Throwback Thursday: Thunderchickens

Purple People Eaters, Mosters of the Midway, Doomsday Defense, Orange Crush, Steel Curtain, No Name Defense, Fearsome Foursome. Defenses often seem to inspire nicknames. One of the best defensive nicknames is one of the least known. Stanford's Thunderchickens. Stanford won Rose Bowls following the 1970 and '71 seasons. The offense with Heisman-winning quarterback Jim Plunkett and receiver Randy Vataha got most of the attention in 1970 but the defense was often the difference. With Plunkett off to the NFL in 1971, the defense was critical in Stanford's return to the Rose Bowl. The Thunderchickens came through.

The Thunderchickens started as an inside joke before the 1970 season. Several members of the Stanford defensive line thought that they needed a nickname. USC called themselves the "Wild Bunch." Junior defensive end Pete Lazetich knew of a motorcycle gang in Montana named the Thunderchickens. He also thought that senior defensive end Dave Tipton ran like a chicken. The nickname fit Tipton and seemed to fit the entire defensive line. It started out as a joke but took off when the media got hold of it. The media got hold of it because the defense was dominating on the football field. The Thunderchickens lasted two seasons, 1970 and '71. In 1970, the defensive line of Larry Butler, Greg Sampson, Bill Alexander, Jody Graves, Lazetich, and Tipton comprised the Thuderchickens. In 1971, Tipton graduated and was replaced by Roger Cowan on the defensive line. By this time, the linebackers, including Jeff Siemon, had joined in on the Thuderchicken fun. This was a truly talented defensive front. Sampson (1st round, 1972), Lazetich (2nd round, 1972), and Tipton (4th round, 1971) all played in the NFL. Siemon was a first round choice of the Minnesota Vikings in 1972. Two Rose Bowl wins over talented Ohio St. and Michigan teams are also decent indications of that talent.

The Thunderchickens were a real draw on the Stanford campus. So much so that when the administration decided that being called the Indians was inappropriate, Thunderchickens received a good deal of support as the new Stanford mascot. It's certainly better that that tree.