O’Neil relives Rose Bowl magic

Bryce Alderton

A passer turned pastor, Danny O’Neil will get to relive a day of

glory when he steps onto the field at halftime of this season’s Rose

Bowl between USC against Michigan.

The former Corona del Mar High and Mater Dei quarterback, who led

the Oregon Ducks to the 1995 Rose Bowl, set five records in earning

Co-Player of the Game laurels along with Penn State running back

Ki-Jana Carter in a 38-20 Nittany Lions’ victory that day in

Pasadena. Penn State shared the national championship that year with

Nebraska.

O’Neil will be recognized in a ceremony at halftime.

“It’s the first thing I’ve been inducted into,” O’Neil said from

his home in Eugene, Ore., where he is the pastor at Calvary

Fellowship, a church he started when he moved back there in 2000.

Upon graduating from Oregon in 1995, O’Neil spent four years as a

pastor at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa.

The fanfare surrounding the Rose Bowl is something O’Neil didn’t

get caught up in leading up to the clash with Penn State.

“We won our last three games to get into the Rose Bowl, including

a come-from-behind victory over Oregon State to win the Pac-10

championship,” O’Neil said. “You don’t have time to take it all in.

Penn State was on my mind and how we were going to beat them.”

The Ducks fought tough, though. The game was tied, 14-14, late in

the third quarter until Carter scored two of his three touchdowns to

break open the contest. O’Neil threw for two touchdowns and two

interceptions but set Rose Bowl records for completions (41),

attempts (61), yards (456), plays (74) and total offense (456 yards).

“We had two drives at the end of the first half to try to tie the

score,” O’Neil recalled. “We were down at the 8-yard line and time

ran out. The game is always on my mind, but you don’t take the game

in until many years later.”

O’Neil must juggle his full-time ministry with a family, which

will soon add another member. O’Neil and wife Kim are expecting their

first child -- a girl -- in March.

He is very active in Eugene, leading the Oregon football and

wrestling teams -- to name a few -- in prayer sessions before

competition.

“I’m giving back to the athletes and becoming a part of their

lives,” O’Neil said.

His parents, Bonnie and Dan, still live in Newport Beach, not far

from CdM, where O’Neil began his rise to sports stardom.

O’Neil was part of an undefeated Sea Kings sophomore football team

and also played basketball and volleyball, but transferred to Mater

Dei before his junior season, prompting CdM administrators to level

charges of undue influence against the Santa Ana parochial school,

which resulted in an investigation and subsequent CIF Southern

Section hearing.

A panel of school district principals put the entire Monarchs’

athletic department on probation for one year as O’Neil went on to

quarterback the Monarchs his final two prep seasons.

“My parents were supporting the transfer because of the greater

discipline at Mater Dei,” O’Neil said. “When I transferred, I mainly

had basketball on my mind, but I changed my mind to play football the

summer before my junior year.”

“I don’t think it was a fair evaluation from the CdM coaches. They

weren’t too optimistic about my future and I don’t know why,” O’Neil

said. “The Mater Dei people welcomed me with open arms. I was a

15-year-old kid and saw the front doors open for me to win.”

O’Neil played four sports his senior year at Mater Dei, but it was

a quarterback camp conducted by John Elway at Stanford that piqued

his interest in pursuing football.

“I was only 6-foot, 170 pounds and in the Rose Bowl I was 165,”

O’Neil said.

A mild stature by today’s standards, but a productive one on New

Year’s Day 1995.