LOS ANGELES – Jerry Neuheisel was about 6 years old the first time his grandfather showed him a replay of the 1984 Rose Bowl, the game that set everything in motion. The first of 15,000 viewings, he’ll crack.
It was the game in which his father, Rick, threw four touchdown passes to tie a bowl record and lead UCLA to a win over Illinois. He listened to the stories about that game, how Rick battled food poisoning the night before.
It was tantalizing for Jerry, watching Dad deliver that performance in the “Granddaddy of Them All.”
Like so many boys, his love for football grew out of the images from a household TV set.