Winter Classic enters 25th year
Doug Betters sure has assembled a talented team of former and current NFL players for this year’s 25th Annual Whitefish Winter Classic.
The fundraiser to aid children with non-covered medical costs is bringing into town Pro Bowlers, former Super Bowl champions and several Montana Grizzly greats, including local standout Lex Hilliard.
The festivities for the four-day event kick off on Thursday at The Crush Wine Bar in Whitefish at 5:30 p.m. From there, a whole host of gatherings will take place throughout the weekend, including a NFL Play 60 Challenge at Whitefish High on Friday, a Gala gathering and auction at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake on Saturday, and a champagne brunch at Whitefish Lake Restaurant on Sunday. For full event listings, visit www.whitefishwinterclassic.org.
At front and center of this popular event is Betters, a Whitefish resident and former Pro Bowl defensive end who made his name in the 1970s and ’80s as a member of one of the NFL’s top defenses, known as the “Killer B’s” for the Miami Dolphins.
Betters, who spent three seasons at The University of Montana before playing 10 years as a professional, wound up back in Whitefish in the latter part of his playing days and made his permanent home there with his wife Jennifer. A year after winning the 1983 Defensive Player of the Year award, Betters started the Classic, which has become a very successful “labor of love.”
“It’s a nice legacy to have going,” he said recently. “You get the gratification of helping people and seeing some stories of the kids and families you’ve been able to help. The gratitude that they express is really heart warming.”
With over 100 volunteers helping make the annual event possible, the Classic has become a local mainstay that offers all ages a way to get involved and have fun.
“It’s a long, tedious process to put on a four-day event, but luckily there’s some great help,” Betters said.
This year’s team of Classic players includes local legend Lex Hilliard, who graduated from Flathead High and The University of Montana and made his NFL playing debut last season. Hilliard finished with 247 total yards and three touchdowns. Of that, 149 yards and two touchdowns came in the Dolphins’ final three regular-season games.
Along with Hilliard, former teammate and fellow Dolphin Dan Carpenter is joining the Classic this year. The Helena native was one of the most proficient kickers in the NFL last season and earned Pro Bowl honors in only his second year after making 25 of 28 field goals.
Other notable Montana names scheduled to be in attendance are new Griz head coach Robin Pflugrad and new assistant coach and former NFL starter Scott Gragg. Marc Mariani is enlisted this season after finishing up his UM tenure as one of the most successful wide receivers in Big Sky Conference history. A Havre native who walked on the team his freshman year, Mariani turned in school records with 2,840 receiving yards and 28 receiving touchdowns in four seasons and earned FCS All American honors as a senior.
Haloti Ngata, who graduated from Oregon, is returning this season after recently playing in his first Pro Bowl. Ngata, in his fourth NFL season at defensive end, recorded 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and 35 combined tackles last year for the Baltimore Ravens.
Current Seattle Seahawk lineman and Arizona State alum Grey Ruegamer could be bringing with him his two Super Bowl rings, which he won with the New England Patriots and then against his former team while playing for the New York Giants a few years later.
For more information on the Winter Classic, visit www.whitefishwinterclassic.org.