What's truly amazing about the Columbia Football program is just how many of the players go on to become some of the university's most successful and interesting alumni. In Columbia's case, you can make a very good argument that without the football program we'd be without the best and most generous alums, period.
Add William "Max" Carey to that list. Carey was a standout player at Columbia where he became one of the nation's most exciting kick returners and was a standout defensive back.
But it was after he finished at Columbia that Carey really made his mark. He joined the Navy as an aviator and flew over 100 missions over North Vietnam. He even became one of the rare pilots to earn Top Gun certification.
After the Navy he excelled in business, but was also human enough to point out that no one can really be a superman all the time. He explained all that in his book "The Superman Complex."
Columbia football fans who are too young to remember Carey's playing days are more likely to remember him in the stands and especially his legendary tailgate events at Columbia-Princeton games. When his nephew Chris Carey was excelling at CU and eventually rising to team captain, Max was his biggest supporter.
Max Carey died earlier this month after fighting leukemia for 15 months. Even though it's not uncommon to hear about great Columbia football players who went on to become great Americans, Max Carey stood out among that group of standouts.
He will be sorely missed by all of us.
1 comment:
Not only was Max an excellent player, but he was also a super-nice guy. So sorry to hear of his passing.
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