Go Bulldogs!

Pete played tight end for the Yale football team through the 1959 season. Here's a recollection from classmate and teammate Alvin Puryear, Ph.D.:

Since Pete played end and I was a tackle, we were side-by-side on both offense and defense, in practices and in games.  Thus we were together for several hours a day from September through November. 

When Yale had the football, the tackles called the blocking assignments at the line of scrimmage for each play.  For the tackles and ends, a "Don" call meant that the tackle and end executed a double-team block; for a "Charlie" call, the tackle and end executed a cross-block, etc.  

The coaches would provide these calls for each week's opponent.On several occasions during games, Pete and I would confer quickly (in seconds, not minutes) in the huddle before the next play, and change the calls provided by the coaches.  On reflection, only Yale athletes could pull off that feat! 

From left to right in 1959: Pete Riddle, Art LaVallie, Dick Winkler, and Harry Olivar in the coffee table book A Bowl Full of Memories: 100 Years of Football at the Yale Bowl

Classmate Barry Schaller, a retired Connecticut Supreme Court Justice who teaches at Yale Law School, also remembered Pete's humility, despite his BMOC (Big Man on Campus) status:

Our classmates remember his effort and courage on the football field (a fact that he always modestly played down -- by saying that his was all effort and no skill -- but I doubt that). He was much admired and a big star. Of course, his Navy [SEAL] days brought more admiration...and then his work with juveniles. He was always so modest, unassuming, a good listener, always engaged in what others were saying....

After Pete retired, I learned that he would go to -- was it a children's hospital? -- and sit down to play with and talk with the children. Another wonderful portrait of his generous spirit, playful personality, and good heart.