Inland Empire Community Newspapers • January 29, 2015 • Page A11
Ex-Redlands, SBVC football player Jim Weatherwax appeared in first Super Bowls
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By Harvey M. Kahn
ormer Redlands High School student Jim Weatherwax still gets his periodic calls from sportswriter's, usually if the Green Bay Packers make it to the Super Bowl. Weatherwax played in the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967 for the Packers under coach Vince Lombardi. The 72-year-old Weatherwax played on special teams and played at defensive tackle in a good portion of both those NFL championship games. Besides playing for the famous Lombardi, Weatherwax played for acclaimed basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian at Redlands High. He played football at SBVC for Buck Weaver and at Cal State Los Angeles for hall-of-fame football coach Homer Beatty. Weatherwax was drafted in 1965 by pro football hall-of-fame coaches Lombardi and Sid Gillman of the San Diego Charger's. Despite playing for nationally known coaches, he ranks his football coach at Redlands High, Frank Serrao right up there with the best. "I wasn't a starter at Redlands High until my senior year. It was Frank Serrao who guided me along. I had a great time my senior year," said Weatherwax by phone from his home in Loveland, Colorado. He said he was 5-foot-9 and weighed
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150 pounds as a sophomore. As a senior, he was listed at 6-foot-7 and weighing 250 pounds for football. Weatherwax talked about the 1960 Redlands High champs of the Citrus Belt League in the same manner as the two Super Bowls. "Coach Serrao led us into the CIF playoffs but we did not make it to the championship game. I don't have contact with any of my old high school teammates. They were great memories." He played varsity basketball only one year for Tarkanian at Redlands. He played basketball for one season at San Bernardino Valley College for coach Ray Blake. Weatherwax was inducted into the HOF's at Redlands High, SBVC and Cal State Los Angeles. According to reports, Weatherwax was never able to perform at his peak due to chronic knee injuries. He eventually had two major knee operations performed by nationally noted San Bernardino surgeon Joel Adams. "He saved my professional career." Weatherwax added that his massive growth spurt as a teen didn't allow time for his cartilage to mature, thus making him vulnerable to injury. Recently, he's had both knees replaced, a new shoulder and hip replacement. "I had no head injuries and am able to keep in good shape." When asked, he talked about
players from the Packer's powerhouse era and about attending periodic reunions. "When you are retired, you are retired. You don't talk about football games with the current players." Weatherwax realizes he was part of one of the top pro football teams ever assembled. He rattled off the names of ten HOF teammates and the talented Packer's 1965 rookie class he was a part of. "The rookies stayed together. I wasn't real close to Lombardi. There wasn't much talk with him. It was simply his way or you were gone." Weatherwax and his wife Jo Ann owned a restaurant in El Toro before moving to Colorado. One of his Green Bay teammates coincidently came into his restaurant and noticed he was not wearing his Super Bowl rings. "It was Ray Nitzchke. He told me to put my championship ring on and never take it off again. I have done that." Weatherwax explained the Lombardi-era Packers won five NFL titles in seven years. He's amazed at how the Super Bowl has grown in popularity. He pinpointed it to the 1969 merger between the AFL and the NFL. He feels the key to consistent victory is to keep most of the team personnel together. He said the three Green Bay NFL championship teams from 1965-66-67 all had the same group of 11 players.
COURTESY PHOTO
Jim Weatherwax played for championship coaches and championship teams every where he went.
New Site For County Academic Decathlon On Jan. 31, Feb. 7
edlands East Valley High School will be a new site for the 32nd annual San Bernardino County Academic Decathlon, which will be held on Jan. 31 and Feb. 7. The scholastic competition features more than 300 high school students and 37 teams representing 20 high schools. Students receive points by competing in 10 academic events. There are written tests in the areas of math, economics, music, art, language/literature, science and
social science. Students also write an essay, face a panel of interviewers and give impromptu and prepared speeches. For the finale, teams compete in a Super Quiz, a college bowlstyle event consisting of 36 multiple-choice questions. This year’s overall competition theme is “New Alternatives in Energy: Ingenuity and Innovation.” Chaffey High School from the Chaffey Joint Union High School District is the three-time defending county champion of Aca-
demic Decathlon. Teams consist of nine students, three from each grade-point category: “A” (Honors), “B” (Scholastic) and “C” (Varsity). Students compete for individual and team awards. This year’s participating high schools and their districts are: Chaffey High, Colony High, Etiwanda High, Los Osos High, Montclair High, Ontario High and Rancho Cucamonga High, Chaffey Joint Union High; Chino Hills, Chino Valley Unified; Cit-
rus Valley High, Redlands East Valley High and Redlands High, Redlands Unified; Eisenhower High and Rialto High, Rialto Unified; Cajon High, Pacific High, San Bernardino High and San Gorgonio High, San Bernardino City Unified; and Cobalt Institute of Math and Science and Victor Valley High, Victor Valley Union High. Aquinas High School in San Bernardino, a private school, also is entered in the competition. The public is invited to attend
the Super Quiz, which will take place on Feb. 7, beginning about 2:30 p.m. Winners and finalists from the Academic Decathlon will be announced at an awards banquet on Feb. 12 at the National Orange Show Events Center. The winning team and possible other qualifiers will represent the county at the statewide Academic Decathlon competition on March 19-22 in Sacramento.