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David Langner


AU64

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A piece worth reading on al.com about David Langner and Greg Gantt......kinda long but a poignant story of two guys who died too young and their connection before the 1972 Iron Bowl. 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/11/alabamas_greg_gantt_auburns_da.html

 

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Very good article. I was at the game( yes, I am old!) and can still remember how surreal the 2nd blocked punt was! Same spot on the field, same bounce of the ball right into Langner’s hands. It was right in front of the Auburn student section. We stayed at Legion Field a long time after the end of the game!

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3 minutes ago, wde21 said:

Very good article. I was at the game( yes, I am old!) and can still remember how surreal the 2nd blocked punt was! Same spot on the field, same bounce of the ball right into Langner’s hands. It was right in front of the Auburn student section. We stayed at Legion Field a long time after the end of the game!

Oh yes. I was in the band that year, and the way it unfolded was definitely a miracle finish. Our offense was so overmatched, but our D was top notch.

I still remember people booing when Shug kicked the FG, down 16-0. lol.

 

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Very nice story.   Strange how both passed away at fairly young ages.  I wish I could have been at Legion Field that day, but ....       I did see them play in high school in the state playoffs.  Their one loss in 1970 was to Lee of Montgomery.  There was a big play in the kicking game, but I can't remember if there was a punt blocked or one returned for a TD.  I think Gantt turned the field a couple of times with booming punts.  I always heard you didn't want to get on Langer's bad side.  Thanks 64.

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10 minutes ago, saminbama said:

Very nice story.   Strange how both passed away at fairly young ages.  I wish I could have been at Legion Field that day, but ....       I did see them play in high school in the state playoffs.  Their one loss in 1970 was to Lee of Montgomery.  There was a big play in the kicking game, but I can't remember if there was a punt blocked or one returned for a TD.  I think Gantt turned the field a couple of times with booming punts.  I always heard you didn't want to get on Langer's bad side.  Thanks 64.

I'd heard that too.....maybe from Bird...but just look at the pictures of him and you can tell you ought not to mess with him.  A guy who made the most of his abilities.  

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i absolutely hated the bear then. he insulted us tho i think he was being funny. but after the game he went down in front of the auburn student cheering section, stood at attention, and saluted the fans. i read about it in a bio but have yet so see a pic of him doing it.

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12 minutes ago, AU64 said:

I'd heard that too.....maybe from Bird...but just look at the pictures of him and you can tell you ought not to mess with him.  A guy who made the most of his abilities.  

More likely from me. I was always on David bad side couldn't stand the sob and he couldn't stand me. He was a hell of a player somewhat dirty at times player.

RIP David

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There was a story that Auburn was hosting a lineman recruit the next year, after being introduced to Langer the recruit said,

"you mean that little guy plays football for Auburn".   Recruit got knocked down by a right punch to the jaw sending him to the floor and later to the hospital.

Little doc

 

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Thanks for posting, AU64. I literally just finished reading this and came to see if anyone had started a thread. I too remember auGolf1716 telling a story about Langner. I love reading those stories from years past. 

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I went to Woodlawn also and was a freshman when David and Greg were seniors. A few of us had 7th period athletics and while waiting for  freshman team practice after school, my friends and I would field punts from Greg and relay them back to him. It was a challenge frought with danger to track and catch one of his punts. Both were great guys and David was truly a wrenching crew.  In ironic fashion, I actually went to a couple of AU games while still at Woodlawn with an AU student ticket and using David Langner's student ID to get in the stadium.  No we did not look alike.

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22 hours ago, AU64 said:

A piece worth reading on al.com about David Langner and Greg Gantt......kinda long but a poignant story of two guys who died too young and their connection before the 1972 Iron Bowl. 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/11/alabamas_greg_gantt_auburns_da.html

 

Thanks for sharing 64. I had a computer class with Langner when I went back to AU in 1973-1975 to finish what I had started way back in 1957 after a 15 year hiatus in the Marine Corps . He was a real loner though, didn't mingle with the other students  very much and mainly kept to himself. I was sorry to hear he had passed away so young. I was really surprised that he wasn't all that  big but you could sense  he was tough as nails. Would have made a great Marine!

WDE

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very good friend of mine is/was David's cousin.  he was toughest guy you'd ever meet.  mark, my buddy, said he was somewhat a loner and blacksheep in the extended family---most family were/are bammers and David was AU.  but to this day, 1716, is a number used in some of my passwords!

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Who else has been around long enough to  know of the first game of the 73 season (the year after the Punt Bama Punt game).  A not so good  season for Auburn.

