Remembering John Schroeder, 20 Years After 9/11

The first person TigerBlog saw when he walked into Jadwin Gym on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, was none other than John Mack.

At the time, John was working in the Department of Athletics a year after graduating from Princeton. Today, of course, he is the Ford Family Director of Athletics.

TigerBlog had just dropped his then-four-year-old son off at the nursery school on the other side of the parking lot, after he dropped his then-one-year-old daughter off at her babysitter. When he walked into the nursery school, the office manager told him that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. 

Actually, she said a "small plane" had hit the World Trade Center. TB remembers walking outside and looking up at the sky and thinking what so many others thought when the news first reached them: "How in the world did a plane hit the World Trade Center on this, the absolute most stunningly clear morning of all time?"

TB sat in his car and listened to the radio for a few minutes to try to hear if there was news about this. He had on "Imus In The Morning," and the crew there was as confused as anyone as to what kind of plane it was.

By the time TB got to Jadwin, the second plane had already hit the second tower. When TB came into Jadwin, none of it seemed real. 

Back then, the Office of Athletic Communications was on the mezzanine level of Jadwin. John worked then in the outer office of Room 1, down the hall. He walked down the hall and was standing by the stairway when TB walked by and asked him if he knew what was going on.

The rest of that day was spent looking for answers. There were no TVs in Jadwin Gym at the time, or computers that could stream the news. The only TV was in the Caldwell Fieldhouse training room, and that was a crowded place to be that Tuesday.

Now it's 20 years later. There is no Princeton student who is old enough to remember that day, and half of them weren't even born yet.

If you are old enough to remember, then each year Sept. 11 brings with it an eerie feeling, and all of those same emotions of that day come rushing back. 

For those who lost family members that day, those emotions never leave. If there was anything TigerBlog learned from the time he spent with Jack Schroeder, it's that the emotions never leave, even after 20 years.

Ever since Twitter came around, TigerBlog has tweeted out a photo of Jack's son John Schroeder on 9/11. John was a member of the 1992 Princeton men's lacrosse NCAA championship team, and he was 31 years old when he was killed in the North Tower.

For the 20th anniversary, TB decided to do a little more and write a story about John. He wanted to capture who John Schroeder was, and not just as a lacrosse player.

To do so, he drove out to Suffolk County to meet with Jack Schroeder. It turned out to be an extremely emotional few hours, as Jack talked about his late son and about the day that he died.

You can read the story HERE.

TigerBlog covered the teams that John Schroeder played on at Princeton. He was a starter his first two years, including an honorable mention All-Ivy selection sophomore year. He didn't play quite as much his final two years, but he made a huge play late in the fourth quarter of the NCAA championship game against Syracuse with a caused turnover that stopped a six-goal Orange run. Princeton won 10-9 in double overtime.

Schroeder – he was called "Stinky" by pretty everyone who knew him – worked in finance in New York after graduation. He also loved to have fun. TB has heard from a bunch of his former teammates, and they all confirm that.

One of TB's favorite stories that he learned about Schroeder was that a group of Princeton lacrosse alums once brought a football to the Baltimore Zoo and started playing an impromptu game of touch. Schroeder, at quarterback, called this play: Go deep, then hang a left at the House of Primates.

You can't help but laugh when you picture that. Then you can't help but cry when you realize that his life was cut so tragically short. As TB spent time with Jack Schroeder, they bounced back and forth between both ends of that spectrum.  

TB has written a lot of stories in his life. He hasn't written too many that were more emotional than this one. He can think of a one or two others and that's it.

John Schroeder was a big-hearted, fun-loving person who brought so much to the people who knew him. Now, 20 years after he's gone, that's still how they think of him, and make no mistake – they still think of him. In fact, they will never forget him.