Terry Maki had that wholesome look and pleasant smile that if he delivered a Christmas tree to your door, you’d invite him in for some hot chocolate.
And it wasn’t out of the question that Maki would be delivering Christmas trees. Back in 1982, when he ventured south to attend the Air Force Academy Prep School, he came from the family Christmas tree farm outside of Libby, Mont.
“It was something our family did,” Maki said. “Libby is a small town, and we had some land where we could grow the trees.”
There were some other things about Libby that were part of Maki’s teenage life. A town of fewer than 3,000 near the Canadian border, it’s not on the main track for college recruiters.
Maki showed up at the prep school thinking he would be a running back. He played there for Mike Gould, the current superintendent at the Air Force Academy, but Maki never played running back for coach Fisher DeBerry when he moved up to the Air Force Academy.
“I thought I was lucky to be there and to be a part of it,” Maki said. “I walked on to the football team and was very fortunate for the opportunity.”
From that humble beginning began a legendary career. When Maki’s Air Force teams were compiling records of 10-2 in 1983, 8-4 in 1984, 12-1 in 1985 and 6-5 in 1986, Maki’s connection to any kind of trees would have rivaled the tales of Paul Bunyan.
The tougher the opponent, the tougher Maki played. As a linebacker, he piled up 30 tackles and blocked a field goal against Notre Dame in a 21-15 Air Force win in 1985. It was Air Force’s fourth victory in four years over the Irish. In 1986, he stopped Wyoming ball carriers 25 times and the Irish 23 times.
“He was tough as nails,” DeBerry said.
Maki’s 475 career tackles, 195 tackles in a season and 30 in a game are academy records.
“The 1985 season was a great experience,” Maki said. “We just came together. The coaches believed in us, and we believed in ourselves.”
The Falcons beat Texas 24-16 in the Bluebonnet Bowl and finished the season ranked fifth and eighth in national polls.
“It took me a couple of years at Air Force to accept that I wasn’t a running back,” Maki said. “I eventually grew into it. The environment at the academy was right for me.”
His position coach was Bruce Johnson, whose feisty attitude appealed to Maki’s senses. The combination worked to help Maki earn All-America honors.
While Maki never lost the appeal that would earn an invitation for hot chocolate, he has another side.He was also a two-time Western Athletic Conference wrestling champion. When he entered active duty, he became a special tactics officer, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal, among his many honors. His specific duties remain hidden in the transcripts of counterintelligence and behind-enemy-lines activity.
“Football taught you to win the trust of who was playing next to you,” Maki said. “That’s necessary to get through any difficult experience. Playing at that level made all of us better equipped and prepared for our military experience, no doubt about it.”
It’s enough to know that some of his stops were Afghanistan, Bosnia and the first Gulf War.
“I got to see the world, the third country world mostly,” Maki said. “It was an incredible experience. I served 20 years, but it’s good to be retired.”
Maki has returned to Montana, but not to a Christmas tree farm. The retired lieutenant colonel coaches high school football in tiny Florence, population 1,000. His son, Kahlan, meanwhile, is a student at the U.S. Military Academy, and daughter Preslee is at the Air Force Academy.
Chad Hennings, Maki’s teammate and a veteran of Desert Storm and 10 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, honored his teammates at Air Force during a talk after he retired from the NFL.
Hennings told the audience that he could sleep nights because he knew some of his teammates still were serving. He didn’t mention names, but Maki was on his mind.
Maki bio
Born: March 24, 1964, in Libby, Mont.
High school: Libby
College: Air Force Academy
Family: Wife Delaine; daughters Melody, Caroline and Preslee; son Kahlan
Hobbies: Coaching football, walking his dogs
Ambition: Owning a cattle ranch
