Cal Football: Pat Micco, Who Blocked For Joe Roth and Chuck Muncie, Dies After Illness

Three-year football letterman also played rugby for the Golden Bears

Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Pat Micco, who played guard on the Cal offensive line that helped propel quarterback Joe Roth and running back Chuck Muncie to stardom in the mid-1970s, died on Tuesday.

Micco, who lived in El Dorado Hills, lost a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 67.

He lettered at Cal in 1972, ’74 and ’75, helping the Golden Bears to an 8-3 record and Pac-8 Conference co-title as a senior. Cal, ranked 14th in the nation under coach Mike White, led the nation in total offense in 1975.

Micco also played four seasons of rugby for Cal, serving as team captain in 1976.

Pat Micco

Micco's son Kelly paid tribute to his dad with these words on Facebook:

Our dad is, was and always will be our hero and best friend. He was the toughest SOB we knew but still a big teddy bear with an even bigger heart.

Kelly Micco said family was always most important to his dad. He is survived by Leslie, his wife of 40 years, along with a son and daughter and four grandchildren.

He would do anything for us. He was at every game, match or meet as either our coach or #1 supporter - he wouldn’t miss a thing! His commitment and devotion as a husband and father inspired us and shaped us into the adults we are today. We hope to be for our families just a fraction of what he was for us. Dad, we will miss you every day but have comfort knowing you will be watching over us. We love you!!

Cal rugby coach Jack Clark, who came to the university a year after Micco, also offered a tribute on his Facebook page.

"We lost Pat Micco, a great Golden Bear,” Clark wrote on Facebook. “A big, tough, smart and honorable Cal man. We offer the Micco family our deepest condolences."

Former Cal linebacker/defensive end Dallas Hickman played football and rugby with Micco. In a phone interview, Hickman called him “a sweet man, a gentle giant.”

“The best thing that someone can say when it comes to a legacy is he was a good teammate. That is so simply put but has so much content,” said Hickman, who played six NFL seasons after his time at Cal.

Here is Clark's Facebook photo display honoring Micco:

"Rest in peace, friend," former Cal football player Eric Swanson wrote on Facebook. "One of the toughest guys I've played with and against -- coupled with a peaceful and gentle spirit. You'll be missed Pat. You made a difference."

Micco grew up in Contra Costa County and played at Concord’s Mt. Diablo High School, which inducted him into its athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. With both the Red Devils and Bears, Micco played alongside Joe DeRosa, a starting tackle.

Sadly, Roth, Muncie, DeRosa and now Micco all have passed away.

Micco, who was inducted into the Mt. Diablo High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017, donates an annual $500 Micco Collegiate Scholarship Award, given to a foster child or the son or daughter of an immigrant, according to Lou Adamo, co-president of the organization.

Services will be private, the family said.

Others also paid tribute to Micco on social media:

Here is Micco (62), lined up at right guard, as Joe Roth prepares to take a snap:

.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.