The late Danny Sachs of Emmaus football career began under the reins of Coach Luke Lobb. Coach named Sachs the starting quarterback in 1954 and the Emmaus native blossomed into an All-League player and did the same for basketball coach Kenny Moyer and Danny was an All League basketball player.

Sachs lettered in four sports for the Green Hornets football, basketball, baseball and track and field. He set two league records in the 100 and 220 yard dashes.

Danny went on to QB Princeton University in 1957-58-59 leading the Tigers to an Ivy League title in 1957 as a sophomore, playing for Richard Coleman.

A Rhodes Scholarship awaited Sachs at Oxford University in England. In 1962 he played rugby for Wooster College succeeding another football star Army West Point football star Pete Dawkins. Both players took the game and were All Stars.

Danny Sachs next earned a Law degree at Harvard. Sadly Danny contracted cancer and had a leg taken off. His family rallied around him moving to Princeton to be near Danny, his wife and daughter.

Evan Burian renowned author said “when I was a kid growing up in Emmaus I pretended to be Danny Sachs the star QB”. Burian would get his turn in the early 60’s for the Green and Gold. Burian added “Sachs was a very humble person. Anyone from Princeton I ever talked to said he was a gentleman”.

Burian will accept Sachs award on May 9, 2015 at the Northampton Memorial Community Center in Northampton, Pa.

Emmaus Athletic Director Dennis Ramella on Danny Sachs:   Dan was my idol growing up.  My grand-father graduated and played for Princeton in 1916.  I also had an uncle and cousin who graduated from Princeton (1946 and 1965) so it was always a lot of fun to go to games and tailgate with the family.  Those happy days went a long way in shaping my love of football and fall afternoons.  Each year my grand-father would buy me a Princeton jersey and cut out the number of that year’s captain and iron it on the back, so when I went to games I wore something very special.

Dan was always my favorite because I idolized the tailbacks as they were called in Dick Coleman’s single wing attack.  The TB was always the star of the team and 46 was my favorite star.  I can remember running up the steps of old Palmer Stadium and someone yelling out, “Hey there  goes Dan Sachs.  Put him in the game”.  I was so proud.  In retrospect, it must have been one of the game’s when he was hurt and wasn’t playing.  My only meeting with Dan occurred on the field after a game when kids were allowed to run out on the sacred turf and meet the players.  That occurred over 50 years ago and I still remember it.  When I came to Emmaus one of the first things I did was name our Senior Male Athlete of the Year Award after Dan and now when I present it to a deserving student, I make sure to read Dan’s bio so this generation understands and hopefully appreciates this special scholar-athlete who waked the same halls and played in the same stadium.  I also honored  Dan by placing his jersey, picture and bio in our trophy case next to some of the other Emmaus greats (Keith Dorney, Marty Northstein, Aaron Gray and Cindy Werley).  Dan’s football career may have been cut short, but to my knowledge he remains the only Rhodes Scholar among the many great scholar-athletes who have come through the LV.  In my opinion there is no better role model for interscholastic athletics  and what we stand for, then Dan Sachs.  In order to make his place in our trophy case as authentic as possible, I call Princeton’s Equipment Manager and after explaining what I wanted to do, asked if he had an old  #46 to send me.  Graciously he sent the oldest one he had, but it was about 10 years old so it didn’t quite fit in.  I wanted something made of wool that looked like the one Dan would have worn.  So I searched the internet and found a company that produced authentic old time jerseys and contacted them.  Fortunately one of the jerseys they produced was a 1956 Princeton version.  The only problem was it had an orange 56 on it and I needed one with a white 46.  When I once again explained my situation, they sent me a jersey with regrets that they couldn’t replace the number.  Still determined to get this right, I contacted Schutt Reconditioning out of Easton which is the company that reconditions our football equipment and told them my story.  Thankfully they were happy to replace 56 with 46 which matched his picture perfectly.  See attached.  It was one of my proudest moments at Emmaus when I was able to memorize my idol in a place everyone could see and appreciate.  Now every day when I walk through the Sports Lobby I look at the jersey in the trophy case and think about him.  It always makes me smile to remember that little boy and his idol.

 

Thanks again Lehigh Valley Sports Hall of Fame for honoring Dan.  It’s important for people, especially our younger generation to learn about our history and some of the greats who have graced this area.  I know the entire Emmaus community appreciates your gesture; especially that little kid!

 

Sincerely,

Dennis