By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

The Honorary Varsity "I" award is given to those who have proven to be instrumental to the success of its student-athletes. This weekend, Andy Dixon, Mike Hatfield and Al Martindale joined the prestigious ranks when they were presented Honorary I awards from the Varsity I Association.

These three Illini warriors impacted Illinois student-athletes in nearly every support service for three decades, and a combined 89 years, and it would only be fitting that the trio of great friends would earn this award together.

It's a trio that made contributions in a variety of ways and during virtually the same period of time. Dixon spent 29 years (1981-2010) with the DIA in his role as an equipment manager. Hatfield filled multiple roles in his 29 years (1981-2010) at Illinois, first as an academic counselor, then as a ticket manager, and finally as a fundraiser. Martindale served his time (1983-2014), 31 years as the Illini's head athletic trainer.

The Andy Dixon Story

A national speed skating champion and a News-Gazette all-state football player at Champaign Central High School, Dixon dreamed about becoming an Illini athlete. As a youngster, he'd spent years with his buddies attending games, sometimes sneaking in through unattended gates and other times paying a buck for a 'knothole' ticket at Memorial Stadium.

As a senior, Coach (Bob) Blackman's staff hosted Dixon and several others one weekend on campus. But his visit with the Illini head coach at the end of the weekend didn't go as he had hoped it would. He remembers the conversation, word for word.

"Coach Blackman told me 'We think you're a little slow, we think you're a little small, and we think you're a little short. Other than that, we like you. In a year or two, you might have a chance to earn a scholarship,'" Dixon recalled. "I shook his hand and said thank you, but I was so disappointed."

Fortunately, the teenager had a handful of other scholarship honors, including one from the University of Wyoming.

"One of the Wyoming coaches, John Easterbrook, had played at Illinois, and a guy who I'd played with in high school was a walk-on at UW," Dixon said. "I had a terrific recruiting trip and committed before I came home."

Dixon enjoyed a successful career with the Cowboys, leading the team in rushing and scoring. Upon his graduation, the twenty-something who had married his high school sweetheart (Cheryl) after his freshman year at Wyoming, became a teacher and a coach in nearby Cheyenne. A few years later a friend took a head job in Las Vegas and the Dixons headed off to "Sin City."

"Cheryl and I thought that if we were every going to do something stupid, now's the time," he remembered. "We liked Las Vegas, but didn't think we'd want to raise a family there, so we moved home in June of '81."

A month or so later, Dixon spotted an ad in the paper for an assistant equipment manager.

Andy Dixon, circa 1998

"Honestly, my first thought was that I didn't want to be the guy spraying water into guy's faces," he said. "I was a former athlete, so I felt that I should be on the field, not taking care of the guys. One of the things that was appealing was that Brownie (then head equipment manager Marion Brownfield) had already been there thirty-five years. If I got my foot in the door with the athletic department, who knows where it could lead. Once I got in there and did it a while, I thought it was a pretty good damn job. And for thirty years, it was a great job."

The Mike Hatfield Story

Likewise, Hatfield had been raised as an Illini fan.

"When I was growing up in the '60s in Hoopeston, you were either an Illini fan or a Purdue fan," he said. "Purdue was 40 miles away and Illinois was an hour away. I had an uncle that had season tickets at both places. Fifty-three years ago, I went to my first Illinois game and watched the Stanford Indians play the Fighting Illini."

Hatfield's athletic expertise was as a distance runner. He eventually competed at Parkland College before continuing at Eastern Illinois University where he was a member of the Panthers' 1977 national championship cross country team and a 1979 All-America performer in the steeplechase. The eventual Athletics Hall of Fame member at EIU, Parkland and Hoopeston High School was initially hired at Illinois as a member of Ed Swartz's academic unit. The former UI assistant athletics director remains as one of the people to whom Hatfield is most indebted.

"I had a front row seat with Ed and watched him unravel countless dilemmas that guys found themselves in off the field," Hatfield said. "He taught me every one of his moves by always putting the student-athlete first. That sometimes inconvenienced staffers, whether it was sports info guys or equipment guys or trainers. But Ed always did what was best for the kid and that became the way I handled different issues."

Hatfield's mental Illini scrapbook is filled with special memories, including UI's unforgettable 1983 football season.

"To go undefeated against every team in the conference was never done before and never been done since," he said. Hatfield also gave special mention to John Mackovic's 1990 Big Ten championship team.

"Everyone remembers the '05 basketball Regional up in Chicago against Arizona. I would have left that game early, but I wasn't on an aisle and I couldn't get out," he joked.

But just as much as games and events, Hatfield remembers the people with whom he had the privilege to spend time. The legendary Dike Eddleman and former track and field coach Bob Wright were two of those unique individuals.

"I was fortunate my first few years of driving Dike and Coach Wright to Illini golf outings," Hatfield said. "The stories that they had from their days were just phenomenal. Everybody's got the memories about the big games and the big play and the last shot, but riding with those two guys to Belleville and Edwardsville was incredible."

The Al Martindale Story

Martindale, a native of Postville, Iowa, officially arrived at the U of I in July of 1983 after spending six years at the University of Hawaii.

"I was thrown directly into the fire with Mike White," Martindale chuckled. "Back then, we were going four hours a practice, twice a day."

He vividly recalls standing on the sideline with Rod Cardinal during Illinois's legendary 16-6 victory over Michigan in '83.

"We had 76,000 fans at Memorial Stadium and the place was just rocking," Martindale said. "After Thomas Rooks' game-winning touchdown, I looked up at the upper deck on the East side and noticed that the whole thing was just swaying. I turned to Rod and said, 'That doesn't look too safe.'

Al Martindale with Ron Turner

A particularly momentous time for Martindale occurred during Illinois basketball's incredible 2005 run to the NCAA championship game. Luther Head had incurred a hamstring injury during UI's victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Martindale was charged with getting him healthy for the Arizona game.

"I basically did what Rod had done with Kenny Battle in '89," Martindale remembered. "I was up almost all night long, going to Luther's room and doing stuff with him. I had him up at 7 o'clock down in the swimming pool. We limited him in practice and I worked with him all the way to the Arizona game. (Coach) Bruce (Weber) came to me and asked 'What are you thinking, Al?' I said, 'Coach, if you're going to play Luther, you've got to play him right away. Once you play him, just keep playing him until he can't go anymore.' It was amazing what Luther did. I'll never forget him intercepting the ball near the end of the game and sprinting down court and dunking it. I'm thinking, 'Don't hurt yourself Luther because we need you down the line.'"

It's only fitting they would be inducted together

Dixon, Hatfield and Martindale all admit that receiving an Honorary I is one of their lives' major highlights.

"I feel totally honored," Dixon said. "For many years, I was on the committee that gave nominations. To me, this is proof that we did something right in our profession. It's confirmation of a job well done."

Al Martindale, Mike Hatfield, Illinois football equipment manager Trent Chesnut, and Andy Dixon

"I'm personally thrilled," echoed Hatfield. "We've seen that award given out over the years to folks that were mentors to us and colleagues of ours. It's made us all feel really good and proud about the time that we'd put in."

"When I found out, I was kind of flabbergasted that I would be receiving an Honorary I," Martindale said. "The Varsity I is an organization of all our former student-athletes and now I'm a part of that group. It's a privilege to be in a group with many of the athletes who I'd spent countless hours with. I put my heart and soul into getting them ready to play."