Werner

Eric Werner was an iron man in more ways than one.

The 1981 Butler graduate was a two-way starter in football for the Golden Tornado and Duquesne University. He was a longtime catcher in baseball as well.

Werner's exploits in both sports have led to his induction into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame. He and six others will be honored at the organization's 43rd annual banquet April 26 at the Butler Days Inn.

"I never expected this,"Werner said. "I feel so honored and privileged. There's so much tradition there. I can't help wondering if this is something I really deserve."

Werner played middle linebacker and fullback for Butler in 1979 and 1980. He received the Butler Cubs MVPAward in 1980 and was named the Tornado's player of the week six times that year by the Butler Tornado Club.

Butler was 8-2 that season and went to the WPIALplayoffs. Werner played middle linebacker despite standing only 5-foot-8 and weighing 220 pounds.

"I blitzed the hole and guessed right most of the time,"he said. "Our only conference loss that year was to North Hills and it's a game we should have won.

"Just running down that hill and taking the field before games is my favorite memory. We just wanted to win for the community."

Werner had been a catcher in baseball since Little League and played for Butler's section championship team of 1981. He was a power hitter who batted third in the lineup.

He was also named co-MVPof that baseball squad.

When it came to college, Werner narrowed his choices to Hiram (Ohio) College and Duquesne before deciding on the latter. He received a scholarship to play baseball and was offered the opportunity to play both sports at Duquesne.

He wound up lettering in football and baseball for four years in college, despite suffering a broken ankle during his freshman football campaign.

"I didn't have the size to play Division I football, but I enjoyed my college career,"Werner said. "My first football game as a freshman was against a powerful Carnegie Mellon University team at Three Rivers Stadium and we upset them."

Werner started at middle linebacker and fullback for Duquesne. When the Dukes' star running back, Pedro Bowman, went down with an injury one year, Werner was shifted to that position and he enjoyed 100-yard rushing efforts against Mercyhurst College and Bethany.

"It was a lot of fun playing both ways. When the game was over, I had to sit in the tub for a week, but it was worth it,"Werner said.

Werner's career college batting average was .373l and he hit a number of home runs in Atlantic 10 competition.

He was named Duquesne baseball MVPfor three successive years and received the university's Male Athlete of the Year award in 1985.

"We had a baseball game that day, so I couldn't attend the awards banquet," he said. "My parents were able to accept the Award for me and that meant a lot, because they were instrumental in everything I've done."

Werner wound up playing Eagle County League baseball with the Butler Yankees for 10 years and was named the league's MVPin 1983.

"I gave it up in 1994 because I had a son starting out in Little League and I wanted to be there for him, like my parents were for me,"Werner said.

<i>This is the fifth in a series of articles profiling the 2008 inductees into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame.</i>