We know how Pat Fitzgerald feels about cell phones, social media and the culture of staring down rather than looking up.
The Instagram handle @coachfitz51 has 1,692 followers ... and zero posts. Perfect.
Northwestern is honoring the 1949 Rose Bowl champion Wildcats this weekend. The team's honorary captain for their game Saturday against UNLV will be Ed Tunnicliff, who had a 45-yard touchdown run in the 20-14 win against Cal.
When Fitzgerald was asked how he might educate his players about that team, the coach replied: "They don't know who Walter Payton is, all right? To say 1949 Rose Bowl to our guys is like their great-grandparents. When you truly think about guys playing on our team now, the freshmen were born in, what, 2001? Joe Montana. Want me to keep going? Jim McMahon. They don't know who any of these people are."
For real?
Northwestern (0-1) brought four players to media availability Monday, all veterans: defensive end Joe Gaziano, safety JR Pace, receiver Riley Lees and quarterback Hunter Johnson.
Asked if he knows who Montana is, Johnson replied: "I do. If I didn't, there would be something wrong with me."
The Indiana native can also tell you all about Peyton Manning's great hits.
Lees, a Libertyville, Ill., native, has some intel on the 1985 Bears, who predated him by more than a decade.
"Jim McMahon was everything you'd want in a quarterback," Lees said. "His personality was awesome, honestly. The defense was great. Walter Payton, obviously. Other than that, I'm pretty modern."
Gaziano likes to pretend that the '85 Bears never existed. He's a Patriots fan from Massachusetts.
"As far I'm concerned, the NFL started in 2001 when the Patriots beat the Rams, the Greatest Show on Turf," he said. "I've done some homework on a few guys, watch 'A Football Life' on the NFL Network. It's fun learning the history of our game."
Pace, the defensive back who grew up near Atlanta, said "of course" he knows who Montana is.
How about Ronnie Lott? Yup. Pace pointed to a finger, in reference to Lott's amputated pinkie. (Lott chose the operation in 1986 to avoid having to play games with a cast.)
Jack Tatum? "Raiders," replied Pace.
Wow. Tatum played in the '70s.
Fitzgerald would have to be impressed.
Noticing players at his news conference, the coach said: "You guys can get more information in a day than my dad had in a lifetime through that thing (phones). So you are inundated with information that does not matter instead of understanding the truth of the game, the history of schools, the list goes on and on.
"Am I going to waste a lot of time explaining the 1949 Rose Bowl team to a bunch of 18- to 22-year-olds that look at Instagram? If I do a PowerPoint presentation, they will halfway fall asleep. You just gave me a great idea: We'll put out an Instagram post on the 1949 Rose Bowl team and I will educate the squad."
Maybe it will even make his Instagram feed.
