Far from the enemy, Pierce already has reclaimed some relevance for Palmer, now an assistant football coach for Haddon Heights (N.J.) High School.
As part of its media blitz to garner Pierce Heisman consideration, Temple yesterday launched a Web site, www.Pierce4Heisman.com. The intent is to tell the nation how special Pierce is, and to tout the sophomore running back as a serious Heisman candidate, which it does. But in doing so, it reminds those old enough to remember that Palmer was pretty special too, finishing second to Vinny Testaverde in the Heisman balloting in 1986.
And it informs those not as old - like the players he now coaches.
"These high school players are constantly looking for me on YouTube," Palmer was saying. "I can't even find anything."
Most of the stuff Palmer has from his days in the mid-1980s - before Pierce was born - comes from others. The famous comic book that hyped his Heisman candidacy. The rulers given out that included his gaudy statistics. But he has little footage of his runs, and only the memory of a billboard that once dwarfed the Schuylkill with his likeness.
"When you're young," Palmer said, "you think it's going to go on forever."
This time, Temple has purchased five billboards with Pierce's likeness, three stretching down I-95, two others strategically placed on the Schuylkill and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. "Hunt For The Heisman," a slogan coined by coach Al Golden himself, also adorns SEPTA buses and Pepsi trucks - all of it testing both the school's marketing budget and Pierce's humility.
The cost for each billboard, said Temple sports information director Larry Dougherty, was $10,000 to $14,000. The ads on the SEPTA buses were another $5,000. A giveaway magnet cost another 3G.
