Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame
Athlete 1961 - 1965
The Old Oak is a Linfield College symbol. Just as important to the college is the Linfield family tree. Generation after generation, members of thousands of different families have attended Linfield, benefiting from its one-of-a-kind quality education and academic experience.
Wildcat athletes have been a Linfield family tree beneficiary, too. Take the Musser family for example. First was Norm; then Jim; and, most recently, Curt.
It's Norm Musser in the limelight as a member of the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2002, being inducted as an athlete.
He came to the college in 1961 from Salem, recruited by Coach Paul Durham from North Salem High School.
During his four years at Linfield, he played linebacker and center, receiving all-American, all-Coast, NAIA District and all-Northwest Conference honors.
As a freshman linebacker, he was a member of Linfield's 1961 Camellia Bowl team. As a senior, he started on both defense and offense.
The 1964 Linfield football pressguide said Musser, at 5-foot-9 and 187 pounds, "makes up for his lack of size with an abundance of desire and quick reactions."
Now an American Studies teacher at South Medford High School in Medford, Ore., Musser said his Linfield experience was strongly tied to the successof the football team. "We only lost four games in four years and two of those losses were in the national playoffs. The school win-loss-tie record during my tenure was 33-4-2. "That is what I am most proud of and the association with a great bunch of guys who remain, to this day, good friends."
Norm Musser's high school football coaching career including, as head coach, leading Medford High School (now North Medford) to the state AAA title in 1985. He also served as head football coach at Grants Pass High School and assistant football coach at Medford, South Medford, David Douglas and Hillsboro.
One tribute Musser received for his coaching skill came from Larry Farris, former North Medford High guard, who went on to play football at the Air Force Academy. Coach Musser "taught me almost everything I knew about being a lineman," said Farris. "I was able to play (for the Academy) because of quickness and technique."
Said Durham about Musser, "Obviously, he was one of the top footballers to ever play at Linfield. He earned great honors as a player and has matched them as a coach "I'm proud I had a chance to work with him on Linfield teams and am proud to have him as a life-long friend."
Graduating from Linfield in 1965 in business administration, his background includes working for Equitable Life Assurance Co. He played the 1965 and 1966 seasons for the Portland Thunderbirds of the professional Pacific Football League.
Musser returned to the college in 1967 and earned his master of education degree in 1969. During that time, he was an assistant football coach in 1967 (Durham's last team), and 1968, Ad Rutschman's first as head coach. He was also Wildcat assistant wrestling coach during the 1967-68 season.
Back to the Linfield family tree. Musser was the first family member attending the college. Then there was his brother, Jim Musser, Linfield Class of 1972, who also played football for the Wildcats. And, most recently (1997 through 2000) Norm's son, Curt Musser, was a Linfield quarterback.
For Norm Musser, being singled out for any award, including induction into the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, is as recipient of "honors that were earned by the entire football team and I was singled out because I was the best "composite" player among a lot of great Linfield athletes."
