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Remembering Bob Pascal
5/14/2021 3:12:00 PM | Football
This story originally ran in the 12.9 Issue of GoDuke, the Magazine -- April, 2021
The Pascal Field House greatly enhanced Duke University's athletic facilities when it opened in 2011. Over 80,000 square feet with a 120-yard football playing surface, the Pascal Field House has played a vital role in the resurgence of Duke football under the guidance of head coach David Cutcliffe.
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"Bob Pascal made a tremendous impact as a player when Duke was a force on the national college football scene," Cutcliffe told me. "He continued that drive to help the resurrection of our program, and we are grateful for his loyalty and support. Men like Bob Pascal make Duke University, and particularly Duke football, so special.
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"Bob is certainly one of the many reasons I fell in love with Duke. The stories I listened to about his time as a student and Duke football player were always inspiring and entertaining. He attributed his time at Duke that made him successful. I spent hours riding with him in his truck across his property in Maryland and listening to the wisdom of this man. Bob was truly larger than life. I came away a better person after each visit I made."
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The namesake of the Pascal Field House lettered in football at Duke from 1953 to 1955. His lead gift of $6 million started the process of constructing the facility. This March, he passed away at the age of 86.
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Pascal was born in Glen Ridge, N.J., in 1934, and while playing high school football for Bloomfield High School, he heard all about the mighty Duke Blue Devils under Wallace Wade and Bill Murray. Wade had led Duke to national prominence during his coaching days at Duke from 1931 to 1941 and from 1946 to 1950, winning 110 games and twice putting the Blue Devils in the Rose Bowl. Murray succeeded Wade and would led his teams to a 93-51-9 record from 1951 to 1965, with an Orange Bowl win in 1955 and a Cotton Bowl win in 1961, along with seven conference championships.
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Murray was in need of tough running backs like Pascal, and Pascal wanted to play for such a nationally respected coach along with getting a great education. This became a union that greatly benefitted Bob and Duke.
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During his days at Duke, Pascal, a halfback, was called by many the best at Duke since Ace Parker in the 1930s. His last two seasons, Pascal led Duke in rushing and scoring, was All-ACC in 1954 and 1955 and All-America in 1955.
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To give just an example of the athlete Pascal was, in the 1954 season, he rushed for 577 yards for a 5.2 yards per carry average, but was also the team's punter, and as stated, led the team in scoring. Along with all his running, scoring, and punting, Pascal was noted for his powerful blocking. In a 1955 game with UNC, Duke's Oliver Rudy ran for the only score of the game in a 6-0 victory. Rudy credited Pascal for doing his part on the touchdown. "Bob Pascal got the end, Jesse Birchfield got the corner man, Buddy Bass slowed down the safety man, and Hal McElhaney turned on that guy chasing me and really rocked him. All I had to do was run."Â
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Ever humble himself, Pascal always credited his teammates and Murray for his recognition. He told reporters, "You're as good as the men in front of you. Mr. Murray is a good man. I learn a lot playing under him, and it's not only football. He is a man of very high ethics. He lives by his ethics and expects you to live by them too."
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In 1954, Duke finished 8-2-1, beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, won the ACC championship, walloped UNC 47-12, and posted a final national ranking of No. 14. Included in that season was a win over a powerful Tennessee program, with the only losses coming to Army and Navy and the tie was with Purdue. In the 1955 Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska, one of the biggest wins in Duke football history, Pascal ran for 91 yards on only nine carries to play a key role. Pascal's teammate, Jerry Barger, was the ACC Player of the Year at quarterback. Worth Lutz played fullback and Pascal was the halfback, which "strengthened our line-plunging department," according to Murray.
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Pascal made the All-America team in 1955, as he led Duke to a 7-2-1 record and another ACC championship. In fact, in Pascal's three varsity seasons of 1953, 1954 and 1955, Duke won ACC championships all three years.
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That 1955 team had big wins over Tennessee and Ohio State, and a tie against a very good Navy team. Their final national ranking was 16th in the Associated Press poll. Sonny Jurgensen was the quarterback, and Sonny told me in an interview how much he relied on Pascal to make good yardage on his runs and to pick up blocks for him, and what a leader Pascal was for the entire team.
