Story From Walt Garrison's Book

[Hostile]

Cliff Harris and Pat Toomay had a refrigerator in their room and they kept beer in there. They'd drink two or three beers a day and buy two or three cases a day because everybody would raid their fridge. Finally they put a cup on top of the fridge with a sign next to it that said, "If you take a beer, put some damn money in the cup."

Cliff and Pat would be trying to sleep and all night long the door would open and there would be Toni Fritsch sneaking in to get him a beer. Ten minutes later the door would open and Toni was back for another beer. The night they put the cup up Toni is back as usual. Toomay's watching him outta one eye and this time Toni notices the cup up there, and of course he couldn't read the sign. So he reaches up there and "Hey, what's this? Change!" And he puts it in his pockets and moseys on out again.

Pat just shook his head and went back to sleep. He'd already seen Landry try to explain an onside kick. He was damned if he was going to get into high finance with Fritsch.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Cliff Harris and Pat Toomay had a refrigerator in their room and they kept beer in there. They'd drink two or three beers a day and buy two or three cases a day because everybody would raid their fridge. Finally they put a cup on top of the fridge with a sign next to it that said, "If you take a beer, put some damn money in the cup."

Cliff and Pat would be trying to sleep and all night long the door would open and there would be Toni Fritsch sneaking in to get him a beer. Ten minutes later the door would open and Toni was back for another beer. The night they put the cup up Toni is back as usual. Toomay's watching him outta one eye and this time Toni notices the cup up there, and of course he couldn't read the sign. So he reaches up there and "Hey, what's this? Change!" And he puts it in his pockets and moseys on out again.

Pat just shook his head and went back to sleep. He'd already seen Landry try to explain an onside kick. He was damned if he was going to get into high finance with Fritsch.

yeah, i remember one game some nfl team was hollering at toni when he tried a fg, and cowboys players hollered back, he doesnt understand english,

 

[THUMPER]

Great story Hos! I gotta get that book. :starspin

 

[Chief]

Great story Hos! I gotta get that book. :starspin

Walt is a world-class storyteller.


Fritsch was from Austria. We had an exchange student from Austria 9 years ago, and she was always getting into our fridge throughout the night, too. Hmmmm. She wasn't getting beer though ... just lots and lots of food.

 

[THUMPER]

Walt is a world-class storyteller.


Fritsch was from Austria. We had an exchange student from Austria 9 years ago, and she was always getting into our fridge throughout the night, too. Hmmmm. She wasn't getting beer though ... just lots and lots of food.

I must secretly be from Austria as well then.

 

[Hostile]

Here's another one from the same chapter to explain something from earlier.

Then Tom says, "Now we're going to practice onside kicks."

So we line up and we shift into the onside kick formation and BOOM! Toni kicks it out of the end zone.

"No, no, no. Onside kick Toni, onside kick." We all line up again and BOOM! Into the end zone.

So finally Ernie Stautner walks up to Fritsch and puts his hands on his shoulders and says real loud right into Toni's face. "Ooooon-siiiiiiiide keeeeeeeek!" Like that was gonna make a difference. So we line up and sure enough BOOM! Into the end zone it goes.

The whole team's gotta line up again and the rookies who are busting their ***** trying to make the team don't know whether to run all the way down the field or what. Every time Toni kicks, half the team runs 50 yards down the field wasting all sorts of time which, of course, just delights Landry.

So Tom gets into it, "No, Toni, Ooooon-siiiiiiiide keeeeeeeek! Ooooon-siiiiiiiide keeeeeeeek!

BOOM! Into the end zone.

***
​

Most of the kickers would do a little running, a little kicking, pump in the weight room for a while. At least put on a good show. Not Fritsch. He'd head straight over to a bar across from teh stadium, The VIP, and drink.

Towards the end of practice, Toni'd come back for the special teams drills and by then, of course, he was in the bag.

***
​

The next week we were out on the practice field and The Big Cat, Rayfield Wright was standing over on the sidelines and he says to me, "Check out Tom."

Landry's standing about ten feet away from Fritsch only Toni don't know it and Toni says, "Watch this. I going to keek. I tell them all to get back, get back and I go keek the ball and I go Boop!"

Fritsch as usual was drunk as hell out there and he'd run up to kick the ball and he'd bang his toe on the ground about a foot in front of the ball and, sure enough, just like he said the ball went Boop! We couldn't believe it.

Landry was pissed. He was standing there and he heard every damn word and we all knew Fritsch was going to be in trouble the next day at meetings.

Sure enough, Landry jumps all over Fritsch, "Toni, we take thsi game very serious here. When we practice we give it our all..." And Landry is going on and on and it looks like he is getting through to Fritsch. And finally Toni stands up and clicks his heels and yells, "Heil Hitler!"

Landry blew an everlovin' gasket.

 

[speedkilz88]

Did he ever get taped to the goal posts?

 

[burmafrd]

Toni was truly one of the great charactors in Cowboys History.

 

[bbgun]

This is one of my fave Fritsch anecdotes.


Roger! Cowboys Win 1st
11/8/1971
By BOB ST. JOHN / The Dallas Morning News

ST LOUIS — Late here Sunday afternoon temperatures had dipped to 30 degrees and shadows had crept across the playing surface of Busch Stadium. Shadows seemed to be creeping across the Dallas Cowboys chances of remaining in the NFC Eastern race. Once again, as in two previous losses, the Cowboys were faced with the Choke Factor.

Toni Fritsch, the little soccer kicker from Vienna who was playing in his first regular season American football game, teed up a 26-yard field goal with the score tied, 13-13.

"Hey!" yelled Cardinal linebacker Larry Stallings, "You're gonna choke, man! You're gonna choke!"

"Shut up, said Cowboy linebacker Dave Edwards, "He can't understand you anyway!"

:laugh2:

"I no choka," said Toni. He didn't. Fritsch kicked true on the field goal with just 1:53 remaining to play and this furnished the margin in the Cowboys 16-13 victory over St. Louis, their old nemesis.

 

[suspenceman]

I am from Lewisville, Texas! Walt is the MAN! He does a lot of commercials for a Ford dealership in Denton, TX called Bill Utter Ford.

I even saw him walk into the Lowe's that i worked at one summer...big white cowboy hat as usual.

He has a Copenhagen shop in Old Town Lewisville too, pretty neat it has a lot of his whittlings and a bunch of pictures with him with a lot of other famous people.

 

[Hostile]

I am from Lewisville, Texas! Walt is the MAN! He does a lot of commercials for a Ford dealership in Denton, TX called Bill Utter Ford.

I even saw him walk into the Lowe's that i worked at one summer...big white cowboy hat as usual.

He has a Copenhagen shop in Old Town Lewisville too, pretty neat it has a lot of his whittlings and a bunch of pictures with him with a lot of other famous people.

I love his comment about the Lewisville Motel. "It's like a tight pair of Wranglers, no ballroom."