Memoirs
Sender: kerry woodEmail: kerrywood007@comcast.net
Posted On: 03/17/2009
Year: c 1948
I never spoke to him, though I often saw him lifeguarding or riding in the cruise boat assigned to the lifeguards. The scar on one knee was clearly visible, but even in his 60's he looked in shape to suit up and play football. John died in 1996. It was Alzheimer's disease that permanently took him "out of the game."
I first became interested in football as a spectator sport when I was 8 or 9. The local papers were full of the exploits of a high school phenom with the impossible name, John Olszewski. There were several other true standouts on the St. Anthony's High of Long Beach, California team, but Johnny O got the limelight as a nearly unstoppable fullback. To this day, people who knew him as a high school athlete pronounce his name as he and his family did. O-SHES-ki, instead of the more proper Polish O-SHEFF-ski.
The team played and practiced on a home field 10 or 12 miles away from the school but only blocks from my home in what we then referred to as Lakewood Village. I used to walk to the Clark Avenue Stadium and hang around the sidelines dreaming of being noticed and maybe invited to act as water boy.
That never came about, but one warm afternoon I had gone to watch practice and bought a popsicle on the way from the ice cream truck that used to jingle through Lakewood's streets. I was sucking away at the double-sticked icy goodie and watching the team scrimmage. At the end of one play, a perspiring Johnny O jogged over to me, patted my head, bent down and bit off nearly all of one half of my double popsicle before returning to the huddle. I was proud as punch and regaled my school friends with the incident for weeks after.
In high school he also held school records in the high jump and long jump (then referred to as the broad jump.) He participated in drama productions in which his grace and athleticism were seen in ballet performances, though he never had any formal training as a dancer. His school record of 288 yards rushing in a single game was not broken until 2005.
In Olszewski's senior year, the Saints went all the way to the California Interscholastic Federation championship game against Santa Barbara High. The team was undefeated and the star fullback was averaging slightly better than 10 yards per carry. I went with my whole family to watch the contest at the Los Angeles Coliseum.,,
We all knew Johnny O had a bad knee that had cost him some playing time earlier in his high school career. He reinjured the knee on the first play from scrimmage of that championship game and did not play the rest of the day. I think it was in the second half that he hobbled onto the field wearing his knee brace to encourage his teammates. The ref called a penalty for coaching from the sidelines, which brought forth a chorus of boos. The game ended in a tie, and St. Anthony's was crowned CIF champions on the basis of having made more first downs.
The entire backfield of that team went on to the University of California at Berkeley, but only John and quarterback Bill "B.I." Mais became starters for the Golden Bears. John excelled from his sophomore year on (freshman were not yet allowed to play varsity sports). B.I. took over as starting quarterback his junior year. Dean O’Hare and John Peterson got quite a bit of playing time.
Olszewski's bad knee remained a weak point through his years at Cal. I vividly remember watching a Cal-USC game on television. The USC team's offense was spearheaded by all-purpose back Frank Gifford. At one point, an SC player, Pat Canamella, #42, tackled Olszewski. After the whistle blew, Canamella got to his feet still holding on to Olszewski's leg and twisting it in an obvious attempt to re-injure that knee. He was successful. For the rest of the game, the Cal fans kept up the cheer "Back to the zoo with 42."
Johnny O did not play again for two weeks and Cal missed out on the Rose Bowl. I've watched hundreds of college and professional football games since that time, but I have never seen such a flagrant attempt to injure a player. I can’t remember whether SC was even penalized.
Olszewski recovered and enjoyed a long and successful professional career first wth the Chicago Cardinals where he wore number 23, and later the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lion and Denver Broncos. Johnny O was the only NFL player to wear the number zero.
Either during college or as a professional, he portrayed some sort of mythical god statue who came to live and swam an underwater ballet with Esther Williams in the movie Neptune's Daughter. Contemporaries who knew him well say there was no physical or athletic activity at which John did not immediately excel.
After retirement from football, he became head lifeguard of he city of Long Beach. His nephews include pro football player Manu Tuiasosopo. Manu's son Marques was a defensive lineman for the Seahawks and 49ers, and his brother Zach played fullack for the Philadelphia Eagles. Their youngest brother Matt was a professional baseball player, and sister Leslie played volleyball for Washington U. and was selected for the U.S. National Team.
Since those times, having opted for a career in education, I have taught a winner of 5 Olympic medals and ballplayers who went on to careers in the NBA and major league baseball and remain friends with whom I exchange the occasional e-mail. Johnny O never made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Were he in his prime, he might not even make a team of today's bigger, stronger, faster athletes.
I have followed the careers of people like super-athlete, super-patriot Pat Tillman, who gave up a pro football career to serve his country and fell to friendly fire in Afghanistan.That’s heroism. But it's different when you are 8 to 10 years old. No one will supplant my boyhood hero, the godlike creature who patted me on the head and took that huge bite out of my popsicle.
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