A Six-Man Saint

Durr-Berging
Originally uploaded by mdt1960.

The Roberts Rockets have a good shot at winning the Montana Class C Six-Man football title this season, and I suspect Fromberg's head coach and superintendent, Randy Durr, couldn't be happier if they pull it off. Even though Durr's Falcon's face the high-powered Rockets this coming week, it was the Fromberg coach who single-handedly put the Roberts team on the six-man map back in 2001 when he started the program there. Prior to that, 50 years had passed since Roberts fronted a football team.

Today, Coach Durr sports tattoos on his lower legs—homages to his successful days at Roberts. The kids at Fromberg have called for a big "F" wherever he can find the space, but he's not budging until they tally their first five-win season.

DurrAble Legs
Originally uploaded by mdt1960.

Randy Durr hopes to concoct another successful football formula in Fromberg's newest athletic program. For several years, the Falcons played eight-man football in a co-op with nearby Bridger. And as he did in Roberts, it was Randy Durr who convinced the Fromberg community that the world was a better place if they had their own six-man football team.

Besides establishing the new six-man program in his first year, Durr was also the impetus in raising $28K for renovations in Fromberg's gym.

Along with guys like Stephen Epler and Jack Pardee, Randy Durr might merit sainthood someday in the world of six-man football.

Postscript: I first met Randy Durr in the summer of 2003 when the superintendent and head coach was mowing the Roberts gridiron. "Only in a small town," I thought to myself and wondered if mowing the lawn was in his job description.