A salute to Tim "POPS" Frisby US Army retired

[Jerry D]

South Carolina Gamecocks Football player #89 Tim Frisby
40-year-old Wide Receiver
Height: 6'0" Weight: 171
Year: Sophmore

COLUMBIA, S.C. - It was just a simple hitch pass during garbage time. But to 40-year-old South Carolina walk-on Tim Frisby, the catch Saturday was yet another goal achieved in a remarkable life.

Frisby, called "Pops" by teammates and coaches, joined the Gamecocks last season after serving 20 years in the Army .

Getting his degree is the goal. Playing football is an added bonus for the father of six, a dream he held on to from his days in high school in Allentown, Pa., to his tours in Desert Storm and Kosovo.

Frisby lined up for several plays last year, but the ball never came his way.

With 3:16 to go Saturday, Frisby lined up on the left side. He took a couple of steps, turned and caught the pass from Antonio Heffner. Frisby then ran, gaining 9 yards in the Gamecocks' 45-20 victory over Troy.

The thinning crowd roared, including wife Anna and a couple of his children, as Frisby pumped his fist and walked back to the huddle for the next play.

"It's something I've always wanted to do and I did it," Frisby said.

Frisby's goal just took a lot longer to achieve. After graduating from Allentown Catholic High, Frisby joined the Army to mature and stayed for two decades, serving in the 82nd Airborne Division and becoming Ranger qualified, jumping from planes for survival training, spending a week or two at a time in cold, damp woods.

Once Pops retired from the military, he met with South Carolina's coaches in the winter of 2004 and began working out with the team. Former coach Lou Holtz said Frisby earned his spot on the team and gave him his garnet No. 89 jersey.

The story quickly spread across the country. Frisby, a broadcast major, has chatted with Jay Leno and David Letterman. He has offers to make a movie about his life that have been put aside until he finishes playing.

But Frisby refused to be just a novelty. Teammates and coaches say he works as hard in practice as anyone else. So with the game in hand Saturday, coach Steve Spurrier to decide it was time to put Frisby in. His catch came on his first play of the year.

"We got Pops a catch for the record book," Spurrier said.

The coach pulled Frisby from the game on the next play after he lined up on the wrong side following a mix-up in the huddle and nearly knocked down Gamecocks runner Bobby Wallace.

After the game, Frisby refused to bask in his catch, thanking his teammates for the blocks and Heffner for the pass. But the smile on his face in the TV lights betrayed his measured words.

"This is a start. Hopefully I'll get more this season," Frisby said.

Frisby plans to play through the end the season, then reevaluate his football career. By then he expects to be a senior academically, just a handful of classes away from his degree in broadcast journalism.

Meanwhile, Pops will be back on the practice field this week, trying to achieve his next goal.

"Hopefully, I'd like to get a touchdown," Frisby said. "We'll see how it goes."

[BLUEHAWK]

Great story... thanks.

I hope Rigger sees it.