Last weekend’s Super Bowl LI was a thrill ride for anyone who held hand over mouth as the New England Patriots galloped ahead in the fourth quarter of the best show in football to snatch the championship from the Atlanta Falcons’ grip.
While the loss burned a hole in the hearts of Falcons fans around the world, it had an extra bit of bite for Cochranite Dan Tocher, whose best friend happens to be Falcons’ general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
“We were very, very disappointed in the outcome, but we’re also extremely proud that the team was there,” said Tocher, who attended the championship match in Dallas, Texas, with his two teenage sons, Jack and DJ. “We had an opportunity after the game to spend some time with Tom and (head coach) Dan Quinn – they were holding up better than we were.
“They’re going to be back next year … We’re all trying to get past it and move on.”
While Atlanta’s late-game loss might be the most jagged edge of their football journeys so far, it’s not the first time Tocher and Dimitroff have experienced the joys and heartaches of the game together, given they’ve been buddies since they were 14 years old.
The two met in Guelph, Ontario, went to high school together, then both played on the University of Guelph Gryphons. Dimitroff moved into football operations after college as a scout for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and bounced around Europe before landing with the Cleveland Browns organization on the ground crew.
He eventually moved to the United States and worked his way through scouting positions with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, and spent six seasons staking out talent for the New England Patriots before making the move to the Falcons in 2008.
“He started out picking up jock straps at the Cleveland Browns training facility,” said Tocher with a laugh. “He really worked his way up.”
Tocher is no slouch himself – the former high school quarterback and record-setting receiver for the University of Guelph Gryphons was inducted into school’s Hall of Fame two years ago. Injury eventually forced him from the gridiron, but he continued to help out with youth teams in Okotoks and the University of Calgary Dinos.
Tocher has even stood on the sidelines with the Cochrane High School Cobras, where his sons are valued members of the provincial championship team.
Through it all, he and Dimitroff have stayed friends – bonding over a brotherly love of the ball.
“We’ve basically grown up together through the good times and bad times and all the other stuff that life brings,” said Tocher. “We’ve always maintained a close relationship, regardless of distance. We make that a priority.”
That commitment to friendship is what drove the Cochrane family to Texas to support “Uncle Tommy” and his team last Sunday in their first Super Bowl run since 1999.
Tocher said despite the couldn’t-have-scripted-it outcome, “the whole weekend was phenomenal” for him and his boys, who took in pre-game events from field level and stayed at the same hotel with NFL players and coaching staff and their families.
“It was an incredible experience. We had a great time,” said Tocher. “(The boys) feel very, very fortunate – they let me know that … they both just feel so lucky.”
