42nd Hall of Fame Induction - Graber Associates

TOM MEEHAN ‘58Football2010 INDUCTEETom Meehan’s football career at BostonCollege didn’t start out well. Cut from thesquad on his second day, he returned at nextopportunity, battled his way onto the team,and ended up as one of the best offensivelinemen of his era.Son of Irish immigrant parents, Tom grew upin Broad Channel, New York and attendedCardinal Farley Military Academy. His fatherdied when he was eight, and Tom always hadto work part-time to make ends meet, evenwhen he was in college.Marquette, Holy Cross, and Villanova allaccepted Meehan, but none offered scholarships.When he heard that a young lady fromhis town – a friend, not a girlfriend – wasplanning on coming to Boston College, that’swhere Tom decided to go. Then she changedher mind and stayed home.As a freshman in the fall of 1954, he lastedtwo days was and dropped from the squad.He won’t name the assistant coach whomade the decision but is quick to add that itwas not head coach Mike Holovak.The next spring, Holovak posted a two-linememo inviting students to football tryouts,and Meehan showed up. This time, the linecoach was former Eagle Gil Bouley. Afterseveral days of practice, Meehan came to thelocker room in the basement of Fulton Halland saw that his locker had been emptiedout. As he began walking away, Holovakdemanded to know where he was going. Itwas only then that Meehan learned that he’dbe a varsity football player, and that thecoaches had moved his helmet and pads tothe “big guys” area.“That makes me the only two-time walk-onin Boston College history,” he grins proudly.Bouley was an excellent teacher, instructingMeehan before practices in the arcane waysof the trenches: how to stand, pull, block, goright, go left, make reads.“If it were not for Gil Bouley I would neverhave made it. All those coaches, Holovak,Bill Flynn, Wally Boudreau, worked with me.I wasn’t concerned with a scholarship. I justwanted to make the team. And I was givena scholarship in my sophomore year.”A right guard, Tom was the team’s smallestlineman at 5-9. Despite his size, he flourishedand was made acting captain as asenior after an injury to Tom Joe Sullivan. Anews article about his play and his captaincyin BC’s first Alumni Stadium win, a 20-7conquest of Florida State, quoted refereeGerry Hogan of Arkansas in saying that thatMeehan was “One of the cleanest and nicestboys I’ve ever met.”During Meehan’s three years the Eagles went17-8-1, including a 7-2 mark in his seniorcampaign when Tom earned All-East andhonorable mention All-America honors.First-team All-America linemen that yearincluded Alex Karras, Lou Michaels, and DanCurrie.Though he was good enough to get a pro tryout,he saw that linemen were uniformlymuch bigger and taller, and chances to catchon as a professional gridder didn’t lookpromising. But Tom was already intent onentering the Marine Corps anyway. He didplay some more football, on the QuanticoMarines team that won the national interservicefootball championship.He may not have been a full All-American infootball, but Tom’s subsequent career certainlyearned those All-American honors. Hismilitary career was anything but typical.Billed as an infantry officer, his first stopafter training was reconnaissance. After hishitch, Tom joined the FBI and worked oncomplicated criminal cases.Vietnam rolled around, and in 1966 theMarines asked him back. He took a leave ofabsence and went to Southeast Asia. He wasthe only Marine major to fly with the “CatKillers,” the unarmed, low-level reconnaissanceplanes whose flyers’ exploits arechronicled in the book, “A Hundred Feetover Hell.” He was shot down twice and surviveda crash of a rescue helicopter.Tom never returned to the FBI. In Korea heflew over enemy territory as far as China,took part in the discovery of the “third tunnelof aggression” between North and SouthKorea, and there for the U.S. response tothe “axe murders” attack by North Korea.In Japan, Tom became the only Marine tocommand a Navy anti-submarine detachment.His unit’s work, now declassified, isrecounted in the book “Blind Man’s Bluff.”After advancing to colonel and assignmentto Europe and anti-terrorism duties, Tomwas in Athens to supervise the transfer ofthe just-released Iran hostages. He thendebriefed the hostages at Ramstein Air Basein Germany.Jungle deployments in Vietnam had madeTom long to get back to a climate where hecould experience four seasons. After retirementfrom the Marines, he and his wifeMaria went to Orono, Maine. They had metin Brussels, where she was working forNATO. Maria earned master’s degrees ineducation and library science at theUniversity of Maine. Tom also got a master’sand went to work for the school.He advanced to assistant athletic directorwith the Black Bears, overseeing on-campussporting events. He became great friendswith the late hockey coach Shawn Walsh,who won two national championships duringTom’s tenure. To Walsh’s offer to teachhim Hockey 101, Meehan recalls retorting“I’ll teach you Boston College 100.”Tom’s brother, Colin, now deceased, becamea priest and for a while was stationed atArch Street in Boston. His sister Maureenentered the convent and recently retired assuperintendent of Catholic schools inCharlotte, NC. Brother John had a prosperouselectronic equipment company inCalifornia; he also played football for theJesuit University of Detroit and went noseto-nosewith Tom in a 12-7 Detroit victoryin 1956.Tom and Maria are the parents of fourdaughters: Mary, Kelly, Joy, and Kathleen,who is deceased. The Meehans own a homein Landstuhl, Germany. Maria is librarian forthe U.S. school at Ramstein and for theLandstuhl Hospital. Tom is active as a volunteer,coordinating visits of families from theU.S. to service personnel who have beeninjured in Iraq and Afghanistan.25