On Nov. 4th of last year, two members of the '85 Super Bowl team were inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. Lineman Brian Holloway and defensive end Garin Veris had a chance to get together on the West coast, joining a number of other Stanford College standouts at the college's new football stadium for the induction.
Veris and Holloway never played together at Stanford, and their pro careers only overlapped for two seasons at New England. Nonetheless, their shared experiences were enough to create a lifelong bond. Veris explained that they met at Stanford, when he was just a recruit.
"When I took my recruiting trip out to Stanford, I had dinner with [Holloway] on the Stanford campus, so I've known him since my senior year in high school," said Veris. "There were actually five future-Stanford Hall of Famers at that dinner. It was John Elway, of course Brian, Ken Margerum, who played against us for the Bears in that '85 Super Bowl, and Darrin Nelson, who works in the athletic department out at Stanford now."
The induction ceremony was a big hit, with Holloway, Veris and the other inductees each delivering acceptance speeches to a large audience.
"It was a great evening to learn about all the other incredible achievements from men and women who also overcame all odds to succeed. You really felt like you were among a sacred elite," said Holloway
After the event ended, Veris, now the Co-Director of Athletic Fund Raising at the University of New Hampshire, and Holloway, an international motivational speaker and corporate trainer, sat talking, remembering their Patriots days.
"When I came in as a rookie, I always had to go every day against Brian in one-on-one pass rush drills and things like that," said Veris. "We got to beat on each other pretty good for a while. Knowing that we had the Stanford background and being able to share our induction into the Stanford's Hall of Fame was great, because it brought back a lot of great memories and also a lot of aches and pains and bruises we put on each other during our time in New England."
"We lined up against each other in Summer Camp (during Veris' rookie year), and I wanted everyone to know right away that just because he was from Stanford, he was treated like any other rookie," said Holloway.
They had come a long way since those hot Training Camp days at Bryant College. They were Stanford Hall of Famers. They talked about their careers, their families, and their futures. But, inevitably, their conversation turned to that '85 season and Super Bowl XX.
"We reminisced about the Monday night game we lost to the Dolphins in '85," said Holloway. "So even at the Stanford celebration, we still were brought back to that moment."
