Demmerle was a champion on and off the field

Written by Dave Stewart
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 16:22

Bob Lynch had a look of startled disbelief on his face after watching Pete Demmerle play at a New Canaan Rams’ football practice during the fall of 1970. No, Demmerle hadn’t made one of his numerous fantastic catches. The NCHS senior had actually — hold your breath — dropped a ball.

Coach Lynch slowly walked over, picked up the ball, studied it a bit and then tossed it over a nearby fence.

“Defective,” was the only word the coach muttered.

Demmerle’s football career at both New Canaan and as an All-American at Notre Dame can be described as remarkable. His life was something far beyond that.

Demmerle passed away in May, 2007, after an eight-year battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

After being diagnosed with ALS in 1999, Demmerle made that difficult reception and did what he had done throughout his life, handling the situation head-on. He helped in the drive to increase awareness and raise funds to find a cure for ALS, and, in 2002, was given the Spirit Award at the Wings Over Wall Street benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Demmerle was honored at halftime of Saturday’s Homecoming game, as his No. 23 was retired.

A white circle with a black “23” was also unveiled, stitched into the turf of Dunning Field at the 23-yard line, along the NCHS sideline under Hawes Plaza.

Demmerle’s wife Kate and two of their four daughters, Nina and Tessa, received Ram jerseys from NCHS football coach Lou Marinelli and athletic director Jay Egan.

The way Demmerle lived his life, and responded to that ultimate challenge, makes him a unique role model, Marinelli said.

“It’s certainly a fitting tribute that he be honored in such a way,” Marinelli said. “He’s the type of person you want all of your students to emulate academically, athletically, for his character and everything else.”

“He’s a tremendous example of a student-athlete, and to use that example for the young people that are here now is really a gift,” Egan said. “We’re looking at this as a honor for Peter and his family, but also as something we can hold up to the athletes we have here as an example of a person who was able to do everything.”

Demmerle’s number is the first to be retired for the NCHS football program. He still holds many records at NCHS, and is the state record-holder for yardage in a game (316), receptions in a game (18) and receptions in a season (102). He had 28 career TD receptions and 2,550 receiving yards while at NCHS, and helped the Rams win three consecutive State championships from 1968-70.

A 1971 graduate of NCHS, Demmerle was an All-American wide receiver at Notre Dame under coach Ara Parseghian, and helped the Irish win the 1973 National championship when they went 11-0 and beat top-ranked Alabama, 24-23, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Demmerle played at Notre Dame for four years and is one of only six athletes to earn both Consensus First Team All-America honors and Academic All-America honors. He graduated from Fordham Law School in 1979, and was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship.

In 2000, Demmerle was inducted into the NCHS Sports Hall of Fame.

“He’s a beautiful guy,” former Ram teammate Brian Sikorski, a lifelong friend of Demmerle’s, said at the 2002 Hall of Fame dinner. “I saw him catch 18 passes against Rippowam in one game, but I think putting football aside, my image of Pete will be the person. He was just a wonderful guy. Smart, bright, a great athlete, tough — six feet, 185 pounds but tough as nails. Not only the perfect athlete but the perfect person. He had the whole package.”

Kurt Horton, the quarterback who threw those 18 completions to Demmerle, holds the State record for passing yards in a game with 599 against Rippowam, a game New Canaan won, 60-30 at Stamford’s Boyle Stadium.

“He was an exceptional athlete,” Horton said of Demmerle at the 2002 Hall of Fame dinner. “I didn’t realize exactly how good he was in high school, but then I went to college and saw guys drop the ball. Peter, among other things, had incredible hands. If you got the ball to him, he’d catch that ball and he didn’t even have to be open. If it was close, he’d get it. He made quarterbacks look good.”

Egan had an up-close look at some of Demmerle’s greatest games. He and current Ram receivers coach Daron Shepard were sophomores on the bench during the famous New Canaan-Rippowam game.

“I was thinking about that game,” Egan said with a laugh. “We couldn’t figure out a way to stop him from catching 18 passes? Let somebody else catch some passes.”

A few years later, Egan was on the University of Miami team, which lost to Demmerle’s Notre Dame team, 44-0, en route to the National title.

When the announcement was made that Demmerle’s No. 23 was being retired, the athletic department at NCHS received a letter from his teammates on the 1973 Notre Dame championship team.

“If a receiver puts his hands on the ball, he should catch it,” the letter said. “For many players, this is just a slogan. For Pete, it was everything. It didn’t matter whether it was summer scrimmage or the National championship — Pete lived by this motto every play, every day. He settled for nothing less than excellence and he was an inspiration to all of us who enjoyed the privilege of playing with him.

“We were better athletes for playing alongside Pete. We are better men for having known him. We all sorely miss our teammate.”