The 1963 Saint John's football season played out against a backdrop of loss, both in Collegeville and in the nation as a whole.
But through it all, the close-knit Johnnies relied on each other for support, overcoming all that lay in front of them to earn the school's first national championship.
And, in the process, the team laid the foundation for a tradition of national success that continues to this day.
"That's the thing we are most proud of when it comes to that season," said Ken Roering, an All-American receiver who was a key contributor to the squad.
"We went through a lot. But we pulled even closer together as a result of that. And we helped to establish a tradition that (head coach) John (Gagliardi) was able to build into a dynasty that endures to this day.
"That national championship really turned out to be a defining moment in the history of athletics at Saint John's."
The players – many of whom had been seeing extensive playing time since first arriving on campus as freshmen in the fall of 1960 – entered 1963 with something to prove.
The Johnnies finished the 1962 season 9-0, averaging 375.1 yards of offense per game. But it was not enough to earn them one of the four bids available to the NAIA national playoffs.
"Undefeated, untied and uninvited" became their rallying cry.
"That motivated us," said Craig Muyres, the team's starting quarterback. "That 1962 team was good enough to win a national championship. And we felt like we never had the chance to prove ourselves on that stage."
The Johnnies assured themselves that would not happen again by outscoring opponents 248-45 during the regular season en route to the MIAC title.
This time, those in charge of the NAIA selection process noticed.
"We'd played together so long by then," Roering said. "We were a well-oiled unit."
But the success was tempered by tragedy. Late in the regular season, Matthew Christensen, a freshman from Cretin whose older brother Nick was also a member of the team, was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding his bike.
"That was difficult," Muyres said. "What do you do when you lose a teammate like that? It was hard on us and it was even harder on his family. I think we all tried to pull together to play for Nick.
"It was just a very difficult time. But we were a close-knit bunch. And we had (Gagliardi) as our leader. He really did help guide us through everything."
Just weeks later, the nation was shocked by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The president's death came just eight days before the Johnnies were to take on Emporia State of Kansas in the national semifinals at Met Stadium in Bloomington.
"It was a Friday afternoon and I was walking to class when I found out," Roering recalls. "I was stunned, just like everyone else was. Classes were called off and we really had no idea what was going to happen next for our country or our team."
In the end, the game went on. Saint John's rolled to a 54-0 victory led by junior Rich Froehle, who rushed for 163 yards.
The win set up a showdown with Prairie View A&M in the national championship game in Sacramento, then known as the Camellia Bowl.
The Panthers boasted a roster featuring a number of players who went on to great success in the professional ranks, including NFL Hall of Famer Ken Houston and wide receiver Otis Taylor, who led the Kansas City Chiefs over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV a few years later.
But that was all in the future, not the present.
"My big theme when I give talks is usually that most things get done by people who don't realize it can't be done," Gagliardi told the St. Cloud Times in 2002.
"If they realized what the situation was, they may never have been able to do it. We've never had a lot of guys who made it to the NFL. But we didn't know that they did either at the time."
The game was also notable for matching the all-white Johnnies against all-black Prairie View at a time when the civil rights movement was the nation's leading story.
The two teams got to know each other on the plane ride to California. The Johnnies' plane stopped in Nebraska to pick up the Panthers, who had just beaten Kearney State in the semifinals.
"I remember watching film on them with John," Roering said. "He was trying to keep things light. So he said 'Well, they may be big, but at least they're fast too.'
"It was clear they were a really, really talented team."
Yet, also a team just as nervous as the Johnnies.
"I remember being scared as hell before that game," Taylor told the St. Cloud Times in 2002. "We were young kids and we hadn't really been anywhere besides the other schools in our conference. We had a lot to play for that day.
"It would have meant a lot for us to bring back a national title to our school and our conference."
In the end, though, it was Saint John's that held on for a wild 33-27 victory, sealing the first national championship in school history.
Gagliardi, of course, went on to win three more before retiring in 2012 with 489 career victories, the most in college football history.
"Like Bernie Beckman (a star running back on the team) always says, it's great to have played a role in starting John's dynasty," Muyres said.
"I think that season really did help set the tone for all that has gone on at Saint John's in the football program since then."