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Bob Addie, a well-known national sportswriter for the Washington Post, thought quite a bit of both Pascal and Jurgensen. "The finest football player I saw all season was Hopalong Cassady of Ohio State. I saw nobody to run with him, with the possible exception of Duke's Bob Pascal. And the best quarterback I saw was Duke's Sonny Jurgensen." Â
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On Oct. 15, 1955, Duke traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to play Ohio State in front of 82,000. The Ohio State players tried to intimidate the Duke players, telling some of the Blue Devils that boys from the South didn't know how to play football, that real football was played in the Big Ten. That didn't sit well with the Duke team, and it riled them up so much that they whipped the Buckeyes 20-14 in one of the biggest wins for Duke football in quite some time. Pascal ran for good yardage and Jurgensen completed 9 of 12 passes for 125 yards and also intercepted a pass late in the game to seal the win.
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Throwing the football 12 times in a game was unusual for Jurgensen. Murray liked to keep the ball on the ground. In the 1955 season, Duke as a team ran the ball 560 times, while attempting 102 passes. "Hey, we won, and that's what matters," said Jurgensen, who would go on to become a prolific NFL passer. "Besides, we had Bob Pascal, who could really run with the football, one of the best in the country in 1955." Pascal totaled 750 yards on the ground that year.
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"Bob was a hell of a football player," Jurgensen recalled. "He was a hard-running halfback, and people forget that he could block and was a good pass receiver, although Coach Murray didn't let me throw the ball that much. You could count on Bob Pascal in a game."
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(As a side commentary on Duke football of today, Jurgensen said, "I still keep up with Duke. Coach Cutcliffe is the right man for the job. I really respected his decisions to accept the challenge of coaching at Duke and now to stay at Duke after getting offers to leave. It shows the type of man he is.") Â
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Lots of activities were taking place on the Duke campus in 1955, other than good football being played. Count Basie, a towering figure in big-band jazz, held a concert at what was then called Duke Indoor Stadium, now Cameron indoor Stadium. The basketball team made history, earning the distinction of becoming the very first basketball team from Duke to play in the NCAA Tournament. Harold Bradley was the head coach who led that team to a 20-8 record. Ronnie Mayer became the first Duke player ever to average a double-double for a season, scoring 22 points a game while grabbing 12 rebounds. Pascal, a basketball player in high school, later in life talked about enjoying attending games to watch those good teams.
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Pascal finished his career at Duke with 1,523 yards rushing and scored 19 touchdowns. His career high game for rushing yards was in 1955 in a 14-0 win over Wake Forest with 157 yards. Â Â
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After graduating from Duke in 1956, Pascal was chosen in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts. Pascal instead decided to play in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes.
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After the 1956 season in the Canadian Football League, it was reported, "Bob Pascal, having completed his football season, plans to kick off in the business world, taking a position with a bottled gas producing firm in Miami." Â
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Pascal eventually did so well in the business world that he became president of United Propane, a gas and oil products company. He also started the Pascal Family Group, which owns several businesses. Pascal donated millions of dollars back to his beloved Duke University. Also entering politics, Pascal was a Maryland state senator and was the Republican nominee for Maryland governor in 1982, but he lost to Democrat Harry Hughes.
Â
Art Chase, senior associate director of athletics at Duke, commented on the passing of Bob Pascal. "Simply put, Bob Pascal's generosity will forever have an extraordinary impact on Duke student-athletes. His philanthropic vision was precise and coupled with his unique ability to engage on a personal level made him a magnificent ambassador not only for Duke Athletics, but numerous other initiatives as well. To be sure, Bob's legacy is one filled with exemplary pride, selflessness, and success."
Â
Not only does Pascal's legacy live on today through his family and many friends, and the Pascal Field House, but there is a Robert A. Pascal Senior Center in Glen Burnie, Md., and the Pascal Center for Performing Arts at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. There is also Pascal Field at St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, Md., and the Robert A. Pascal Youth and Family Services in Odenton, Md. He was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
Â
The Pascal Field House greatly enhanced Duke University's athletic facilities when it opened in 2011. Over 80,000 square feet with a 120-yard football playing surface, the Pascal Field House has played a vital role in the resurgence of Duke football under the guidance of head coach David Cutcliffe.
