It's been more than two decades since Phil Odle took his final bow as a football player at BYU. It was during an awards banquet, and Odle was being honored for his record-setting exploits on the gridiron, but something else happened that night that seemed to mark the end of one career and, in a sense, the beginning of another.
Floyd Johnson, the team's equipment manager, presented Odle with a miniature jersey, complete with his name and number 88 on the back, as a gift for the yet unborn first child that his wife Susan was carrying. "I thought if I gave them a jersey it would be a boy, and it was," says Johnson now.Twenty-one years later the boy is grown up and following in the steps of the old man. When BYU takes the field in Logan Saturday to play Utah State, Matt Odle, the oldest son of Phil and Susan, will be starting at his father's old position, wide receiver, playing for his father's alma mater, BYU, and wearing his father's number, 88.
"Of course we planned on this all along," says Johnson.
Odle, a junior from Orem, cracked the starting lineup for the first time in last year's season finale. In three games this season he has caught 9 passes for 171 yards, a team-high average of 19 yards per catch and 1 touchdown. Bigger, stronger and faster than his father ever was, Odle holds promise, but he has little chance of matching the numbers his father produced. Then again, few others have either.
Phil Odle is arguably the greatest wide receiver ever to play at BYU, certainly the most acclaimed and most prolific. A first-team consensus All-American in 1967, he set school pass-receiving records that still stand 22 years after he graduated to the National Football League, where he played three seasons for the Detroit Lions.
All of this might be enough to cause most kids in Matt's position to flee their father's shadow, but not Matt; he relishes the connection. During his first two seasons at BYU, Matt wore No. 19, but only because his father's No. 88 was being worn by senior tight end Darren Handley.
"I tried to take it away from Darren," says Johnson, "but he had seniority on the thing. Of course there was the chance that Matt would want want to wear No. 19 this year, but there's a close bond there between him and his dad."
When Handley graduated last spring, Odle switched to No. 88.
"My father and I are very close," explains Odle, who, besides the number, carries other reminders of their bond on the gridiron. When Matt was in the seventh grade his father gave him a red bandana to tie onto the belt of his uniform; Matt has worn it in every football game he has played in since then. When Matt made BYU's varsity squad last year, Phil, who was superstitious during his playing days, sneaked into the BYU lockerroom with a strip of cloth he had cut from his old BYU jersey and tied it to Matt's pants. It has been there since then, next to the bandana, but tucked in with his shirttail where no one can see it.
There never was any doubt what position Matt would play. He played wide receiver because his father did, and besides, he had expert coaching for the position right there in his house. After high school games, Phil would take Matt into the back yard and work until 10:30 or 11 p.m. on the flaws he had seen in that night's game. The tutoring continues. After watching his son practice with the Cougars last Monday, Phil called Matt that night and spent 30 minutes giving him tips for eluding bump-and-run coverage.
"That's what dads are for," says Phil.
"He's always been there to help me," says Matt.
For his part, Matt has a fan's interest in and a player's respect for his father's football career. "He caught 183 balls in three years," he says. "And they played only 10 games a year back then." Matt recalls a time a couple of years ago when he was sitting in the Star Palace - a Provo hangout - watching old football film clips, when suddenly he realized some of the clips were of the old man. He loved that. Of course, he has watched some of Phil's games on film, as well.
"He didn't have speed," says Matt. "but he ran great routs. He was a Steve Largent-type receiver."
From 1965 to 1967 Phil set career records for catches (183), reception yardage (2,548) and touchdown receptions (25). Those records survive today, having endured even the glory years of SheideNielsenWilsonMcMahonYoungBosco. At times, Odle's records seem to have been preserved by a jinx - perhaps by Odle's own superstitions. Wide receiver Jay Miller caught 100 passes as a sophomore, but injuries so limited him the remainder of his career that, incredibly, he caught only 12 more passes. Tight end Gordon Hudson caught 67 catches as both a sophomore and a junior, but he was cut down by a knee injury during his senior season, leaving him a mere five catches short of Odle's record. Wide receiver Glen Kozlowski had a good shot at the record, but his career also was cut short by a knee injury. In and out of the lineup the final two years of his career, he finished with 136 catches.
Now there is another player who is challenging Odle's records - junior halfback Matt Bellini already has caught 119. Barring an injury (he's already had three knee operations), he should break the reception record during his senior season.
If Odle's records do fall, there are some things that should be noted. Because NCAA rules didn't allow freshmen to play, Odle played only three seasons. What's more, in those days a season consisted of 10 games, not the 11 or 12 of this day. Odle played in 30 games - and averaged 6.1 catches per game.
"I'm pretty proud of my records," says Odle, who works as a Provo car salesman. "I think Bellini looks like he'll break them. I'd be proud of him if he did."
It might have been more fitting - more Hollywoodish - if the younger Odle were poised to break his father's record. "I always dreamed of breaking them," he says, but he knows it won't happen. "I have only two years left. I'd have to catch 90 passes a year."
At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Odle is a bigger version of his 5-11, 188-pound father. He's also faster, with 4.40 speed. All of which Phil quickly concedes. On the other hand, Phil believes Matt's quickness and footwork need work. Sounds like the beginnings of another late-night session in the back yard.