls a game against Lincoln
High School of Jersey City. Lincoln was
rated No. 1 and was averaging 48 points
per game. Snyder won, 12-0.
On the last play of the game, a Lincoln
I -Bill Ganzel
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