Post by HarrisburgFlame on Sept 20, 2005 10:53:48 GMT -5
I pulled this little gem from the 1994 Flames Football media guide. I will post the other sections of this article later. I figured we all needed something today to give us a little pride in our program given the last two weeks. Enjoy!
The Rock Royer Era
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' - Phil 4:13
Many have quoted the words of that verse, but few have lived them the way Liberty's first head football coach, Lee "Rock" Royer did.
For those who were around for the inaugural season of football at Lynchburg Baptist College in 1973, Philippians 4:13 is indelibly inscribed on their brain. Not so much because it was recited at every football game, but because they had known Coach Royer and the burning passion with which he served the Lord Jesus Christ.
November 20, 1993 marked the 20th anniversary of the day God called Rock Royer home to heaven. he was just 39 years old and had led LBC to a 3-3 record in the Flames opening season. He died when the private plane he was piloting crashed in a storm near Evergreen, AL. Royer was flying from a speaking engagement in Florida back home for the thanksgiving holidays.
"He was the most dynamic Christian that I have ever been around," said Sam Rutigliano, who coaches the Flames today. "The first time I ever saw Rock he was reading a Bible. It was in the parking lot at the University of Connecticut where I was interviewing for my first college job back in 1964. Rock was the secondary coach, and he offered to coach the offensive line so I could join the staff as the secondary coach." That staff included Lou Holtz, Dan Sekanovich who is now the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills and Dave Adolph who is now the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I remember traveling in the car with Rock on recruiting trips," said Rutigliano. "He would suddenly slam on the brakes and ask us if we were killed in an accident right now, would we go to heaven. I had accepted Christ as my Savior two years prior, but Rock was the greatest influence on my life showing me how to have a daily walk with Jesus Christ and the importance of sharing Christ with others. You couldn't talk to Rock for more than five minutes without being told John 3:3 "Ye must be born again."
John Cartwright, who was the offensive coordinator in 1973 and succeeded Royer as head coach the following year, tells of Royer's first meeting with Dr. Robert Hughes, who was the dean of the seminary at LBC. "Rock actually asked him if he was born again."
"Rock was the best coach on that staff at Connecticut," said Sekanovich. "He was in charge of our weight training, and he had these two big barrels in the room that he used to beat like drums and yell and scream and get everyone all fired up."
"You never knew what he was going to do," said Liberty Strength Coach Dave Williams, who met Royer only once, but the impression was everlasting. "It was at a Christian Educator's Conference, and we were sitting quietly in a room waiting for an elementary P.E. seminar. Rock walks in and jumps with both feet landing on top of the table. Later while preaching, he confessed he was backslidden when he came to Liberty, because he hadn't won anyone to Christ in two days. Others snickered, but he was dead serious."
"When I first met him, I didn't think anyone could be that sincere," said Lou Holtz who was the first to inform Rutigliano about the plane crash. "But I can assure you, there was nothing phony about Rock Royer. He always went out of his way to say good things about people. If you had a problem, Lee considered it was his problem as well. He was truly a messenger for God."
A full-time messenger is what Royer intended to be when he resigned hos assistant coach position at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 after 15 years in the coaching profession. Royer had started coaching at Fort Knox High School in Chester, PA. From there he coached at Penn Military College, Connecticut, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Maryland and the Naval Academy.
"My decision was based on eternity's values," Royer told the Evening Capital's Gerald Goldberg. "I found a lot of people did not know where they were going to spend eternity. According to the Bible, when a man's heart stops beating he goes to eternity, which can either be heaven or hell."
"It came down to making a choice between coaching and serving the Lord," Royer said. "It's not fair to try and do both."
That was until Jerry Falwell met Royer and convinced him to start a football team at his fledgling Lynchburg Baptist College. The deal was that Royer could continue the evangelism ministry on Sunday's the team would play its games on Thursday nights.
"Rock Royer's humility always amazed me," said Cartwright. "He was one of the greatest defensive specialists of his time. Guys like Joe Paterno and Jerry Claiborne would ask him to speak at their clinics. He was used to traveling first class, but when he came to Lynchburg, he had to travel on those old Thomas Road Baptist Church buses. Our very first pregame meal consisted of tuna fish sandwiches and milk out of little cartons."
