By Brandon Thomas
Cornell Athletic Communications

ITHACA, N.Y. – Those enshrined in the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame took a variety of routes to achieve their respective greatness. But only one can say that his 50 years of unwavering support and indelible effect on generations of student-athletes all started with a menial task: Watch the door.
 
That was the initial arrangement in 1963 between legendary Cornell coach Ned Harkness and his new friend, Mike Teeter – stand by the door to the hockey team's locker room and keep unwanted visitors from crashing in. That simple task started an improbable Hall of Fame career for "Teets", as he would come to be known by generations of student-athletes, coaches and department staff.
 
Amandus "Mike" "Teets" Teeter passed away last week at the age of 93, in his longtime Ithaca home.
 
Teeter's passing leaves behind a vibrant conduit between the modern era of the men's hockey and men's lacrosse programs and some of the most celebrated eras.
 
"He was a fixture for decades, and he was respected and liked by so many players and coaches at Cornell over the years, but also at opposing rinks," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey. "He was a great friend and a tremendous family man. He always brought a smile to your face, even when things were tough. In his own way, he passed down many stories about the history of Cornell hockey and its tradition of excellence to the players over the years. He will be missed by all."
 
It didn't matter what titles he held with what sports, it was superseded by his unique presence. In other words, Teeter proved how tangible the right set of intangibles can be.
 
Born one of 14 surviving children, Teeter enrolled in the Army and ascended to the role of mess sergeant – a skill set he later tapped into with Cornell team barbecues. He was stationed in Japan post-World War II, then left active duty to return home and marry Grace Teeter, who would be his wife for nearly 67 years before her passing. Their son, Paul, said his father remained on reserve duty with the Army for at least 35 years while working full time as a maintenance engineer.
 
Paul Teeter was playing youth hockey during Harkness' first season on East Hill in 1963, when the elder Teeter took him to Lynah Rink for practice. He spotted Harkness and struck up a conversation.
 
"My dad was quite social, so they just started talking and really developed a friendship," Paul Teeter said. "My dad was a pretty big guy, and Ned told him people would come down to the end there by the (team's locker room) door, and they'd just walk in and out. So Ned wanted someone to stand by the door."
 
Little did they know it, but a piece of Cornell history was born. Harkness soon asked if Teeter would serve as a goal judge for hockey games, a post he would accept and retain for more than 40 years. His burgeoning friendship with Harkness led him to take on a similar presence with the men's lacrosse program.
 
Teeter became a team manager, of sorts, even without much technical knowledge of either sport. But his working-class roots and lifestyle, his crude humor (often attributed to his Army tenure), his pride in Cornell athletics, and his ability to say just the right thing at just the right time were the traits that endeared him to student-athletes and coaches alike.
 
For both programs, Teeter's most familiar post was right by the locker room door – thought not just standing guard. Even as he remained seated in a wheelchair in later years, Teeter regularly saw teams off into battle with one last fist pound and quick words of encouragement.
 
"We're lucky to compete at the highest level. But with that comes a lot of pressure and competition, so anxiety is high," said Jordan Stevens '15, a two-time All-American in lacrosse and now the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse. "To have someone there that's done it all and seen it all, that presence lets you take a deep breath and relax when you need it most. Sometimes that moment of levity is what you really need when you're as jacked up as you can be and you need to relax a little bit. Teets did that, and he did it with humor."
 
At the root of it all was that initial connection to Harkness, who enjoyed having a right-hand man.
 
Now in his 26th season as the athletic trainer for the men's hockey team, Ed Kelly's start with the program included rooming with Teeter on road trips. That provided Teeter ample time to regale Kelly of that almost brother-like friendship with Harkness. One of his favorites was a time that the two traveled to Ontario for one of Harkness' speaking engagements. Harkness intentionally stopped the car abruptly to make Teeter spill some of his grape soda all over his pressed white shirt, and then at the engagement falsely introduced Teeter as an assistant coach and recruiting director.
 
"So Teets, who had no idea about any of that stuff, was stuck the rest of the night talking with all of these people who wanted to discuss coaching and how to get their kids into Cornell – and he didn't know anything about that stuff," Kelly said. "Both he and Ned were characters, and they were cut from the same cloth."
 
Perhaps the key to Teeter's longevity was that he held a similar rapport and trust with the student-athletes, too.
 
"Even way back in the 70s, we had about six of the guys from the 1970 (hockey) team live in the apartments next to our house," Paul Teeter said. "My dad was close to Ned, but he shared that bond and open communication with the players, too. He never crossed over from talking about one to the other. He would offer support to the players and give advice, or whatever they needed."
 
That support included assistance in finding summer work in the area. Teeter helped several student-athletes into construction jobs – a fact that was candidly shared by Ken Dryden '69 at the 50th Anniversary Reunion of the 1967 NCAA Championship team four years ago.
 
"Ken shared the story about how he showed up on the first day in a pair of dress shoes," Paul said. "They had to find him a pair of army boots, or something."
 
Teeter remained a fixture at Cornell well after Harkness' departure for the National Hockey League ranks in 1970. Now ingrained in the community of those programs in particular, he carried similar roles with future coaches.
 
"He was always listed as the equipment guy, but he would essentially just hand out candy," Kelly said. "He always looked official on the bench with his fanny pack on – but really, all that was in there was bubble gum for the coaches and Skittles and stuff for the fans."
 
Whatever needed to be done, Teeter was entrusted to do it. He ran the game clock for men's lacrosse games at Lower Alumni Field before the team moved to Schoellkopf Field in 1973. He also became involved with the football program at that time, serving as the head of the chain gang at Cornell home football games. Teeter helped all three of the programs he touched by making handcrafted clocks and lamps, which were sold at the teams' auctions to benefit their individual budgets. In all, he was part of five national championship teams – three with men's lacrosse and two with men's hockey.
 
Teeter was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, at least in part because he befriended and served as a father figure to thousands of student-athletes. In 2017, he was also inducted into the ECAC Hall of Fame as part of the 1970 national championship hockey team.
 
"Mike volunteers his time and expertise to Cornell three seasons a year and has done so for more than 40 years," Harkness wrote in a recommendation to the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame Committee on April 27, 2005. "That's dedication, pure and simple. He has done so much for Cornell and asked for so little."
 
He 'asked for so little' because he was thrilled with what he already had. Any chance he had to talk to recent or current student-athletes, he was more than happy to field questions about what some of Cornell's greatest teams were like and share stories of that era.
 
"What he's done is really connect generations of players," Stevens said. "That was the most impactful part. It's transformational, connecting the program to all of those teams from the past."
 
Teeter often adorned his impressive collection of league and national championship rings on a chain that draped over his neck. It could be construed as boastful at times, but that voluminous pride was more genuine than excessive – all within a man that never attended nor was fully employed by Cornell. His Big Red pride was palpable even in his final weeks, when he accepted visitors as often as his health would allow.
 
"He had a Cornell lacrosse blanket on him, he had a Cornell hockey hat next to him and his Hall of Fame plaque nearby," said Stevens, one of those visitors. "Even in your last days, when you surround yourself with all those people and experiences that shaped your life, that was Teets. That, more than anything, said that he really lived this."