All-purpose football players, most notably Aqib Talib and now Kerry Meier, have made this Kansas University football team more compelling than usual, and an all-time great Kansas all-purpose player has been there to watch every play.
Well, almost every play.
John Hadl, an All-American halfback and then All-American quarterback for Kansas, holds the school record for the longest punt. He belted a 94-yarder vs. Oklahoma in 1959, the year he led the Jayhawks with three interceptions, one of which he returned 98 yards for a school record.
After finishing his NFL career, Hadl has become a mainstay at KU football games, as a coach, in various roles for the athletic department, and at heart, as a fan. He witnessed so many dreary seasons, going to each game hoping to see a player light up the stadium by breaking one of his records.
Finally, it happened when Talib returned an interception 100 yards to erase Hadl’s name from that portion of the record book. Hadl, as always, was at Memorial Stadium for the 55-3 slaughter of Florida International.
Hadl would offer his opinion of Talib’s spectacular return, except that one minor detail prevents him from doing so.
“I was actually going down the elevator when that happened,” Hadl said Sunday evening. “I haven’t seen it yet.”
Not many records from 1959 make it to the 21st century.
“I had a pretty good run,” Hadl said of the record.
At games, Hadl – get this – likes to watch the game. He moves from suite to suite, finding friends who – get this – like to watch the game. If he can help it, he’s not John Hadl, KU legend, at games. He’s John Hadl, KU football fan. At some point in the second half, he usually makes his way down to the sideline, this time when Talib was making his way down the sideline, dancing away from that big pile of dirt behind the scoreboard.
Hadl’s largely to blame for that. He cajoled big donors to make possible the construction going on now for a new football complex. For that, he does not apologize.
“When they get done, it’s going to be prettier than it was before,” Hadl said.
Life as a KU football fan hasn’t always been an easy one, even for Hadl.
“It’s been a frustrating situation, for a lot of reasons,” Hadl said. “I don’t think at times football was the priority that it is today. I’ve seen it both ways. This project that Tom Kivisto and Dana Anderson and some others put some money into shows a lot, as far as the leadership, as far as what they want to get done. The kids know that, and it’s already helped recruiting.”
No different than any other KU football fan in that he is eager to see how the team will compete against Big 12 talent, Hadl is high on KU, based on what he has seen (when not riding the elevator) against one of the nation’s softest nonconference schedules.
“They’ve got a lot of athleticism and speed,” Hadl said. “This is the best team Mark (Mangino) has had.”
And the most creative. Using Kerry Meier as a receiver and ball carrier Saturday night was “really cool, smart,” Hadl said. “He is a great athlete who can do a lot of things. They’re doing the same thing with Aqib, taking advantage of his athleticism.”
Much as Jack Mitchell used Hadl’s versatility. See, the world really hasn’t changed so much.
