Gresham footballers gather for reunion, reminisce on ‘good old days’

A decade of Gresham gridiron stars gathered for a reunion last month.

Friday evening, July 19, about 100 alumni Gophers football players, who graduated between 1983-1993, gathered for the screening of a special movie. The film was originally made by Dan Talbot (Class of ’92) as a junior year project. But because he was just 17 at the time, and several years of Southern California weather, the film needed some touchups.

So he restored the footage, added new audio, and used the newly finished work as the impetuous for a too-rare reunion. Rich Nevis, Gresham all-conference running back in 1991, also helped with stories and photos.

“This screening was just an excuse to get everyone together, because a lot of us hadn’t seen each other since the last century,” Talbot said. “Most important was the coaches who were there — they were the common denominator that ran through a quarter century of football success.”

The players all were part of Coach Gary Stautz illustrious run at Gresham, where he had one of the highest winning percentages in Oregon high school football, and led the Gophers to their only state championship in 1982 (13-12 nailbiter over Lebanon in what was then AAA classification).

Alongside Stautz, Coaches Jack Flitcraft, Sam Whitehead and Larry Knudsen were all at the gathering. Many of the Gresham players flew and travelled long distances to be there.

“This program was such a huge source of success and pride for the community,” Talbot said. “It wasn’t just the players and coaches, but families, friends and all sorts of people from the community.”

“I think in my four years at Gresham High we had maybe 100,000 people come to our home games in total,” he added.

After the screening, and photos, and short speeches, and hugs, the gang of Gophers ventured out for a nightcap at the Boring Winery & Taproom, 29300 S.E. Haley Rd., for libations and more reminiscing on the “good old days.”