DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Drake University football program brought together Bulldog alumni spanning across six decades to a pair of reunion events in Chicago and Des Moines last month.
 
"It was a powerful thing. When you get football players together there is an immediate bond, but when you get Drake football players together, crossing the generations, it's even a tighter bond," said head coach Rick Fox about the event. "Sitting at a table, one guy from the 50s is sharing his football stories with guys from the 2000s and they are talking about Drake football. The energy in that room is just incredible and the connections is significant for the program."
 
The two events helped the Drake football alumni to get back together and reconnect with each other.
  "Those are lifetime friendships that you develop and Drake football is the common bond that holds everything together. It was good to see that bonding between the generations. I thought it was really cool because it's a network that is going to help guys," said Gene Mitz, '64.
  During the events, Fox spoke to the groups about the two vision days that his team has every year. The first vision day is having the players seeing themselves holding the trophy over their head and the second is seeing themselves going on in life and being impact men.
 
"Our program is about developing impact men. Impact men on Saturday afternoons when we need to make the play to win the game, impact men on campus, difference makers here and impact men in life after their time at Drake," said Fox.
 
Fox then unveiled the Drake Football Mentor Program to the group. The program is a way to connect the alumni with the current student-athletes, but also connect the alumni with each other.
 
"We have the kind of alumni that are out all over the world making a significant impact and we want to connect those alumni with the players on our roster right now; in their particular field. So if I'm going into law or pharmacy or business or coaching or whatever it may be, we want to get them in contact with an alum who can serve as a mentor give them guidance and advice as they pursue that particular career," said Fox.
 
"The professionals and leaders that come out of Drake football are amazing, because you don't get that from many other programs. I have former teammates who are doctors, judges, business owners and teachers, and to make it a part of the culture is a great idea," said Honorable Greg Ahern, '91.
 
More than 30 alums signed up initially at the reunion events to be a part of the mentor program and Fox would like to see that list grow to 100-200 alums.
 
Information for the 2018 spring reunion events will be sent out in the fall.