I got there early and pulled Al to a table to find out exactly why this man was going to be inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame. Read his bio in the program, and the answer appears obvious: 

Al Sandahl played on the undefeated Sabres Championship football teams of 1954, 1955 and 1956. He’s already an inductee in the team category. I n 1957, Al helped the Edmonton Huskies win the Alberta Junior Football Championship, and he had tryouts with the Eskimos, Stampeders and Allouettes in the CFL, narrowly missing out on a roster spot coming out of training camp. 

At that point, Al Sandahl turned to coaching - from high school to the collegiate level. The decision to teach and nurture young players culminated with the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to coach in the National Football League. Al Sandahl spent the 1983 season as the offensive line and tight end coach for the Buffalo Bills. 

Al has been involved in many sports, from track and field (He coached his Louisiana track and field team to a state championship in 1967) to basketball. 

But football was his passion.  Al used to tell his brother…”I’m going to be a professional football player”. Thinking…”What a great life it would be”. 

He remembers going down to Bud’s café to read football magazines.  He remembers asking his dad if he could put up goal posts on the farm and when his dad agreed to the request, Al spent countless hours throwing the ball over the goalposts, then running to the other side and catching it. Ssomething tells me we would be seeing that on youtube had it been around back then. 

When AL’s dad bought him a baseball glove, he informed him he wanted a football.  When Al finally saved up enough money to buy a football he remembers laying in bed at night throwing it up in the air and catching it, over and over again, working in his technique to get that perfect spin or spiral.  It’s all in the wrist, right? 

Al compares the game of football to the game of chess, with the goal to plan something that will make the difference in winning the game, then motivating his players to achieve their goal. 

Why, just a couple of weeks ago, after waiting for a response, Bill Mojelski received the following email response. 

”Excuse this late reply…I have been engrossed in studying DVDs I have received from some of my coaching colleagues. I’m trying to help one of my colleagues, a former defensive lineman at University of Texas, with some information on linebacker fundamentals and secondary play.” 

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this man’s successful life comes in this little tidbit of information…When Al Sandahl finally got his chance to coach in the biggest football league in the world, and made it to the NFL, he had a one year contract with the Buffalo Bills, but passed on a two year contract with Buffalo…choosing instead to go and coach in Syracuse, where his four children would receive free tuition while he was a coach. Al Sandahl chose to look after his family 

And football really is a family. After we finished our conversation yesterday and returned to the Les Brady room at the Legion, a group of Sabres players, and mid-50s teammates, awaited. Bill Gust, Al’s old quarterback, the man responsible for many touchdown passes into Al Sandahl’s arms over the years, came over for a handshake and a slap on the back. Geography may separate these two players who lit up the old football field behind the drill hall in the mid 50's, but what happens on the gridiron clearly happens for life. 

You can learn a great deal about a person during a thirty minute conversation.  I learned we are inducting a very deserving athlete into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame. I learned we are inducting a family man, a man who gave up personal gain so that his children would be assured of getting a higher education. 

I learned we are inducting an individual who is very passionate about helping youth excel, whether in sport or in life. And I learned we are inducting a man… with honour. Al, please join me on stage.  I would also ask Robert Camp to come to the front. Ladies and Gentlemen, please show your appreciation for the contribution of Al Sandahl, who made it to the NFL as a coach…and who will always have a home in Wetaskiwin.