This summer, we'll be taking a look back at our 2022 Hall of Fame inductees through the lens of The Justice, Brandeis's student newspaper.
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This week, why was Pete Varney the right choice to lead Brandeis baseball?
THE JUSTICE
Tuesday, February 23, 1982
Swartz On Sports by Mike Swartz
Can A Football Hero Fit In With Brandeis Baseball?
You can blame it all on George Steinbrenner. Yes, you know, the man who once offered Brandeis University a hockey rink and never came through with it. He is responsible for Brandeis’s frantic search for a new head coach. It was Steinbrenner who [hired] Jeff Torborg away from Princeton so Princeton could lure Tom O’Connell from Brandeis so Brandeis could lure Harvey Shapiro from Springfield College. Unfortunately, the shortage of housing in Waltham lured Shapiro back to Springfield. That brought the search to Acton, Massachusetts, and to Pete Varney. So you can see that this entire, crazy search is was initiated by the powerful, affluent owner of the New York Yankees.
The greatest irony is that Steinbrenner, indirectly, might have done the Brandeis baseball program a favor. When O’Connell left Brandeis, there were several theories on what kind of coach should replace him. However, it was not just someone who could coach the team that Brandeis needed, for one of the most important facets of this job is the ability to recruit. Brandeis may have found a man who can do that with, if nothing else, his name.
Pete Varney is well known in this area. In some circles, he is a sports celebrity and even a hero. His name will never be confused with those of Orr and Yastrzemski, but many New England sports fans will always remember his college football and baseball exploits.
Varney was a prodigy of sorts; a schoolboy sports hero, a potential bonus baby, a first-round draft choice of Charlie Finley’s Kansas City A’s. However, he turned down the chance for fame and fortune to get an education.
It was his career at Harvard that really opened people’s eyes. One play, in particular, made him a permanent hero at Harvard.
It is a cold fall day in Cambridge. A crown of 40,280 doesn’t realize it, but it is witnessing one of the greatest college football games ever played: Harvard versus Yale, football’s oldest rivalry. There is a slightly different twist though, as both teams are undefeated going into the game. The winner will become the undisputed Ivy League Champion.
It is now the fourth quarter. Yale has dominated the game and holds a 29-13 lead, just 42 seconds short of a perfect championship season. Harvard, though, doesn’t give up. The Crimson score a touchdown, make the two-point conversion, and recover an on-side kick. They drive down the field and score a touchdown as time expires. But they still need the two-point conversion to tie the game. Harvard calls for a “roll right turn in.” Tight end Pete Varney, wearing number 80, lines up on the left side and runs a hook pattern into the end zone.
He catches the pass from quarterback Frank Champi to tie the game at 29 and he becomes a hero. He was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying “It’s hard to believe, but it’s great.”
So now, this football hero steps in to try to keep the Brandeis program in its preeminent position in New England. My guess is that he will be able to do this better than most people believe. The situation surrounding his arrival here is, in a strange way, fortuitous.
After O’Connell’s successor was named, virtually everyone asked “who is Harvey Shapiro?” Granted, Shapiro has a fine background, including international experience, however, he would not have been able to keep this program where it is. He does not have a strong enough reputation to successfully recruit in this area. Potential applicants will respect Varney’s professional background more than Shapiro’s international experience.
So thank you, Mr. Steinbrenner, for by indirectly causing the departure of Tom O’Connell, you allowed us the opportunity to inject some new and exciting blood into our baseball program.