Morley Groth never played football. He has never coached it either.
Still, you’ll have trouble finding many people who have spent more time patrolling the sidelines at football games than Groth has, and you’ll have even more trouble finding anyone who has done it when he was older.
Groth is 89 years young, and Friday night at Downers Grove North’s Carstens Field he was at it again, working the chain gang just as he has for the last 49 years.
Dick Carstens was the head coach at the school when Groth started his volunteer labor of love in 1958. Groth outlasted him, just as he worked through the regimes of Bill Kleckner and Pete Ventrelli.
Through parts of six decades, Groth has been the Trojans’ human constant. In those 49 seasons, he has never missed a home game, has never missed a date with the markers and chain that are the official arbiters of down and distance.
“He’s a true Downers Grove North fan,” current coach John Wander said. “We like to think about the tradition of Downers Grove North, and Morley is part of it.”
Oddly enough, Groth didn’t even attend Downers Grove High School, as it was called when he was a kid. He grew up in Berwyn and went to Morton, where he played basketball and graduated in 1935.
A decade later he moved to a farm in Downers Grove. He still lives there, even if Interstate 88 has chewed away much of his land.
Groth soon started showing up at Trojans athletic events, and one day the school’s athletic director said he needed someone for the chain gang.
“I said, `I’ll help you out,’ and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Groth, a retired salesman who also officiated baseball and basketball games for several decades.
Slowly but surely, he has become something of a legend at the school.
“It takes a lot to do what he has done,” said senior quarterback Brendan Briscoe, whose two long fourth-quarter touchdown runs sparked North to a 20-10 victory over Oak Park on Friday. “He’s a great person to have around school and sports.”
Friday, as usual, Groth worked both the sophomore and varsity games. That’s more than four hours of standing and walking, and sometimes at a brisk pace to keep up with the play. But he stayed good-natured and energetic throughout.
“For 89 I hope I can move up and down the sidelines like that,” said chain gang partner Paul Czarapata, a relative kid at 59 and a Johnny-come-lately to the crew at a mere two decades.
“He’s a character.”
Groth keeps fit with long walks, which he takes even more frequently since he stopped driving about a year ago. Before that he was a regular visitor to North football practices.
Now, when he feels like it, he’ll walk the 1 1/2 miles from his home to school for practice.
“He’s pretty amazing,” Wander said.
Wander got to know Groth as a Downers Grove North athlete in the early 1980s. The two now attend the same church, which gives Groth a chance to critique the latest contest.
“Morley always has an opinion,” Wander said. “But he’s allowed to. At 89 he has paid the price to say what’s wrong or right.
“He’s funny, sincere and loyal.”
North honored that devotion Sept. 22 right before the varsity kickoff against Hinsdale Central, surprising Groth with a special hat, a sweatshirt and a plaque.
“Some people said we could wait until he got to 50 years, but we said, `Who cares if it’s 49 or 50? It’s a lot of years of service,'” athletic director Denise Kavanaugh said. “Morley knows a lot about the school and the history of the school and can tell tons of stories.
“He’s just one of those special people around athletics.”
For Groth the ceremony was about as big a thrill as North’s 2004 Class 8A state title game victory, which he traveled to the University of Illinois to see.
“I didn’t believe them for a while,” he said. “It got a little embarrassing.”
Groth, though, isn’t quite ready for retirement. He plans to work the sidelines for that 50th season, then listen to his wife of 66 years, Gini, who has been suggesting that enough may finally be enough.
“Oh, yeah, I’ll miss it, that’s for sure,” he said, though he’ll still attend games. “It has just been a lot of fun, and it kept me in shape.”
He’ll relinquish his chain duties proudly.
“I’ve never come across anyone who did it any more than I have,” he said. “I’ve always liked it. I’ve never had a problem.”
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btemkin@tribune.com
