Passing of Fest Cotton

[Bill McPeek]

Fest Cotton, former UD defensive tackle of the late sixties and early seventies recently passed away and I'm surprised that no one has commented on it. I remember Fest as a gentle giant. 62......way too young to leave us. I found this in the DDN online.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...-cotton/nP9s6/

[DetroitFlyer]

had this linked in his most recent article. Sounds like he was a great person as well as a great Flyer.

[Bill McPeek]

I did not know Fest personally. I do remember asking one of the footballers of that time era, sadly I can't remember who it was, "what was it like to be hit by Fest?" The reply was "like running into a brick wall." I remember him as a very quiet guy, not loud and boisterous. I did not realize he played for the Browns.

[Lifelong Flyer Fan]

I was at UD when Fest played. Indeed he was not "loud and boisterous" like many players of that era, although I found most of them rather entertaining.
I did not know him well, but he was a gentle man and fun to watch on the field. (Thanks for posting this, I did not catch it in Swampy's post)

[moville]

Glad you mentioned the article Bill. He was from our era. Big, big, big guy. Never met him, but understand he was a good man. Remember seeing him play on the tube for McVay in the WFL with the Southmen - Southmen - they must have hired some Madison Avenue wiz kid to come up with that name.

One thing wrong in that article - I don't recall Kosins playing for St. Louis -- he did spend a year with the Bears and scored a TD against the Giants. Also I don't think Fest ever made the Browns roster - training camp maybe, but don't think he was ever on an NFL roster.

I'd love to know what his teammate (and former Giant) Mark Ellison is up to these days. Blocking back for Kosins in '70 when Gary set all those rushing records . . . then an offensive guard for at least two years with the Giants. He and Gary, I think, were the last two Dayton guys in the NFL - Katcavage had already retired, as had Bob DeMarco with the Cardinals.

[Bill McPeek]

Moville,
You mention a few guys from our era! I thought that Kosins was drafted by the Dolphins but don't think he ever played for them. He did play for the Bears. Mark Ellison played guard for the Giants and the Eagles. With Kosins in the backfield, and McVay running the I formation, he would take his biggest, mobile lineman and put him at fullback to block for Kosins. Prior to Ellison playing fullback, Mike Wilson, mentioned in the article concerning Fest's passing, played fullback. Mike went on to play offensive tackle with the Bengals in their first year (69). I spoke to Mark years ago when he was with the Giants. His wife was working for Seton Hall at that time. I don't know where he is now. Mike Wilson came back to UD after his first pro season to finish his degree. Believe it or not he worked with me for awhile for Herb Dintaman in the intramural dept. Boy, have the times changed! Can you imagine a pro athlete working for the little money that that intramural job paid? McVay had quite a staff when we were there. Tom Moore became the O coordinator for the Peyton Mannning Colts, George Perles went on to coach at Michigan State. One of the Fontes brothers, I can't remember if it was Len or Wayne, went on to be the coach of Lions. And then UD went form D1 to D3 in football. You have shaken up the gray matter in the old head!

[Bill McPeek]

I found this article some may be interested in.

http://www.helmethut.com/Dr.Ken31.html