They're in their early 80s now. Twenty-one of the 43 are left, forever tied to 1964, a magical season for the Phoenix College Bears.
The team won the national junior college football championship that year, defeating Oklahoma Military Academy 41-13 in the Shrine Bowl in Savannah, Georgia.
Eleven of them still live in Phoenix. Some went off to fight in the Vietnam War. Some went to Division I colleges. Fred Carr, who died in 2018, eventually became a star linebacker for the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
"We have always stayed together," said Craig Liston, back then a quarterback and one of those remaining from that '64 team. "Reunions, lunches, family gatherings."
In 2018, the Maricopa County Community College District announced it was eliminating football
from Phoenix College and the four other district schools that had teams — Glendale, Mesa and Scottsdale community colleges.
At the time, players from the '64 championship team tried to save the sport, but to no avail. Now, they are hoping a new effort could lead to its return at the four colleges.
"We only have three D-I schools (in Arizona)," Liston said. "No D-II or D-III. We've got a couple of NAIA. How can we be the 14th-largest state and not have community college football?"
Liston was part of a reunion that John Crow hosted with a Facebook live show on Saturday, Oct. 10, at his realty office in northwest Phoenix.
Crow is running for a seat on the MCCCD governing board, along with Ryan Caracciolo and Susan Winder. The election is in November. All are running on a platform that includes a call to bring back junior college football to the four schools.
MCCCD officials cited the cost of insurance, capital expenditures needed for the facilities and travel expenses when it eliminated the sport in early 2018.
The move directly affected Pima, Arizona Western and Eastern Arizona community colleges, which also had teams and relied on scheduling the Maricopa County teams as part of the Western State Football League. All three ended up eliminating the sport soon after MCCCD made its decision.
Crow said he wanted to keep politics out when he brought together players from that Phoenix College team. It was more of a celebration of that team.
"Really the point of that is to get people to understand the history of that," Crow said. "This team is a special group. The Civil Rights Act had just been signed. It was a heavy time but they brought so much light to the community.
"We just wanted to tell that story and make people understand that trying to bring junior college football back to the Maricopa County Community College system is not about a sport. It's about creating opportunities for young people that wouldn't otherwise exist."
Liston recalled Phoenix College, established in 1920, was the only community college in the Valley in 1964. Glendale and Mesa community colleges opened the following year. Today, the district operates 10 colleges across the Valley.
"The beauty of community college is that when you get there, you see all these kids from the Valley high schools," Liston said, recalling how he became teammates with players he faced while playing for Central High in Phoenix.
Liston, who later played two seasons at Arizona, said Phoenix College played against tough California junior colleges that were recruiting spots for USC, UCLA and others.
"Back in the day, the state supported Phoenix College," he said. "My scholarship, along with the others, was $19 a semester for 15 hours of college credit, and then our books were paid for. Pretty damned good education for all of us.
"But, more importantly it was a second chance to get a look-see from a four-year D-I or D-II college to continue playing a game we loved. Sixteen of our football players went on to a four-year college or university on scholarship,'' he said.
He noted that 11 players on that title team later served in Vietnam.
"Two of our buddies lost their lives, one an Army corporal who received a bronze star, a South Mountain High School guy, and one a Marine from St. Mary's."
In '64, that Phoenix College team had a melting pot of races. And when coach Shanty Hogan brought his team to a hotel in Savannah, Georgia, for the Shrine Bowl, the hotel manager said the Black players had to be on a separate floor from the white players. Hogan would have none of that, Liston recalled.
"Coach Hogan said, 'No, we room by position,' " Liston said. "They said, 'OK, come on in.'
Kelley Hogan, Shanty's daughter, was on hand for the reunion.
"His very focus was on their education," Kelley said about her dad, who died in 2005. "He was always looking to get players into great universities.
She said there is reason to be hopeful football might return to local community colleges.
"I taught community college for 30 years in California. And they got rid of football. And they brought it back. They realized they had these huge high school rivalries and a lot of those kids were not going to be recruited by USC and UCLA. They needed a place to go to get a college education."
Kelley said she has a house full of trophies and plaques that she would like to see back in a trophy case at Phoenix College.
"I've got this amazing collection of stuff," she said. "I would just like to have a place where it can be honored."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Football back at Maricopa colleges? Phoenix College champ makes case
