PISCATAWAY – In football lingo they are known as the chain gang. At Rutgers University, however, the sideline crew could easily be known as the chain family.
Vern Wells has been working the sidelines at Rutgers football games 46 years; Pat Morgan 42 years. Carlo Socio joined the gang in 2002.
Then there is Kevin Wells, Vern’s son, and Meaghan Wells, daughter of occasional fill-in Gene. Then there is Meaghan’s brother Brian. Vern and Gene are brothers.
Most of them were on the sidelines at the last home game against Washington, the night extravaganza played before the stadium’s second-highest crowd of more than 54,000 .
Morgan and Socio worked the home sideline chains with Vern holding the “box” down marker. Kevin was in charge of having the clip attached to the chain, while John DeLair kept track of penalties as Ken Walker logged every play. On the visitor’s sideline, Meaghan and Brett Lewis worked the chains. There is no down marker on the visitor’s side.
The entire group are friends, and the relative newcomers were friends before they wore the Big Ten vests.
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The Friday evening was wet, and warm, but like good carriers, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night kept them from their appointed rounds.
Vern Wells has also worked all 20 Kickoff Classic games in East Rutherford, the four Garden State Bowl Games at Giants Stadium, and, like Morgan and Socio, has worked all Pinstripe Bowls beginning in 2010. Morgan also worked every Kickoff Classic.
“I love football,” said Wells, a Navy veteran who retired seven years ago as a computer programmer. “I played basketball in (Piscataway) high school and started going to Rutgers games with my brother when students could get in for free. My mom worked there, my two brothers went to school there; I’ve just been involved with Rutgers and now live just two miles from campus.”
Morgan graduated from Piscataway High in 1977 and retired six years ago from a job in software development. He wrestled in high school and has been a high school wrestling official for many years. He has also coached youth wrestling 44 years.
Socio, a graduate of Montclair State, works with the Turnpike Authority as a construction supervisor and lives in North Brunswick. He’s had his sideline gig since 2002. He is also a long-time high school wrestling official.
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As in both jobs, the guys not dressed like everyone else can’t act like everyone else.
"You’re not a fan,” Morgan said. “You’re treating it like a job; a professional. You stand where you’re supposed to stand, you don’t start conversations. The big thing is do what the officials ask. We know how important it is to be able to focus on what you’re doing.”
None of them have suffered serious sideline injuries, but they’ve come close. Morgan was picking up the sticks after a kickoff return and was blindsided by shoulder pads smashing into his ribs.
“The trainers were asking me if I was OK, but I couldn’t answer them,” he said. “The wind was knocked out of me. I couldn’t speak. I thought I had broken a rib.”
Socio also woke one Sunday morning with a sore rib. Escaping injury is something game officials stress in a pre-game gathering on the sidelines, about an hour before kickoff.
“With players right behind you there’s not much room to escape,” Vern Wells said. “Players are so fast and so strong, especially on turf; I mean, they’re flying. You can usually see them coming at you, but as I’m getting up in age, if I take a hit it’s gonna’ be tough.”
“We’re told to drop the sticks and run away,” Meaghan said with a smile. “But I love being on the field, up on the action. It’s the best view of the game. Just the energy. And I like being on the visitor’s side because I get to see how different teams operate.”
She’s had up-close views on other sports, having played soccer, basketball and softball at Piscataway High and then going on to be an All-Big Ten softball player at Rutgers in 2018.
“It’s funny,” Socio said. “My mom, who lives in Arizona, tells me, ‘I never see you smile on the sidelines!’ I’m like, ‘Mom! We’re working. We have a job to do. We have to focus.’
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“I started this when I was single,” he added, “and now I have two daughters involved in (high school) sports so it’s been a challenge the last couple of years. I’ve thought about giving it up, but the reality is that it’s fun. There aren’t that many games so I can work around things. Plus we have people to fill in. People hear what I do and say, ‘That’s awesome!’ I’m like, yeah I guess it actually is. It’s become a matter of fact for us. But the bottom line is it’s a really cool thing and that’s why we still do it.”
It’s certainly not for the $75.
Part of the experience over the years is observing visiting coaches. Although the three veterans have been on the home team sidelines most of the time, they quickly recall a few out-of-towners. Especially Vern Wells.
“The most animated coach I ever saw was Dick MacPherson (Syracuse). He wanted me to call a penalty on every play,” Wells said. “He was just that kind of guy. Not a bad guy, just a wild and crazy guy. But assistant coaches, they’re the worst. Navy assistant coaches, they were foul-mouthed. They were terrible. And Lou Holtz. He never stopped walking.”
The chain gang guys have no such issues.
Aside from those related, meeting up for lunch is not unusual. Sometimes they even tailgate together after games. A few times a year Morgan and Socio hit the links together.
“For me it’s just the family atmosphere,” Socio said. “You think about it: Meaghan and Kevin are now part of the chain crew. They were little kids. I watched them grow up. Now I have kids (two girls), and they’ve been coming to the tailgates since they were infants. And now they’re in high school.
“It’s a real cool thing to see this family inside your family, growing up together. And now Kevin has two kids, and I hold his kids at tailgates. It’s been really cool to watch the Wells family grow up and now two of them are with us and who knows.”
After all, chains are hard to break.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: 'Best view of the game': Rutgers football chain gang linked by decades of sideline service
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