Zwanefeld a Natural at Tuning for Rose Bowl

As trumpeter or tackle, Onno Zwanefeld has seen his share of roses on New Year’s day.

The Canoga Park High graduate has spent five of the past seven New Year’s eves preparing for his performance in Pasadena.

In 1979, Zwanefeld played the trumpet with the All-City Marching Band in his first of two appearances in the Tournament of Roses parade.

Three years later, Zwanefeld was on the sideline as a redshirt freshman for the UCLA football team in his first Rose Bowl game.

With the trumpet gathering dust at his parents’ home, Zwanefeld will make his third Rose Bowl appearance today. The junior will play right guard in the Terrible Two’s, which alternate behind another Bruin group--the Crunch Bunch--against Iowa.

The Crunch Bunch is Jim McCullough at right guard, Joe Goebel at center and Mike Hartmeier at left guard.

For at least one quarter of the game, the Crunch Bunch will be relieved by the Terrible Two’s--Zwanefeld, Tory Pankopf at center and Jim Alexander at left guard.

Zwanefeld was playing music at a Canoga Park football game in 1979 when he decided he’d rather be playing football.

The Canoga Park marching band had finished its halftime entertainment, and the Hunter football team was taking the field. Zwanefeld looked out at the smaller guys running up and down the field and thought, “Heck, I could do that. I’d like to do that.”

The next day, the 6-5, 230-pound band member paid a visit to football Coach Ed McCarthy. The coach listened as Zwanefeld explained that he was presently on the band and wanted to go out for the team.

Zwanefeld was born in Australia and grew up in Holland. While other future UCLA players were learning to tackle and block in Pop Warner football leagues, Zwanefeld was learning to play the trumpet and French horn in music class.

The coaches knew that Zwanefeld didn’t know how to play football, but Rudy Lugo, an assistant coach, said that the coaches were won over by Zwanefeld’s size.

“Any time you see someone with his kind of size, you see potential success,” Lugo said. “At least a potential starter.”

Zwanefeld prepared for his first spring training.

“Before I played it,” Zwanefeld said, “football was just a game I watched on TV. I had a pretty good grasp, as much as anyone who watches the game. But you get down there and actually play and it’s a different world.

“I became a student of the game. I read books on defensive plays and offensive strategy.”

Ed Zwanefeld remembers his son’s dedication as he prepared for football.

“We’d be watching TV,” he said, “and every time a commercial would come on, Onno would get down on the floor and do 40 push-ups.”

In addition, Zwanefeld had a friend who played football and together they started lifting weights and talking football to get ready for Onno’s first game--against cross-town rival Chatsworth.

“I remember that first game,” Zwanefeld said. “I didn’t know where the ball was or which way to go. But I kept starting. And even though I got my clock cleaned a couple of times, after that season, I had really progressed.”

“That year was Onno’s apprenticeship,” Lugo said. “He was intelligent, enthusiastic and a hard worker. Because of this, he was able to apply all he learned that year to his senior year.”

Zwanefeld played both offensive and defensive tackle that year. The Hunters had an 11-0-1 season and finished by playing Van Nuys to a tie, 13-13, in the City 3-A championship.

By then, Zwanefeld had earned a reputation with recruiters as a college-sized athlete with good grades.

“When you have a good season, you tend to be showcased by your teammates and vice-versa,” said Zwanefeld, who graduated from Canoga Park with honors. “I had the good fortune to be on that team and reap the rewards from it.”

They came in the form of letters from colleges.

Some 76 inquiries from colleges were sent to Zwanefeld at the end of his senior season.

Zwanefeld narrowed his choices to Stanford, Washington State and UCLA before picking the Bruins.

He first played at UCLA in his freshman year. It came near the end of a game against Brigham Young University.

It seemed that each time UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel got the ball he also got sacked. Finally, in a fit of frustration, offensive line coach Don Riley sent Zwanefeld in the game.

On the first play with Zwanefeld in at tackle, Neuheisel threw a touchdown pass.

“It wasn’t the prettiest effort I’d given,” Zwanefeld said, “but it got the job done.

In his sophomore year, Zwanefeld received a marble block awarded to the athlete exhibiting superb physical conditioning. He was also named as one of the most improved players.

At the beginning of this season, Zwanefeld was listed as a starting offensive tackle, but was injured in one of the early practices. At that time, UCLA Coach Terry Donahue asked Zwanefeld to learn the right guard position.

It is there, as one of the three Terrible Two’s, Zwanefeld hopes to get the job done in the Rose Bowl today.

“We’ve kind of developed a formula for New Year’s day games,” Zwanefeld said. “Donahue says the most important thing about the Rose Bowl is to win it.

“When I think about the last few years, it’s hard to believe,” Zwanefeld said. “I remember watching Rose Bowl games. Now I have three Rose Bowl watches. Just the fact that I’m playing for UCLA is something to think about. Pretty amazing.”