A Union College football reunion, which was 15 years
overdue, took place in Boulder,
Colorado in January 2005 when Jon Ford (Class of
1985) was reunited with a very special piece of jewelry…his 1984 Lambert Cup
Trophy ring (the Cup is presented annually to the Northeast “Team of the
Year”).
Ford, an
undersized offensive lineman throughout his undergraduate days, lost the ring
while taking part in a game of mountain bike polo in a park in Boulder in 1990.
“It (the ring) was
flopping around on my finger, so I took it off and stuck it in a bike bag,”
Ford recalled. “It must have flown out during the game.”
As soon as he
discovered he lost the ring, Ford conducted an extensive week-long search
before hiring a friend and his metal detector.
“I am proud to
have played at Union and to have been a part of that
particular class of seniors,” Ford explained as to why he put so much energy
and resources into finding the ring. “The
ring is a tangible, unique symbol of those memorable four years. It also served
as convenient proof that I actually played college football. I've shed 30
pounds since my peak playing weight, so if the topic comes up, it often goes
something like,
“You
played football in college?”
When they ask
what position I played,. well, it just goes downhill from there. I have to
explain that it was Division III, (many people around here associate college
football with the Division I University of Colorado), that I wasn't a starter,
and the whole nine yards, so after awhile I pretty much stopped volunteering
the fact that I played.”
Ford read an
article about a metal-detector club in nearby Golden, Colorado. He knew it was a long shot, but he
inquired about putting a notice in their newsletter to see if anyone had found
it. The club sent up a couple of guys with modern equipment to look for it but
to no avail.
The reason Ford
and the metal detectors were unsuccessful in their bid to recover the ring was
because Brian Kemp had
already found it by a tree in North Boulder Park in 2000. Realizing how important the ring must have been to somebody,
Kemp did a little detective work of his own.
“I
tried on the web in 2000, sent emails and even called ESPN trying to get some
help, but no one got back in touch with me. In November of 2004 I got a new
computer and tried again because I saw a metal detecting sight that had a
picture of a person in the paper after reuniting a ring its owner. So I surfed the
web again and sent out more emails, and that's when I got in touch with Union sports information director
George Cuttita, who put me in touch with Jon.”
Once
notified that the ring had been found, it took Jon just a couple of hours to
get in touch with Brian. As one might
expect, the reunion was a joyous occasion.
“Jon was very exited,” said Kemp. “What was amazing is that he has tried to
find it and even had a local treasure hunting shop come look with no avail
because I had already found it. His father tried to get a replacement and could
not because the ring is a one of a kind. Most of the time people just give up
and realize that it's lost. Not Jon. He kept looking and maybe that's the force
that made me keep trying. I just new it was important.”
“I expressed not
only my deep appreciation for his efforts, but my astonishment that he had
found it after it had been gone for 15 years,” Ford explained. “As I said, I
had long since given up on ever seeing it again. The ring was in remarkable
shape considering it had been in the ground for more than a decade.”
Ford, who
graduated with a degree in history and was active in the Outing Club, has been
in Colorado for 17 years working in book publishing
since 1986. Jon and his wife, Heather, have been married 10 years and have two
small children. Prior to the birth of
their son, the Fords took full advantage of all the outdoor opportunities in
Colorado and surrounding states, including a lot of backpacking, telemark
skiing, and mountain biking. They also enjoyed some great trips to Europe, Mexico, north and South Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Ford has fond
memories of his undergraduate experience.
“I had a great
time at Union and received a fine liberal arts
education,” he said. “Superb instruction from the history and political science
departments in particular has helped me immensely in my career as a book editor,
which requires a certain amount of general knowledge on a wide range of topics.
“As for my time
on the football team, I was a very minor player on a very successful squad. I
was an offensive guard, but I was small for that position even for those days.
I was on the kickoff return team for four years, played in JV games my freshman
through junior years, and got into varsity games when we were winning.
“I was proud to
have been on the varsity travel squad for much of my first three seasons with
the team and for the entire senior season,” said Ford, who did not not suit up for the 1983 Stagg Bowl (the NCAA Division III football championship). “As
Union's participation in the NCAA tournament
became more of a possibility in our junior year, the coaches made the sensible
decision to take me off the travel squad to make way for larger backup
offensive linemen. After that, I hit the weights hard in the off season, put on
30 pounds, and suited up for every game of our senior year, including the two
NCAA games against Plymouth State and Augustana.”
While he has not
had the opportunity to return to campus, Ford still has a passion for Union College football.
“Every Sunday in
the fall I check the scores in the local paper to see how Union did,” he said. “I also keep up on the University of
Pennsylvania to see how Coach Bagnoli and Coach Schaefer are doing in the Ivy
League (Bagnoli was Ford's head coach while Schaefer was his position coach). I
stay in touch with former Union center Eric DeMarco and with Kyle Peck, who
played defensive end with us for a couple of seasons and now lives in Denver.
As for Brian
Kemp, he can take great pride in that he not only did the right thing, he
reunited Jon with a ring that symbolizes his college years.
“I'm
happy to have done right thing, especially when I saw how much that ring meant
to John,” Kemp explained. “I was tempted to pawn it when funds where tight but
I knew it was worth more to the owner. I just hope others will do the right
thing because it feels great.”
“I'd like to
thank George Cuttita and the Union College Sports Information Office for taking
the time to research the ring's owner and get it back to me,” said Ford. “I wore the ring for a couple of days just
for the fun of it, but now it's tucked away in a safe place. I am very pleased
that I will be able to pass it on to my son someday.
“I'm still
amazed by the whole episode!”