Sean Rorke, left, and father Dan

Dan Rorke ’59 had a hard time convincing his children what a great place Williams College could be.

Finally, in the late 1980s, one of them listened as Sean ’93, took to the Purple Valley with gusto, even following in his father’s football footsteps. “It was terrific,” recalls Dan. “I was so glad to finally get one of my kids to go there. And he (Sean) had a good experience and did a good job.” Dan Rorke was a defensive back/running back for the Ephs from 1956-1958 after playing one season of freshman football. Sean, a running back as well, played from 1989 to 1993 and still holds three Williams rushing records.

Influenced by his coach at Williams, Dan started his own coaching career at nearby Drury High School in the early 60s. He went on to be an assistant at the University of Vermont and Columbia before coaching North Andover High School. Dan then moved to Brooks School in North Andover and retired from there in 2003 after 20 years as football coach and athletic director.

Having a coach as a dad could have steered Sean from playing, but it didn’t deter Sean from the gridiron or choosing the same college. Sean even donned uniform number 22, his dad’s uniform number during his playing days on Weston Field.

“He was the best coach/dad there was,” Sean Rorke said. “I heard other stories about being a coach’s son, but it never bothered me. I was on the football field from the time I was five, six years old, watching him have practice, doing calisthenics. He certainly taught me everything I knew [about the game] from the get-go.”

The youngest of six kids, Sean was recruited to attend Williams a little bit harder than the rest by his dad.

“He worked me pretty good,” Sean recalled. “He had my brothers looking at Williams, but they went elsewhere. I was looking at the University of Pennsylvania, but chose Williams. I wish I had a good reason, but it was in my gut.”

In a 15-year period from 1952 to 1966, Amherst defeated Williams on the gridiron 11 times. But three of those four Williams victories span came in consecutive years, in 1956 (27-12), 1957 (39-14) and 1958 (12-7), Dan Rorke's senior year for the Ephs.

Point of fact is that in his final game against Amherst, Dan Rorke peeled off a 57-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that provided Williams with the winning score.

And, as it is now, as it was in Sean Rorke’s time and as it will always be, the campus was abuzz before and certainly after the wins over the Lord Jeffs. “Tufts was a big game, but Amherst was Amherst,” Dan Rorke said. “I remember the president of the college would come down to practice every day the week of the Amherst game. It was a big deal!”

As for his touchdown run in the biggest game of his career, ever a humble man, Rorke said, “Well, I remember it was a long way in the rain, and I was just hoping I wouldn’t fall down. It was a close game, it went back-and-forth the whole game, and I remember we had a big goal line stand on defense. It was a nice way for all the seniors, who really had quite a career, to finish.” Rorke recalled that the coaching staff under Len Watters to be one of the best in school history. It included the likes of Bill McHenry, who later became the head coach of Washington & Lee; Bob Clifford, who later coached at Colby and Vermont; Frank Navarro, who was to become the head coach at Williams from 1963 to 1967; and Jim Ostendarp, who became the long-time head coach at Amherst.

“We were always well-prepared,” Rorke recalled.

That quality stuck with Rorke as his coaching career progressed from school to school. He prepared his teams as well or better than the ones he played for at Williams, although it’s doubtful his players ever knew he was a player. Sean recalled his father never talked much about the playing days.

“He’s not someone who talked about playing football when he was younger,” Sean said. “But he lived and breathed it. I only know he was good because other people told me.”

A lot of people likely still remember Sean’s playing days at Williams. In 19 career games for the Ephs, the youngest Rorke managed to put together the seventh-best rushing total (1,631 yards) in the progam’s history. Sean still holds Williams records for most yards rushed for in one game (274 on 35 carries in a 1991 game against Wesleyan); longest run from scrimmage (81 yards in that same Wesleyan game) and average yards per carry for a career (5.9).

“As you get further away from the experience, it means a lot,” Sean said. “You look back and realize football is just a game, but you look back and remember the friends you made and the experiences you shared and they mean more. I certainly appreciated it all, especially having followed in my dad’s footsteps, that gave it a little more significance than if I had gone somewhere else.”

The Rorke legacy at Williams may not be over just yet. Sean Rorke, who sells computer software, married Alix Hyde, also of the Class of ’93. Alix is now the head coach of field hockey at Williams. So the connections continue. Just don’t ask Dan Rorke to pick who was the better football player at Williams, himself or his son. That’s one place the old ball coach won’t go.

“I wouldn’t even touch that one,” he laughed. “I saw maybe six games of his career because I was always coaching, but the ones I did see were great performances. I think he was an outstanding player on some outstanding teams. So I feel he had a similar experience as I did at Williams.”