AURORA — Bill Faddis gave the boot to Regis Jesuit … literally.
And he inadvertently provided his family with a classic who-done-it?
The 1952 graduate of north Denver’s Regis High — the name of the school was changed to Regis Jesuit, and it’s now located in southeastern Aurora — died in November 2014 at age 80 in Sidney, Neb. He was a three-sport athlete for the Raiders, played football for coach Lou Kellogg (whose name graces the current school stadium) and became a prep All-American.
But before Faddis would go on to Southern California, where he played baseball and passed on football because one of his brothers had gotten his front teeth knocked out playing the game, he won a newly created award given by The Denver Post. This was in late 1951 and involved the Thom McAn Shoe Co. as a sponsor. The award recognized not only outstanding football performance, but high-end academics as well as strong character and community contribution.
It would become known as the Gold Helmet Award, and the first helmet trophy wasn’t presented until 1962. But Faddis and 10 others after him were awarded a bronze boot involving one of the winner’s actual football shoes.
Tom Faddis said that when his father died and family members were going through his trailer in Nebraska, “the question came up. Where is it?”
The younger Faddis added that “I used to see it (at the trailer). I hadn’t noticed that I hadn’t seen it while we were pheasant hunting. I was ignorant of it until he passed away. So I started the search for it.”
He talked to other family members and Carl Faddis, one of Bill’s three brothers, “had mentioned that (Bill) had done something with it.”
Tom Faddis also knew that the plaque the boot rested on had been cracked and wondered if it still was in need of repairing.
“I called the school and I guess I just didn’t get the right person,” he said. “The one I talked to said that they haven’t found anything around here like that.”
But he decided to visit the school a couple of weeks ago. “And when I went down there and talked with Kelly (Doherty, the athletic director), he not only knew right off what I was talking about, they had it.”
Mystery solved, at least to where the boot was. But as to who actually donated it to the school, well, Doherty wasn’t so sure. He can’t recall. The current Regis building was constructed in 2004 and Doherty estimates the school has had possession of the original boot for maybe a decade.
“The only thing I knew was that he was the first Gold Helmet winner,” Doherty said. “That was a while ago (when the school received it). I want to say it was Bill or a brother who had found this in one of their homes.”
There it rests, front and center in the Raiders’ trophy case on the second floor, near the entrance to Guy Gibbs Gymnasium.
“It was surprising to me,” Doherty said. “We were fortunate to get the original, and it was cool to see how it was worn to his foot. I don’t think people know how big of a deal it was and why we’re displaying it. It’s cool to keep the memory going, and we’ve seen how hard it is to win it.”
The Raiders’ only other winner was Mike Boryla in 1968.
But the original award is safe and sound.
“Absolutely, it was a big thing for all of us and I think we may have had fears that we could have lost it or had something happen to it,” Tom Faddis said. “I still feel just a little guilty for not doing something about it. We knew he wanted to donate it to the school.
“The fact that it has been on display the whole time … oh, well, it was just a problem in my own little mind. I’m so glad.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or @neildevlin