Bob Bonheim, a physical education instructor at Liberty, was the defensive line coach under Royer in 1973. "We were so lacking in equipment, the offense had to hand their helmets to the defense when they came off the field. We had an old red barn that was converted into a locker room - very primitive."
"That team was mostly made up of preacher boys," said former Liberty sports information director Kevin Keys. "But Rock Royer was a great motivator. He would convince those boys that they could win and game if they would ask the Lord to give them strength and ability than they actually had."
"As the Bible says in the book of Esther, 'For such a time as this,' so was Rock Royer the right man to be Liberty's first football coach," said Lamarr Mooneyham a cornerback on that 1973 squad and the pastor at the Tabernacle in Danville, VA. "He believed that you were supposed to win. He believed that as Christians you should hit harder, run faster and longer than any unsaved person. Still, he knew when to be a gentleman and when to be tough."
Nowhere was this combination of characteristics more widely used in the life of Rock Royer than when he was telling others about his faith in Jesus Christ. His boldness in witnessing was almost legendary and yet it was with genuine love and concern for people that came shining through. The testimony of this was clear at his memorial service at Thomas Road when 200-300 people stood proclaiming that Rock Royer had influenced them to come to know the Savior. "I'll never forget the final address he ever gave the football team on the Tuesday before he died," said Mooneyham. "He was pacing back and forth while he talked about 'going all the way'. He originally was speaking in the sexual sense as an admonition to the single guys to be on guard over the Thanksgiving break. But he turned it around and talked about going all the way for Christ, even if that meant giving your life. That has left a lasting impression on me. To this day I miss him very much."
A plaque honoring Royer hangs in the Liberty football office and it asks the question, "Why then was this extraordinary man's life brought to such an abrupt end? Perhaps a key to the answer lies in Genesis 5:25, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.' Rock loved Jesus above all earthly considerations. He daily walked and talked with his Lord. Don't you think that perhaps Jesus just wanted to talk face to face with Rock?"
Go Flames!
The Rock Royer Era
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' - Phil 4:13
Many have quoted the words of that verse, but few have lived them the way Liberty's first head football coach, Lee "Rock" Royer did.
For those who were around for the inaugural season of football at Lynchburg Baptist College in 1973, Philippians 4:13 is indelibly inscribed on their brain. Not so much because it was recited at every football game, but because they had known Coach Royer and the burning passion with which he served the Lord Jesus Christ.
November 20, 1993 marked the 20th anniversary of the day God called Rock Royer home to heaven. he was just 39 years old and had led LBC to a 3-3 record in the Flames opening season. He died when the private plane he was piloting crashed in a storm near Evergreen, AL. Royer was flying from a speaking engagement in Florida back home for the thanksgiving holidays.
"He was the most dynamic Christian that I have ever been around," said Sam Rutigliano, who coaches the Flames today. "The first time I ever saw Rock he was reading a Bible. It was in the parking lot at the University of Connecticut where I was interviewing for my first college job back in 1964. Rock was the secondary coach, and he offered to coach the offensive line so I could join the staff as the secondary coach." That staff included Lou Holtz, Dan Sekanovich who is now the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills and Dave Adolph who is now the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I remember traveling in the car with Rock on recruiting trips," said Rutigliano. "He would suddenly slam on the brakes and ask us if we were killed in an accident right now, would we go to heaven. I had accepted Christ as my Savior two years prior, but Rock was the greatest influence on my life showing me how to have a daily walk with Jesus Christ and the importance of sharing Christ with others. You couldn't talk to Rock for more than five minutes without being told John 3:3 "Ye must be born again."
John Cartwright, who was the offensive coordinator in 1973 and succeeded Royer as head coach the following year, tells of Royer's first meeting with Dr. Robert Hughes, who was the dean of the seminary at LBC. "Rock actually asked him if he was born again."