Â
"Bob Pascal made a tremendous impact as a player when Duke was a force on the national college football scene," Cutcliffe told me. "He continued that drive to help the resurrection of our program, and we are grateful for his loyalty and support. Men like Bob Pascal make Duke University, and particularly Duke football, so special.
Â
"Bob is certainly one of the many reasons I fell in love with Duke. The stories I listened to about his time as a student and Duke football player were always inspiring and entertaining. He attributed his time at Duke that made him successful. I spent hours riding with him in his truck across his property in Maryland and listening to the wisdom of this man. Bob was truly larger than life. I came away a better person after each visit I made."
Â
The namesake of the Pascal Field House lettered in football at Duke from 1953 to 1955. His lead gift of $6 million started the process of constructing the facility. This March, he passed away at the age of 86.
Â
Pascal was born in Glen Ridge, N.J., in 1934, and while playing high school football for Bloomfield High School, he heard all about the mighty Duke Blue Devils under Wallace Wade and Bill Murray. Wade had led Duke to national prominence during his coaching days at Duke from 1931 to 1941 and from 1946 to 1950, winning 110 games and twice putting the Blue Devils in the Rose Bowl. Murray succeeded Wade and would led his teams to a 93-51-9 record from 1951 to 1965, with an Orange Bowl win in 1955 and a Cotton Bowl win in 1961, along with seven conference championships.
Â
Murray was in need of tough running backs like Pascal, and Pascal wanted to play for such a nationally respected coach along with getting a great education. This became a union that greatly benefitted Bob and Duke.
Â
During his days at Duke, Pascal, a halfback, was called by many the best at Duke since Ace Parker in the 1930s. His last two seasons, Pascal led Duke in rushing and scoring, was All-ACC in 1954 and 1955 and All-America in 1955.
Â
To give just an example of the athlete Pascal was, in the 1954 season, he rushed for 577 yards for a 5.2 yards per carry average, but was also the team's punter, and as stated, led the team in scoring. Along with all his running, scoring, and punting, Pascal was noted for his powerful blocking. In a 1955 game with UNC, Duke's Oliver Rudy ran for the only score of the game in a 6-0 victory. Rudy credited Pascal for doing his part on the touchdown. "Bob Pascal got the end, Jesse Birchfield got the corner man, Buddy Bass slowed down the safety man, and Hal McElhaney turned on that guy chasing me and really rocked him. All I had to do was run."Â
Â
Ever humble himself, Pascal always credited his teammates and Murray for his recognition. He told reporters, "You're as good as the men in front of you. Mr. Murray is a good man. I learn a lot playing under him, and it's not only football. He is a man of very high ethics. He lives by his ethics and expects you to live by them too."
Â
In 1954, Duke finished 8-2-1, beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, won the ACC championship, walloped UNC 47-12, and posted a final national ranking of No. 14. Included in that season was a win over a powerful Tennessee program, with the only losses coming to Army and Navy and the tie was with Purdue. In the 1955 Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska, one of the biggest wins in Duke football history, Pascal ran for 91 yards on only nine carries to play a key role. Pascal's teammate, Jerry Barger, was the ACC Player of the Year at quarterback. Worth Lutz played fullback and Pascal was the halfback, which "strengthened our line-plunging department," according to Murray.
Â
Pascal made the All-America team in 1955, as he led Duke to a 7-2-1 record and another ACC championship. In fact, in Pascal's three varsity seasons of 1953, 1954 and 1955, Duke won ACC championships all three years.
Â
That 1955 team had big wins over Tennessee and Ohio State, and a tie against a very good Navy team. Their final national ranking was 16th in the Associated Press poll. Sonny Jurgensen was the quarterback, and Sonny told me in an interview how much he relied on Pascal to make good yardage on his runs and to pick up blocks for him, and what a leader Pascal was for the entire team.
