“There was a lot of commentary on ESPN about Orlando Pace and myself,” Roque said. “He was going to be a Hall of Famer, in hindsight, there really was no comparison. Fans took to it about the ‘pancake block’ and ASU said, ‘Well, Roque makes tortilla blocks, and they’re flatter than pancakes.”
Tammaro said Roque became the media’s darling for embracing his Hispanic origins and speaking with the media in Spanish.
As the name grew, so did the student section’s affinity for tortillas. It was at the USC vs. ASU game when the team was 6-0 that the students took the next step — bringing tortillas into the stadium and frisbee throwing them onto the field.
“At first, I had no idea what it was," Roque said. "I thought it was some kids throwing tortillas. Then it was on campus that one of the original throwers … asked me, ‘Hey did you like the tortillas on the field?’ I said, 'Yeah, it was pretty funny.’ He said, 'Those were thrown for you, dude.’”
At first, there were only three to five kids throwing the food, but within three weeks, at Roque’s final home game, Tammaro said there were around 30 students repeatedly tortilla-tossing.
After Roque graduated, the tradition held strong for 13 years.
“For a while people didn’t really notice that they were throwing them or they weren’t hitting the field," Tammaro said. "Basically, those things can fly. Then he graduates and people keep throwing them."
Nice, that was worth the read. I feel like this story needs to be told more, I didn't know about it & I'm glad I asked!
