George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

Page 130 text:

Fantastic new heights of fervor, aided by an unprecedented number of new converts, were reached by the local denomination of the new national religion. A new set of idols, cast off in other areas of the country as too old, super¬ seded all their important rivals. Brought together by the Saint of Los Angeles, in his second year here in Washington, the idols swept Marshall along with the rest of the D.C. area. But early in 1973, Washington’s Olympi¬ ans fell to the all-conquering gods of Miami. The Redskins’ 11-3 regular season record was their best since World War II. In the playoffs, George Allen’s recycled veterans incredibly held the potent offenses of Green Bay and Dallas to a total of 6 points, while the Redskins’ offense, led by fill-in quarterback Billy Kilmer, ate up huge chunks of time in long sustained scoring drives. “Redskins” became a combination Good Housekeeping seal, surefire ad promo, iden¬ tification as socially knowledgeable, and sign of support on all kinds of goods. Redskins caps and jackets appeared on little boys, un¬ sure if the quarterback should be one-fourth of the back to the fullback; and on their fa¬ thers, reliving the touchdown they scored their senior year in high school. The Redskins became common denominator for public fig¬ ures ranging from Nixon to Art Buchwald. Bur¬ gundy and gold sprung up everywhere, becoming a definite status symbol. Posters of Redskins stars sold with every Larry Brown 100 yard touchdown reception.

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STUDENT LIFE 125 Opposite: Brown paper wrapped around a caf¬ eteria pole, initialled hearts taped to it and green streamers create a tree for the park. Above: Students groove under the crepe streamer roof to “Here Comes the Sun”. Left: Dancers swing to “Jesus is Just All Right with Me” as the band plays it for the fourth time. GCM

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ak- » Billy and Sonny bumper stickers proliferated. Even the anonymous creatures of the often- sive line became box-office, (Walter Rock and Jerry Smith for Ourisman Chevrolet) as they quietly moved people, Len Hauss and John Wilber making All-Pro. Allen’s celebrated defensive squad was probably the popular fa¬ vorite, the press devoting sheaths of copy to it daily. The script for the Super Bowl, however, ran somewhat differently. The Redskins’ defen¬ sive corps held football’s Number One scoring machine to 14 points (7 of these a gift from the offense), and the special teams con¬ tinued their clutch performances (Mike Bass scoring the Skins’ only touchdown on a blocked field goal attempt), but Kilmer played like a second-string quarterback from New Orleans and the offense ceased to function. In the wake of world-champion Miami’s flawless 17-0 record, the Redskins’ accomplishments seemed to fade. After the humanizing of the Washington deities, a change in doctrine was noted. The Saint, who has always been renowned for his theology that there was no existance beyond the present, was heard to speak of a future age as the era of promise for the Washington idols. The popular reaction to this announce¬ ment, following the Saint’s failure, was mixed, ranging from disbelief to blind acceptance. After this the gods left their public pedestal. The Saint herded his charges away from the public eye to await their annual resurrection, dangling visions of sugarplums before the public. Far left: During the Redskins ' basketball game against the GCM coaches, Mr. Roger Wood controls the ball authoritatively despite words from Harold McLinton. Above: Harold McLinton strolls on- court during the pregame team introduction as Mike Bass and Brig Owens look on. Left: The capacity crowd in the Marshall gym goes wild as Jimmie Jones oversees the officials in the fund-raising game sponsored by the Junior class. (The Redskins won, 91-89.)