{"id":97663,"date":"2023-09-06T06:28:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T10:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=97663"},"modified":"2023-09-06T06:28:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T10:28:19","slug":"honoring-an-ofa-football-standout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/09\/06\/honoring-an-ofa-football-standout\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring an OFA football standout"},"content":{"rendered":"

This season the OA Schools football teams will be sporting Number 29 stickers on their helmets, and in honor of a standout athlete from the Class of 1967, Gary Deuel.<\/p>\n

OFA football fans remember \u201cDeuelie\u201d as a three-sport star at OFA from 1963-1967. He excelled in football, basketball and track and field.<\/p>\n

Deuel passed away on Dec. 26, 2022. He was 73.  <\/p>\n

Patrick Gavin, today involved with the Owego Hose Teams among other community endeavors, and OFA alum, was a quarterback back in the 1990\u2019s, and described Deuel as, \u201cThe greatest running back out of Owego.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Honoring<\/a>

Pictured is Gary Deuel, a standout athlete from the OFA Class of 1967. This season the OA Schools football teams will be sporting Number 29 stickers on their helmets, and in honor of Deuel. Provided photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

The helmet stickers, Gavin said, is a dual effort with fellow OFA alum Eric Nichols, and remarked, \u201cWe feel it is an appropriate tribute to Gary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head OFA Coach Patton Taylor, and in his first year replacing longtime and retired coach Steve Virkler, shared, \u201cI think it is important to honor the memory and legacy of Gary,\u201d adding, \u201cI hope every player in the OFA program is able to draw inspiration from these helmet stickers.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, with help from his wife, Gavin is creating a keepsake football postcard. The card will feature Deuel\u2019s photo and highlight his extraordinary statistics. It will be distributed to players soon.  <\/p>\n

Nichols, an All Division \/ All Metro guard and middle linebacker for OFA in the 1990\u2019s, was a coach in Owego for 15 years. Nichols commented that he had met Gary Deuel a couple of times, including on one occasion at a Hall of Fame induction.<\/p>\n

Nichols recalled, \u201cI enjoyed looking through my mother\u2019s OFA yearbook and saw photos of Gary,\u201d and added, \u201cHe was accomplished, and one of the best to play in Owego.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nichols added, \u201cThe football program does a lot for the players, so it\u2019s also important for the players to know who played on the field before them.\u201d  <\/p>\n

\"Honoring<\/a>

Pictured is Gary Deuel, a standout athlete from the OFA Class of 1967. This season the OA Schools football teams will be sporting Number 29 stickers on their helmets, and in honor of Deuel. Provided photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Deuel\u2019s sister, Diane, and the third generation living at the family\u2019s Flemingville farm, reminisced about the growing-up years, and said, \u201cOur whole life as a family was football. We followed Gary all across the country and watched him play in some major games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deuel, a running back at Penn State, was a three-year letterman, and a member of the 1968 and 1969 unbeaten squads that went on to win two Orange Bowl Championships. He played alongside football greats like Franco Harris.<\/p>\n

Owego native Steve Lawrence, and a sports writer out of Ithaca, shared memories of watching \u201cDeuelie\u201d play.<\/p>\n

Lawrence said, \u201cI recall how excited my Dad and his gang of former OFA players were when going to watch Gary play. I tagged along; and while I was just entering Junior High when Deuel was a senior, I could see why everyone was so excited,\u201d and continued, \u201cWhenever he got his hands on the ball, \u2018Deuelie\u2019 was smooth, he was fast, and he ran around and through defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deuel graduated with a B.S. in Business from Penn State, and went on to achieve a M.S. in Physical Education and NYS Administrative Degree from SUNY-Cortland.<\/p>\n

Football never stopped, though. Deuel continued playing football for the Triple Cities Jets, was a coach at SUNY-Cortland, and then taught Phys Ed and coached football and track and field at Greene and Chenango Valley Central Schools for 38 years. He also coached his own children\u2019s Pee Wee football teams.<\/p>\n

Deuel was inducted into the Owego Athletes Hall of Fame, the New York State Section IV Sports Hall of Fame, along with the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\"Honoring<\/a>

At a press conference held at the Double Tree by Hilton in Binghamton, the 2019 Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame inductees were announced. Here, Tom Corgel, a selection committee member, announced Gary Deuel as a recipient for the honor. You can read the full story on his induction at www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/03\/04\/two-tioga-county-residents-inducted-into-the-greater-binghamton-sports-hall-of-fame\/<\/a>. (File Photo \/ Wendy Post)<\/p><\/div>\n

Diane appreciates the recognition that Gary still receives today, and shared, \u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming to me that my brother remains so well-known in Owego,\u201d and as a long-time fan of her brother, added, \u201cAt Owego he was number 29, at Penn State he was number 43, and for the T.C. Jets he wore number 26.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the upcoming season at Owego, Coach Taylor said that he and his staff are extremely excited.<\/p>\n

Taylor remarked, \u201cWe had a great turnout during summer workouts, had 79 kids sign up, and it doesn\u2019t get much better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor explained that new concepts and plays were implemented, and added, \u201cThe kids have been working hard all preseason and summer, and we\u2019re at a point right now where we are comfortable and confident on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this season the number 29 will be with them at every play, as well as an inspiration on and off the field. <\/p>\n

You can read Deuel\u2019s full obituary at https:\/\/jamccormack.com\/tribute\/details\/2094\/Gary-Deuel\/obituary.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For information about Owego football, visit oacsd.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This season the OA Schools football teams will be sporting Number 29 stickers on their helmets, and in honor of a standout athlete from the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":97664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHonoring an OFA football standout - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/09\/06\/honoring-an-ofa-football-standout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honoring an OFA football standout - 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