Ex-Tracy Scrapper One of a Vanishing Breed

In today's world of sport specialization, it seems unthinkable college athletes were once allowed, even encouraged, to participate in more than one sport. Even in the same year.

It was an ambitious adventure for sure, but Bob Jappe wouldn't have missed it for the world.

A three-year fixture at cornerback, Jappe was elected a football co-captain at Moorhead State in 1974. A first team All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference selection, he earned honorable mention NAIA All-American honors as a senior and helped the Dragons claim a pair of conference titles during his four-year run under coach Ross Fortier. 

Yet it was hardly his entire athletic resume. An elegant hurdler as well, Jappe narrowly missed collecting NAIA All-American honors in track, placing fourth in both the 60 yard high hurdles at the 1974 NAIA Indoor and the 120 yard highs at the 1974 NAIA Outdoor.

(During Jappe's era only the top three finishers at national championship meets received All-American certificates. Today the top eight placewinners in NCAA are certified as All-Americans).

Jappe was one of many football Dragons to excel in two sports, including Mike Bednarek (basketball), Russ Henegar (track), John Richman (track), Steve Sandberg (baseball), George Spanish (baseball), Dave Thompson (track) and Dan Woodbury (track). It's a unique breed that has all but vanished, but Jappe insists it was worth all the effort.

“I can't image being in a situation where your only option would be a single sport,” Jappe said.

A native of tiny Amiret in Southwestern Minnesota, Jappe competed with success in football, basketball and track at nearby Tracy High School, and was drawn to Moorhead State by a family connection, the Fortier family.

“I came from a small school where students and athletes were aggressively encouraged to be multi-dimensional,” said Jappe. “Both of my parents also encouraged my participating in as many activities as I could, even though they could have used more help with the family dairy farm. My high school coaches, including my football coach, Dick Fortier, Ross' younger brother, were very cooperative, and I participated in just about everything.”

That Jappe planned a time-intensive major in Art was not an issue for his future college coaches.  

“Their attitude and support for my major made a tremendous difference,” he remembers. “Had they not been so accommodating, I still would have pursued my athletic endeavors as best I could, but it would have been more much more difficult.”

“I had to balance my time between the demands for the things I loved---competitive athletics and creative pursuits. “It would not have been possible if Ross Fortier and Ron Masanz wouldn't have been open-minded enough to accept a person's individual pursuits, such as majoring in art. Their attitude made a tremendous difference.”

“Their support for my academic ambitions was not exclusive; they truly supported all of their student-athletes. That was obvious by the number of Academic All-Americas they produced. It was one of the reasons we all wanted to win for them.”

“I was a person who wanted to do as much as I could. I also had high personal expectations for my own performance. Both Ross and Ron emulated the kind of culture I experienced in high school, doing the maximum instead of the minimum. They were winners, and they instilled that same ethic into their athletes. We all fed off of their confidence and championships attitudes. It was infectious, and I'm glad I was lucky enough to be part of it.”

Jappe's legacy lives on. He was commissioned by his college coaches to produce art that has been prominently displayed in Alex Nemzek Hall for years, and he was inducted into the Dragon Hall of Fame in 1994.

While grateful for the opportunity to compete for Fortier, he remains puzzled that his head football coach would spend his entire college head coaching career at MSU Moorhead.

“I don't understanding how someone of his caliber managed to stay so committed to Moorhead State, and how or why he resisted numerous, lucrative offers from others schools. He could have coached successfully at any level.

Jappe is also quick to admit playing for Fortier and the Dragons was the right fit.

“Ross didn't view his players as meat on the hoof, and he wasn't over the top with sideline rah-rah, but one look from him when you came off the field was all that was necessary, whether it was a good look, or a not-so-good look. If you screwed up, he would let you know, and if you made a great play he didn't have to tell you because that is what you practiced for.”

Following graduation, Jappe headed to the mountains to begin a career in private business in Colorado.