Â
Bob Addie, a well-known national sportswriter for the Washington Post, thought quite a bit of both Pascal and Jurgensen. "The finest football player I saw all season was Hopalong Cassady of Ohio State. I saw nobody to run with him, with the possible exception of Duke's Bob Pascal. And the best quarterback I saw was Duke's Sonny Jurgensen." Â
Â
On Oct. 15, 1955, Duke traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to play Ohio State in front of 82,000. The Ohio State players tried to intimidate the Duke players, telling some of the Blue Devils that boys from the South didn't know how to play football, that real football was played in the Big Ten. That didn't sit well with the Duke team, and it riled them up so much that they whipped the Buckeyes 20-14 in one of the biggest wins for Duke football in quite some time. Pascal ran for good yardage and Jurgensen completed 9 of 12 passes for 125 yards and also intercepted a pass late in the game to seal the win.
Â
Throwing the football 12 times in a game was unusual for Jurgensen. Murray liked to keep the ball on the ground. In the 1955 season, Duke as a team ran the ball 560 times, while attempting 102 passes. "Hey, we won, and that's what matters," said Jurgensen, who would go on to become a prolific NFL passer. "Besides, we had Bob Pascal, who could really run with the football, one of the best in the country in 1955." Pascal totaled 750 yards on the ground that year.
Â
"Bob was a hell of a football player," Jurgensen recalled. "He was a hard-running halfback, and people forget that he could block and was a good pass receiver, although Coach Murray didn't let me throw the ball that much. You could count on Bob Pascal in a game."
Â
(As a side commentary on Duke football of today, Jurgensen said, "I still keep up with Duke. Coach Cutcliffe is the right man for the job. I really respected his decisions to accept the challenge of coaching at Duke and now to stay at Duke after getting offers to leave. It shows the type of man he is.") Â
Â
Lots of activities were taking place on the Duke campus in 1955, other than good football being played. Count Basie, a towering figure in big-band jazz, held a concert at what was then called Duke Indoor Stadium, now Cameron indoor Stadium. The basketball team made history, earning the distinction of becoming the very first basketball team from Duke to play in the NCAA Tournament. Harold Bradley was the head coach who led that team to a 20-8 record. Ronnie Mayer became the first Duke player ever to average a double-double for a season, scoring 22 points a game while grabbing 12 rebounds. Pascal, a basketball player in high school, later in life talked about enjoying attending games to watch those good teams.
Â
Pascal finished his career at Duke with 1,523 yards rushing and scored 19 touchdowns. His career high game for rushing yards was in 1955 in a 14-0 win over Wake Forest with 157 yards. Â Â
Â
After graduating from Duke in 1956, Pascal was chosen in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts. Pascal instead decided to play in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes.
Â
After the 1956 season in the Canadian Football League, it was reported, "Bob Pascal, having completed his football season, plans to kick off in the business world, taking a position with a bottled gas producing firm in Miami." Â
Â
Pascal eventually did so well in the business world that he became president of United Propane, a gas and oil products company. He also started the Pascal Family Group, which owns several businesses. Pascal donated millions of dollars back to his beloved Duke University. Also entering politics, Pascal was a Maryland state senator and was the Republican nominee for Maryland governor in 1982, but he lost to Democrat Harry Hughes.
Â
Art Chase, senior associate director of athletics at Duke, commented on the passing of Bob Pascal. "Simply put, Bob Pascal's generosity will forever have an extraordinary impact on Duke student-athletes. His philanthropic vision was precise and coupled with his unique ability to engage on a personal level made him a magnificent ambassador not only for Duke Athletics, but numerous other initiatives as well. To be sure, Bob's legacy is one filled with exemplary pride, selflessness, and success."
Â
Not only does Pascal's legacy live on today through his family and many friends, and the Pascal Field House, but there is a Robert A. Pascal Senior Center in Glen Burnie, Md., and the Pascal Center for Performing Arts at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. There is also Pascal Field at St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, Md., and the Robert A. Pascal Youth and Family Services in Odenton, Md. He was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
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