With the Ducks headed to their first Rose Bowl in 15 years, Oregon’s Danny O’Neil recalls his favorite pre-game festivities.
You aren’t just down there for however long. You have all day. You practice a few hours, and then you go out the rest of the day. It’s a blast. All the events are quite fun to be a part of.
One day of practice, I remember a helicopter came to pick up a couple of us. We flew in a helicopter and landed at Disney Land. There were some special events, and we ran around and got on some of the rides when we met up with the rest of the team.
I grew up in Southern California, so I actually went to Disney Land a lot when I was a kid. I always liked Space Mountain, and we went back on it.
I should go back to Space Mountain again this year. My kids will be down there, so I bet we will go one day to Disney Land.
I was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2003, so I went again to the game that year. I’m going to the induction ceremony this year. That’s the night before the game.
Our ‘94 is also having a reunion, and other former players will try to meet, too. Those will be fun events to see my old teammates, and it’s a little different now.
There are definitely a lot of events that take place, which certainly is distracting for the players. The question isn’t whether it’s distracting. It’s definitely distracting running around, having fun and joking around two days before a big game.
The question is how it affects the players. That’s just the nature of bowl games. It’s just something you’ve got to be aware of. It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. You’ve just got to be conscience of it.
QB of the 1995 Rose Bowl team, Danny O’Neil is now the Ducks team pastor.
Got a question or comment? E-mail him here
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