We played Oregon State in the first game of a  "double header" at Legion field.  I don't recall who Alabama played in the second game.

I believe Roger Mitchell intercepts this pass.  After a moment, and in fine David Langner  fashion- here comes #28 over the top of the pile.  Also note one of the Oregon State player swinging his helmet like a club:

Auburn Oregon State Brawl

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I remember exactly where I was when the 72 iron bowl was played. It was one of those moments. I was my grandmother's country farm house with my dad and uncle building a bathroom with indoor plumbing on the back porch to replace the out house. We had a radio on and listening to AU being slowly beaten by a good Bama team. In the 4th Qtr., though, we put down the hammers and nails and gathered by the radio. I had only been graduated 2 yrs from Auburn and was swelling up with pride.

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2 hours ago, AdamsHouseCat said:

Who else has been around long enough to  know of the first game of the 73 season (the year after the Punt Bama Punt game).  A not so good  season for Auburn.

We played Oregon State in the first game of a  "double header" at Legion field.  I don't recall who Alabama played in the second game.

I believe Roger Mitchell intercepts this pass.  After a moment, and in fine David Langner  fashion- here comes #28 over the top of the pile.  Also note one of the Oregon State player swinging his helmet like a club:

Auburn Oregon State Brawl

Thanks for the video....wow....that got heated in a hurry didn't it ? 

 

As for the 1972 season I was in Jackson for the OM game...think Terry Henley carried the ball about every play for AU.....offense was pretty basic as I recall..

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On November 16, 2017 at 10:18 AM, wde21 said:

Very good article. I was at the game( yes, I am old!) and can still remember how surreal the 2nd blocked punt was! Same spot on the field, same bounce of the ball right into Langner’s hands. It was right in front of the Auburn student section. We stayed at Legion Field a long time after the end of the game!

I guess we are about the same age.  I was a Soph in 72 and it was my first Iron Bowl as a student.  I remember we were all jumping up and down on those metal seats and how much nose it was making.  Just as the ball was snapped for the second kick the noise died down and you hear the thud when the ball hit Newton's hand.  It looked like it went 15 feet in the air when it hit that old AstroTurf and David never slowed down he just caught it on the fly.  Yes we stayed in the stadium a long time drunk and raising hell.   I met David many years later when he was selling cars in Birmingham and he had mellowed out from all the stories you heard about in school about how mean he was.  I also met Greg years later.  Hard to believe they are both gone now.  Two of the most iconic figures in the history of the rivalry.  

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Good article. 

Also, that video was crazy. Someone should've kicked #18's teeth in for hitting people in the head with his helmet and backing away like a punk.

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23 minutes ago, mcgufcm said:

Good article. 

Also, that video was crazy. Someone should've kicked #18's teeth in for hitting people in the head with his helmet and backing away like a punk.

#18 never saw the field trust me if he had gotten on the field a leg would have been broken

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There was this old show that came on one of the networks called College Football Today, but it actually come on Sunday morning.  They showed he clip of David flying into the pile at the Oregon State game and the announcer said " I have never seen anyone in that big of a hurry to get into a fight!"  

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On 11/16/2017 at 11:17 AM, augolf1716 said:

More likely from me. I was always on David bad side couldn't stand the sob and he couldn't stand me. He was a hell of a player somewhat dirty at times player.

RIP David

Great stuff from 64 and thanks. Tell us Golf. Think Shug loved Langner. My landlord late seventies was a Shug insider. Said Coach Jordan told him that if you ever got a kid in that did not cuss a little, drink a little, fight a little, and cause trouble......may as well run his ass off. True? did Coach ever say it elsewhere?

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20 hours ago, AdamsHouseCat said:

Who else has been around long enough to  know of the first game of the 73 season (the year after the Punt Bama Punt game).  A not so good  season for Auburn.

We played Oregon State in the first game of a  "double header" at Legion field.  I don't recall who Alabama played in the second game.

I believe Roger Mitchell intercepts this pass.  After a moment, and in fine David Langner  fashion- here comes #28 over the top of the pile.  Also note one of the Oregon State player swinging his helmet like a club:

Auburn Oregon State Brawl

Alabama played California the second game of the double header and beat them 66 - 0.  I was dating a girl who was a Bammer fan (I know it was a moment of weakness and she was easy what can I say) and went we went to both games.  Bammer was running the wishbone and California had no idea how to stop it.  Richard Todd was the QB for Bammer and Steve Bartkowski was the QB for California.  Steve spent most of the game on his back.  

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