Olathe ? Firemen work in 24-hour shifts, so when they use vacation, they need to make the most of it. Frank Seurer, former Kansas University quarterback and now the proud father of Olathe South’s junior quarterback, certainly didn’t waste any of his vacation Friday.
In the afternoon, Seurer saw the man who recruited him to Kansas, John Hadl, and sat with former teammates Sylvester Bird, Ray Evans and Brad Vignatelli at the celebration of the life of Seurer’s college coach, Don Fambrough.
At night, Seurer, president of the Olathe South booster club and Captain of Engine 92 with the Lenexa Fire Department, watched his son experience a perfect passing night for the Falcons in a 33-22 victory against visiting Lawrence High.
Frankie Seurer, who wears No. 18, not the No. 10 his father wore for Kansas, completed six of six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown for run-oriented Olathe South.
“It was a pretty emotional day all the way around,” Frankie’s dad said. “That’s what makes life fun. It wasn’t as much a mourning as it was a great get-together for Coach Fam. There were a lot of great stories and speeches that made the whole thing warm for everybody.”
The elder Seurer, who played quarterback for Fambrough in the 1980 and 1982 seasons and for Mike Gottfried in 1983, gave perfect grades to the speeches given by former Fambrough players David Jaynes and David Lawrence.
“He would have been proud of them,” Seurer said.
Many of the Fambrough qualities Jaynes and Lawrence highlighted were ones echoed by Seurer after watching his son’s team improve its record to 2-0 after starting the season with victories against both Lawrence high schools.
“Just like they were saying today, he was a player’s coach,” Seurer said. “He was a hard-headed stubborn son of a gun. At the same time, he would let the players be athletes. He’d let them play, and he knew the strengths of everybody. He knew what made them tick. If something went wrong, he’d want to know what went wrong, but he would move on. You didn’t have to worry about punitive issues with him as far as if you made a mistake. He wanted you to learn from it and move on. It just made it a lot easier to play that way.”
Supported by an offensive line that gave him ample time and a running game that forced the defense to devote much of its attention there, Frankie Seurer made playing quarterback look easy.
“I think we have one of the best lines in Kansas, and our running backs run hard and hold onto the ball,” Frankie said. “Overall, it makes for a pretty good running game.”
The younger Seurer, who said he “loves” the Jayhawks and was particularly fond of quarterback Todd Reesing’s game, has watched film of his father.
“Back then, the pass game wasn’t as good as it is now, but I thought he was pretty good, and I think I can learn a lot from him,” he said.
He’s already learned from his father to accentuate the positive. When Frankie was asked if he minded playing quarterback for a running program, he gave the right answer.
“I love it,” he said.
He’ll be rooting for his father’s alma mater to score a run-first upset against Northern Illinois today.