Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
Joe Romig once thought he wanted to write a book on how to be an impact player in football.
He had considerable expertise on the subject from his playing days at Lakewood High School and the University of Colorado, where he became the first two-time All-American for the Buffaloes in the 1960-61 seasons.
But his book wasn’t going to focus on the routine X’s and O’s of the game. It would be more in line with the work of a Rhodes scholar, which he is. Romig believed momentum coupled with mathematical, psychological and tenacious energies were more important in being an impact player than body weight.
His playing days proved his point. At 5-feet-10 and 196 pounds, Romig played linebacker and guard at CU but was an All-American twice, selected to the all-Big Eight Conference team three times and became the second CU player, behind Byron “Whizzer” White, to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Romig was a top vote-getter for CU’s all-century team.
“Every year I played in college, I prayed they would go to two-platoon football,” Romig, 65, said recently.
As Romig continued research on a book, he discovered a book with a similar focus had been written. The author was on the faculty at the University of Nebraska.
While Romig hasn’t written his book, other volumes have been important in his climb through sports competition and in becoming a Rhodes scholar and a prominent figure in science. He remembers receiving a book on astronomy from a relative in his younger years on a farm in Kansas and immediately started thinking he would become a rocket scientist.
But his reading interests expanded when he and his mother, Lucille Brown, moved to Lakewood when he was 12.
“I’d walk to West Colfax and to a drugstore to look at the pinup magazines,” Romig said. “But I saw some other books on strength and health. I bought a set of weights, and when I got to Lakewood (High School) I was a lot stronger than anybody else.”
Romig won two high school state championships in wrestling, and Tom Hancock, his football and wrestling coach, is unbending in his claim Romig was not only the best player but the strongest athlete he coached.
Upon his arrival at CU, Romig found his reputation was just that. Freshman coach Dan Stavely said Romig would switch from halfback to guard. It was humbling, but Romig found it to be the best decision of his sports career.
There were other changes. Sonny Grandelius replaced Dal Ward as CU’s coach. Under Grandelius, the Buffaloes reached the Orange Bowl after the 1961 season, but lost to LSU 25-7. However, during the 9-2 season, the Buffaloes were 7-0 in conference play, including a 7-0 victory over Nebraska.
“My athletic accomplishments were confined to a period of about six years,” Romig said. “I changed majors and didn’t graduate until 1963. Now, I’ve been involved in other endeavors for more than 40 years.”
Romig hasn’t strayed far from Boulder since completing his studies at Oxford. He teaches in CU’s division of continuing education, but has never been a member of the faculty. From 1981-89, he was involved on the NASA Voyager project and currently is consulting on investigations into causes of fires and explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning in noncriminal cases.
Romig would like to see his theories on maximizing the application of force in playing football become work projects in various academic departments at CU. He sees value in interfacing the overall student body with the athletic program.
“There are a lot of interesting studies that could be done,” Romig said. “What physical characteristics and mental characteristics do you need at each position on a football team?”
Romig’s theory doesn’t consider just running speed, but the player’s mind and ability to assemble and analyze information. A key issue is relentless focus on an objective.
Romig’s mother died when he was a junior at Lakewood. He credits support from family and friends with helping him after a major loss.
“I was lucky to have the mother I had, the coaches and all the mentors,” Romig said. “I may have been lucky that I didn’t waste all of it.”
But through it all, a point was made about Joe Romig on the football field. A qualifier about being the best athlete pound-for-pound is needless. He simply was the best.
Staff writer Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