"Rock was the best coach on that staff at Connecticut," said Sekanovich. "He was in charge of our weight training, and he had these two big barrels in the room that he used to beat like drums and yell and scream and get everyone all fired up."
"You never knew what he was going to do," said Liberty Strength Coach Dave Williams, who met Royer only once, but the impression was everlasting. "It was at a Christian Educator's Conference, and we were sitting quietly in a room waiting for an elementary P.E. seminar. Rock walks in and jumps with both feet landing on top of the table. Later while preaching, he confessed he was backslidden when he came to Liberty, because he hadn't won anyone to Christ in two days. Others snickered, but he was dead serious."
"When I first met him, I didn't think anyone could be that sincere," said Lou Holtz who was the first to inform Rutigliano about the plane crash. "But I can assure you, there was nothing phony about Rock Royer. He always went out of his way to say good things about people. If you had a problem, Lee considered it was his problem as well. He was truly a messenger for God."
A full-time messenger is what Royer intended to be when he resigned hos assistant coach position at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 after 15 years in the coaching profession. Royer had started coaching at Fort Knox High School in Chester, PA. From there he coached at Penn Military College, Connecticut, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Maryland and the Naval Academy.
"My decision was based on eternity's values," Royer told the Evening Capital's Gerald Goldberg. "I found a lot of people did not know where they were going to spend eternity. According to the Bible, when a man's heart stops beating he goes to eternity, which can either be heaven or hell."
"It came down to making a choice between coaching and serving the Lord," Royer said. "It's not fair to try and do both."
That was until Jerry Falwell met Royer and convinced him to start a football team at his fledgling Lynchburg Baptist College. The deal was that Royer could continue the evangelism ministry on Sunday's the team would play its games on Thursday nights.
"Rock Royer's humility always amazed me," said Cartwright. "He was one of the greatest defensive specialists of his time. Guys like Joe Paterno and Jerry Claiborne would ask him to speak at their clinics. He was used to traveling first class, but when he came to Lynchburg, he had to travel on those old Thomas Road Baptist Church buses. Our very first pregame meal consisted of tuna fish sandwiches and milk out of little cartons."
Bob Bonheim, a physical education instructor at Liberty, was the defensive line coach under Royer in 1973. "We were so lacking in equipment, the offense had to hand their helmets to the defense when they came off the field. We had an old red barn that was converted into a locker room - very primitive."
"That team was mostly made up of preacher boys," said former Liberty sports information director Kevin Keys. "But Rock Royer was a great motivator. He would convince those boys that they could win and game if they would ask the Lord to give them strength and ability than they actually had."
"As the Bible says in the book of Esther, 'For such a time as this,' so was Rock Royer the right man to be Liberty's first football coach," said Lamarr Mooneyham a cornerback on that 1973 squad and the pastor at the Tabernacle in Danville, VA. "He believed that you were supposed to win. He believed that as Christians you should hit harder, run faster and longer than any unsaved person. Still, he knew when to be a gentleman and when to be tough."
Nowhere was this combination of characteristics more widely used in the life of Rock Royer than when he was telling others about his faith in Jesus Christ. His boldness in witnessing was almost legendary and yet it was with genuine love and concern for people that came shining through. The testimony of this was clear at his memorial service at Thomas Road when 200-300 people stood proclaiming that Rock Royer had influenced them to come to know the Savior. "I'll never forget the final address he ever gave the football team on the Tuesday before he died," said Mooneyham. "He was pacing back and forth while he talked about 'going all the way'. He originally was speaking in the sexual sense as an admonition to the single guys to be on guard over the Thanksgiving break. But he turned it around and talked about going all the way for Christ, even if that meant giving your life. That has left a lasting impression on me. To this day I miss him very much."
A plaque honoring Royer hangs in the Liberty football office and it asks the question, "Why then was this extraordinary man's life brought to such an abrupt end? Perhaps a key to the answer lies in Genesis 5:25, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.' Rock loved Jesus above all earthly considerations. He daily walked and talked with his Lord. Don't you think that perhaps Jesus just wanted to talk face to face with Rock?"
Go Flames!