The Observer, April 21, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 25
Case's Dennis Pardee enjoyed long, successful football career
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An Ohio State versus Case football match-up will not be arriving at University Circle any time soon. However, there was a time when both Case Tech and Western Reserve competed against the Ohio States and Michigans of the world in intercollegiate athletics. During this era, more specifically the 1940s and 1950s, the athletic programs of both schools produced some very fine athletes. One of them was Dennis Pardee, who excelled on the football field in each of his four seasons (1951-53, 1955).
Pardee will be inducted into the Case Reserve Athletic Club Hall of Fame this evening for his accomplishments.
"It's an extreme honor," he said. "It feels very good. It was a nice surprise. I had to sit down when I was talking about it with the athletic director."
When looking at his accolades on the gridiron, it really is not much of a surprise that Pardee is receiving this distinction. The half-back began his collegiate career the right way by scoring a touchdown on his first rushing attempt in a 21-14 victory over the University of Akron. From there, he went on to lead the Big Four Conference in rushing and total offense in 1953. He was a unanimous All-Big Four selection and received the Les Bale MVP award.
"I expected to have a degree of success," Pardee said of his collegiate career. "I had a successful high school career, so I expected to be able to play."
Pardee played his high school ball at Warren Harding High School, in Warren, Ohio. The eastern Ohio town is where he grew up and where he still lives to this day.
In addition to building off his high school success, Pardee also credited his coaches for helping him advance among the college ranks. He played for two of the best, Charley Winner and Lou Saban.
"I was fortunate that I had good coaches," he said. "A good coach can make all the difference in the world. Winner was an excellent coach. Saban was my first coach, in 1951 and 1952. He was a hard man to play for because he was very demanding."
Both Saban and Winner had great connections in the game and were well-known among coaching circles. After leaving Case, Saban later coached bigger Division I programs at Northwestern, Maryland, and Miami. He also coached New England, Buffalo, and Denver at the professional level.
Saban was the coach who recruited Pardee to play at Case, but it was for Winner that he had his most success. Winner, who later coached the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals and New York Jets, was the son-in-law of Weeb Ewbank, the Hall of Fame coach of the Baltimore Colts. With his exploits on the football field, coupled with his relationship with Winner, Pardee received an offer to play for the Colts toward the end of his collegiate career. Pardee, though, declined the offer, instead choosing to finish his course work at Case.
"I wanted to graduate, so I stayed an extra half year," Pardee said. "I always wondered what would have happened. After I graduated, though, I wasn't interested in pro football. I knew I wasn't going to make a living playing football."
After graduation, Pardee served a distinguished career in the United States Marine Corps and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his work at Khe Sanh, Vietnam. While in the service, Pardee played eight seasons of football and was a member of four championship teams.
"We played college teams," Pardee said of his playing days in the service. "We played Xavier, Boston College, teams like that. In 1959, we were undefeated. Most of the players had previously played in college, so we played some tough competition."
From high school to college to the service, Pardee had an outstanding football career.
Asked what advice he would give to today's high school and college players who aspire to achieve similar success, Pardee's response was simple yet very true.
"Don't mess with any drinking or drugs or anything like that," he said, "and be determined to practice, practice, practice," he said. "That's what did it for me. I spent a lot of time practicing when I didn't have to."
So, when the Case football players start feeling fatigue in the heat of practice, they can look to Dennis Pardee as living proof that practice makes perfect.
