Fresno State Athletics
Champions Reunite
11/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2001
By Rachel Azevedo, Fresno State Media Relations
Forty years ago, 34 men played on Fresno State College's undefeated and Mercy Bowl Championship football team. Today, these men reunite.
"Everyone is so excited about coming together again," said Dr. Pete Mehas, who played tackle. Mehas, Superintendent of Fresno County Schools, coordinated the reunion.
The 1961 team, coached by Cecil Coleman, was the second in Fresno State history to have an undefeated season. The first undefeated season came in 1930 (8-0) and the only other time since then was in 1985 (11-0).
Fresno State College played Bowling Green in the Mercy Bowl on Nov. 23, 1961. The game was in remembrance of the 17 Cal Poly football players killed in a plane crash following a Bowling Green vs. Cal Poly game one year earlier. The bowl game raised money for the surviving widows and children to dedicate a memorial in their honor.
The Bulldogs and Falcons raised $200,000 with a decisive 36-6 win before a then record breaking crowd of 33,145.
"We were a very close knit group," Mehas said. "We were close because of the tragedy that we played for."
Mehas and the 1961 players are proud to have played for a successful Fresno State team. They are zealous fans of this year's football team and wish the players will see the same amount of success they did.
"We cried for the team when they lost [against Boise State]. We genuinely wanted them to win," Mehas said.
Mehas is humble about comparing the 1961 and 2001 teams.
"There's no comparison between our team and this year's team," Mehas said. "We were like P52 fighter planes and they are like S18s. They are eight times faster than we were and they're 10 times stronger than we were. They are just tremendous athletes."
In the sixth reunion since their 10-0 season, the 1961 teammates are tailgating and attending today's game. Following the game, they will head to Bulldog Brewery for an after-party. On Sunday they plan to play golf together to cap off the weekend's festivities.
"It's almost like we're WWII vets the way we get together and tell old war stories," said Mehas.
