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player ready...The gathering started in 1967 when Bob Look, then a football player for Rich East High School in Park Forest, got three of his friends together for a Thanksgiving morning scrimmage at the school.
“Each year after that we started to let it grow,” said Look, 65, now a New Lenox resident.
Now, a half century later, the annual game has more than 30 participates, he said. The group’s “Turkey Bowl,” includes three generations of the Look family, as well as friends and family of one the other four founders, Tom Bartnick, 66.
“It just kind of turned into a tradition,” said Bartnick, now a Mokena resident.
He said the annual tradition is the only time he sees some of his old friends and extended family members.
Bartnick said everyone comes out no matter what the weather is and then head to a local pub to reminisce.
The games used to get a little rough, especially when they played by tackle rules. Bartnick said his brother broke his collar bone playing in the early years of the Turkey Bowl and the family spent Thanksgiving in a hospital.
But as the men became older and started involving their children they changed the rules to touch football.
“There’s still a little competition, but safety’s our number one goal,” Bartnick said.
It still can get a little rough when Look’s and Bartnick’s sons play against each other.
“There were times when we had to say, ‘Let’s tone it down,’ ” Look said.
Bartnick’s son, Brett Bartnick, 23, formerly played football at Lincoln-Way East High School and Look’s son, Bobby Look, Jr., 28, formerly played football at Lincoln-Way Central High School.
Although competitive, Turkey Bowl participants remember it’s all about family and friends during the holiday.
“The Turkey Bowl was always something I looked forward to growing up,” Look, Jr. said. “Every Thanksgiving morning not only meant getting together with family for a meal, but also to play football and continue this longstanding tradition that my father and his friends started.”
Look’s daughter, Jennifer Montgomery, said her family, which includes two children, doesn’t have too many traditions but it’s very special for them to be a part of one her father started.
They said they play on the practice field rather than the main one since they do wear spikes.
Of the other two Turkey Bowl founders, Dave Brandt has moved out of the area and rarely makes the trip to Rich East.
And Jack Ribbons died of ALS complications about 25 years ago, Look said.
Bartnick said they’ll look into promoting the Turkey Bowl as fundraising charity for future years.
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.