Semipro football players inducted into the Hall of Fame

While money often dominates today's discussions about professional athletes, the payday was never the payoff for the legends of semipro football.

"The only money I ever got was if I scored a touchdown I got $5," remembers Winfield's Ron "Butch" Hansen, who played for West Chicago High School and Northern Illinois University before his semipro career as a running back, punter and kick-returner in the early 1960s for the Elmhurst Travelers.

A recent ceremony in Oakbrook Terrace gave Hansen and three other suburban semipro football players inducted into the American Football Association Hall of Fame a chance to explain their motivations for playing the game.

"It's the love of the game," says Chris Roe, 42, who lives in West Dundee. "I started football when I was 6 years old and I quit when I was 41. I was able to do something I enjoy for a long time. Everyone who has ever played at this level knows it is the pure love of the game."

With no salaries, signing bonuses, meal allowances or even health insurance, the players practiced long hours, risked injuries and found their own benefits.

"The love of the game. That's all it was," says Bob Beshk, 70, of Bloomingdale, a union electrician who played running back for 12 years with teams such as the Austin Bears, Elmhurst Travelers and Niles Saints.

People often suggested players were crazy for risking their health, and maybe even their livelihoods, by playing semipro football.

"Sometimes you don't think of those things. You just want to play the game," says Hansen, 72, who went on to coach football, baseball and other sports at West Chicago High School, where he served as athletic director.

"You paid for everything," remembers Wood Dale's Jack Perry, 70, an accountant who practiced two or three nights a week for games. A linebacker and member of special teams for the Elmhurst Travelers, Perry regrets that an injury cut short his playing days.

"In '63, I blew a knee," says Perry, who has owned Perry's Pizza Joynt in North Lake since 1974.

With families and jobs, most semipro football players never envisioned playing at a higher level. But Roe, a 6-foot-5 tight end who played two years of football at Harper College in Palatine, took a step well beyond his gig playing for the semipro DuPage County Eagles, which became the Kane County Eagles. In the mid-90s, Roe had a tryout with the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings.

"I played three preseason games," Roe recalls, noting that he caught a pass from Brad Johnson, a quarterback who later won a Super Bowl. "I made it to the final cut."

Now Roe, director of sales for Carousel Candy in Geneva, helps coach football from time to time. But his years of semipro ball has given him a bond with every guy who pulled on a helmet and buckled a chinstrap.

"It's the guys you play with and the friendships you make," Beshk concludes. "It was like a family."

For details about the American Football Association and the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees, visit www.americanfootballassn.com.