Tom Mortimer is our October Alumnus of the Month!
When did he play?
Tom played for Michigan Rugby from 1962-1970, but went back home to Glasgow, Scotland his sophomore and senior years(1963-64,1965-66) during that time to study engineering at the University of Glasgow and played basketball for the school.
What position did he play?
Tom started played wing forward (flanker), but was moved to standoff (flyhalf) once his kicking abilities were discovered. He also took conversions and penalty kicks for the team.
What got him started?
Tom first started playing rugby his senior year of high school in Glasgow, and when he came to Michigan, he watched a night practice and immediately decided to come back the next day and join the team. This was during the time when games were played on Wines Field right by the Michigan Stadium, and Tom remembers meeting the coach at the time, Whata Winiata, who taught him the Maori war chant, which was later performed before a game and the team played phenomenally because of it.
What honors/awards did he receive?
Tom joined the team on a tour to England and Scotland to play against some of the clubs there in 1969, where he was joined by some MSU players, and after one of their toughest matches, he was awarded a military jacket from an old English gentleman. Tom claims it had nothing to do with how well he played, but more sot he fact that all of the other players on his team were too fat for it to fit them.
What are his favorite memories/teammates?
Tom specifically remembers breaking the tie with a drop kick goal just as time was expiring in the game, and his teammate Steve Solomon would not stop talking about it, constantly praising Tom for earning his team the victory. To make it better, it was a local game and Tom’s parents were able to come out and watch him play that day. He also enjoyed his time touring England and Scotland with the team. Since not enough Michigan players wanted to go on this tour, the team also invited some Michigan State players to join, and made some friendships and rivalries that lasted even until their last rugby games, but Tom wasn’t too concerned about this since Michigan State, although a good team, usually was unable to beat the Michigan Wolverines. On that tour, all of the local clubs wanted to play Michigan, so this scrappy tour team had to play multiple games within days and were so exhausted and beaten up by the end that they didn’t end up scoring much against these local clubs, but always had a great time exchanging stories afterwards at the socials.
Tom was able to join the team in lots of matches against Ontario teams where they were always pretty even matches against physically tough opponents, but he loved playing against Notre Dame because…. well, its Michigan vs. Notre Dame, what is not to love.
Tom also recalls playing rugby with lots of the football players who had transferred to Michigan or come here for grad school, including linemen from Ohio State, Navy, and some who even went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers (Gino) and the LA Rams (Tom Clancy), but Tom says the most impactful forwards were not the football players, but the farm boys from Pennsylvania who were just big and tough, plain and simple.
What did he do after Michigan Rugby?
Tom still has a lot of family in Michigan and returns to Ann Arbor periodically to visit them and watch the current team take on some tough Big Ten opponents. He was able to reconnect with some old teammates a few weeks ago when he returned to Ann Arbor for Olde Boys Weekend and watched some rugby matches between the old boys and the young boys.
Congratulations to Tom as our Alumnus of the Month for October 2021!
