J maroon and gold FRIDAY, APRIL 18.H81
CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL IMMORTAL DIED MYSTERIOVS DEATH OJV LONG ISLAND
4
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Typical of Joe Golombek, Elon sports immortal and victim of an unsolved murder mystery, was the above picture of the Fighting Chris
tian superman as he pitted his tremendous strength against the dead weight of a machine. Perhaps no more colorful figure ever wore an
Elon uniform than Joe Golombek, who met a mysterious death on Long Island during the pre-Christmas period of 1953. His death is one
of the unsolved mysteries — perhaps the only unsolved mystery — of the more than three quarters of a century of Elon College history.
Elon Athlete Was Murdered
Joe Golombek Had Manx And
Varied Interests As Student
MURDER MYSTERY
Along with the many
other things that Elon
College has in its history
and traditions is a real
honest-to-goodness mur
der mystery — an un
solved murder mystery
which brought death to one
of Elon’s all-time great
athletes just before
Christmas in 1953; and
H, Reid, Elon alumnus
who has written many a
column for the Maroon
and Gold in past years,
brings to Maroon and Gold
readers this week a truly
interesting sketch of the
victim of that unsolved
murder.
It was during Christ
mas holidays in 1953,
after Elon students and
faculty had left the cam
pus for their annual Yule
vacation, that campus tel
ephones began ringing as
Associated Press news
writers joined with New
York police officials in
seeking to identify the
huge hulk of a man whose
body had been discovered
in a lonely grave on Long
Island.
The only means of i-
dentification was an Elon
College class ring that
bore the date of 1947 and
(Continued on oage 4)
MAROON and gold
Dedicated to the best interests of Elon College and
its students and faculty, the Maroon and Gold is pub
lished weekly during the college year with the excep
tion of holiday and examination periods at Elon College,
N.C. (Zip Code 27244), publication being in coopera
tion with the journalism departmsnt.
REPORTORIAL STAFF
Paul Amundsen, Randy Bishop, Donnie Bowers,
Rebecca Burgess, Chester Burgess, Steve Caddell,
Bruce Cohen, Dean Coleman, Don Goldberg, Joe
Goldberg, Tom Hardee, Cheryl Hart, Dale Harrison,
William Hartley, Jim Hodges, Betty Isleley, Bobby
King, George Kopik, Blck Long, Noble Marshall,
Danny Moore, Rick O'Neill, Ned Poole, Kenneth
Shaw, Jerry Schumm, Mike Spillane, Ben Stever-
son. Max Sullivan, Archie Taylor, Vernon Taylor,
Jim Waller, Bill Walker, Jay Waugh, Frank Web
ster, Johnny Weeks, Jerry Woodlief.
By H. REID
Elon College football
coach Horace Hendrick
son hoped to shore up
his 1937 Fighting Chris
tian squad.
Out on the back lot,
eight freshmen — all
from Portsmouth, Va.—
surprised him. They'd
been sent by the most
unlikely of recruiters,
their high school pal Abe
Goldblatt, a wide-eyed
sportswriter who never
made it in athletics but
wanted to make certain
they did. Abie was net
tled with Virginia Tech’s
disinterest. He phoned
Hendrickson, who was
more than interested. He
was overjoyed.
“I'll take your word
for 'em,” Hendrickson
said. “Tell ’em to come
on down.”
Still, one of the import
ed backs perplexed the
coach. The lad hardly
resembled college ma
terial. Hendrickson didn't
even give him a uniform
at first practice. Hendrick
son wondered if he had
been prudent in listening
to Goldblatt. Yet, in the
first moments of contact
work, the freshman show
ed Hendrickson he was
very much collegian even
if he failed to look like
one. Hendrickson was in
stantly convinced Jack
Boone would be one of
the most accomplished of
all Elon backfield opera
tives. Had it not been for
World War II, Boone may
well have won stardom
in pro ranks. He did do
well at coaching in post
war years at his alma
mater.
Hendrickson, on that
sunny '30's scrimmage
day, then turned to an
other Portsmouth immi
grant, a titanic tank of
a man who’d ridden to
Elon on a bicycle to save
money. His name was Joe
Golombek.
It was a nam e that would
also be one of the most
memorable at Elon al
though few could pro
nounce it.
Joe — well, he was a
little of everything.Frank
Merriwell. Latin scholar.
Violinist. Boxer. Humani
tarian. And, naturally,
football player. He rated
all-state fullback at Elon
when selections included
Duke, Carolina et als.
With Boone, Joe and
the rest, Hendrickson just
missed the North State
Conference title in '37
and tied for it the follow
ing year.
The Joe Golombek stor
ies developed rapidly. Be
times, they were unique,
making them all the more
believable.
Back in high school, nis
teammates despised
scrimmage. Joe hit with
regular - game ferocity.
He d started as lineman
but his coach, Ernie Wild,
had this wild idea Joe
would be a good fullback,
which he was, only bet
ter.
“He never really un
derstood his 0''™
strength,” Wild said.
Another coach, Lpter
Kibler, simply didnt un
derstand Joe, who na
his own ideas of running s
team and didn’t mind tell
ing Kibler what they were.
Kibler was judicious. He
could never beat Joe ^
this game. The only alte
native was to join nini.
Using some of Joe ^ no
vel plans, nobody beat
Woodrow Wilson High, ei
ther. In a game witn
Hampton, Joe banged over
most of his
an 88 - yard, 6-0 area
championship score.
Later, Joe found him
self and Elon well mate
(Continued on page 4)