Eric Torkelson - '74

[husky8273]

has been nominated to join the Board of Directors of the Green Bay Packers.

 

[jayfromfla]

I remember when he lead Uconn to its first win over Yale. great running back who had a good career at GB

 

[oldanintheway]

Congratulations Tork. A good teammate, from upstate New York, Forestry major I believe, Dylan fan, easygoing, good man.(Correction if I may jayfromfla), Uconn had first beaten Yale in '65, then in '69, and then in '73 with Tork leading the way. Held the UCONN Single Season Rushing Record for 22 years until Tory Taylor in 1995.

 

[UConnNick]

Good for him. Eric was my lab partner in Geology 101, spring semester 1974. Great guy. The Packers had a "Where are they now?" story about Eric on their website within the past couple of years.

I'll always remember his fourth quarter performance vs Rutgers at Memorial Stadium in 1973. With a one point lead, we held the ball for almost the entire quarter, mostly with Tork running for three or four yards per carry, until we scored a TD with about one minute left. He beat Rutgers All-American tailback J.J. Jennings that day.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Nice... Torkleson was great. Congratulations, Eric. I saw you play at Memorial Stadium.

 

[uconnric]

Congratulations Tork. A good teammate, from upstate New York, Forestry major I believe, Dylan fan, easygoing, good man.(Correction if I may jayfromfla), Uconn had first beaten Yale in '65, then in '69, and then in '73 with Tork leading the way. Held the UCONN Single Season Rushing Record for 22 years until Tory Taylor in 1995.

The most talented natural athlete I ever saw, but more importantly a great person and friend.

 

[Palatine]

Watched much of Torkelson's career from the stands at Memorial. Always moving forward, big strong guy who could gain five yards in a phone booth. The very definition of three yards and a cloud of dust. Terrific player. Nice to see he still moving forward.

 

[coachcap]

Good for him. Eric was my lab partner in Geology 101, spring semester 1974. Great guy. The Packers had a "Where are they now?" story about Eric on their website within the past couple of years.

I'll always remember his fourth quarter performance vs Rutgers at Memorial Stadium in 1973. With a one point lead, we held the ball for almost the entire quarter, mostly with Tork running for three or four yards per carry, until we scored a TD with about one minute left. He beat Rutgers All-American tailback J.J. Jennings that day.

Was also in the stands that day at the top of Section C. Tork ends up with 164 yards to Jenning's 100. On that final drive, as UCONN was milking the clock between plays, the audience was chanting "J.J.WHO?". Snooky knew that Tork was getting the ball, but he wouldn''t be stopped.

 

[Pudge]

Burnt Hills - Ballston Lake High School. Near Saratoga. The Spartans - tough kids, but mostly rural in late 60s early 70s. I doubt you've seen many top football talent from there since.

 

[UConnNick]

Was also in the stands that day at the top of Section C. Tork ends up with 164 yards to Jenning's 100. On that final drive, as UCONN was milking the clock between plays, the audience was chanting "J.J.WHO?". Snooky knew that Tork was getting the ball, but he wouldn''t be stopped.

That was a great UConn team...one of the best in the post WWII era. Finished 8-2-1, with the only losses being by two points to Lehigh when they had Kim McQuilken at QB, who later was a backup for the Redskins, and to Delaware.

We were supposed to go to the Boardwalk Bowl in Atlantic City if we had won our final two games, but URI tied us in mid-Nov. at Kingston. We were at that game. We were way better than them, but you still have to play the games.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Was also in the stands that day at the top of Section C. Tork ends up with 164 yards to Jenning's 100. On that final drive, as UCONN was milking the clock between plays, the audience was chanting "J.J.WHO?". Snooky knew that Tork was getting the ball, but he wouldn''t be stopped.

And Don Thompson with a defensive touchdown. Another favorite! Congrats to Tork.

 

[geordi]

I remember when he lead Uconn to its first win over Yale. great running back who had a good career at GB

For the record, our first win over Yale was in 1966. I was there on my birthday. Tork wasn't at UConn then. Might have been confused with Vin Clements, another incredible back that played for the Giants for a couple years.