I’m Freddie Markowitz’ wife,…
I’m Freddie Markowitz’ wife, Jan. He played for the Chieftains in 1966-67. Freddie remembers Bob Felder, who gave him the nickname, “Clipper.” When the Chieftains played the Jewish All-Stars from Laurelton in a game that was riddled with rain and mud, many players didn’t show up that day, so some players from the Comets helped them out, such as Ben Walker and Jerry Wiggins. (Actually, Ben may have been a Chieftain; the memory doesn’t work as well as it used to. LOL)Freddie says, “The All-Stars were winning by a score of 20-0 at the end of the 4th quarter, so, being the ‘gentlemen’ that they were, they offered us a fifth quarter to give us a chance to score. With less than 5 minutes to go in that game, the player who I was up against gave me a forearm, sending my face mask downward, and breaking my nose. Our coach, Max Seleznow, took one look at me and saw two black eyes. Max wanted me to sit down, but I insisted on going back in. He sent me in as a middle linebacker instead of a tackle. Ben and Jerry (not to be confused with those two rich ripoff ice cream guys), two of the toughest and nicest black guys I ever knew, called a huddle. Jerry said,” They broke Brother Freddie’s nose; we’re gonna kick their a$$e$.” Our defense waited for the All-Stars to line up. As soon as the quarterback yelled “Set,” Jerry and Ben, along with the rest of the line, purposely went offside to avenge my broken nose. We never scored another point, but I think we won the fight! When that game ended, so did my short-lived football career. On the Chieftains, I either played center or right guard, next to Marvin Mevorah. Check out our website at www.bestweb.net/~spazjump. If Jerry, Ben, Bob Felder or Marvin are still alive and well, I’d love to hear from all of them. Man, those were the days…!