plenzmd1 Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 Hey all, Richard Deitsch had a twitter question today about the first professional athlete you met, and where you met them. Mine was meeting Tom Dempsey at a sports banquet at the Niagara Falls Ramada Inn..maybe 71 or 72...and he was receiving some kind of sports award that always seemed to be presented in Buffalo. I cannot for the life of me remember what that award was!!! does anyone else recollect this or am i just going crazy?
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 PFWA George Halas Award Presented in 1972 Banquet was in Niagara Falls as Larry Felser had just been elected PFWA president 6
leh-nerd skin-erd Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 19 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: Hey all, Richard Deitsch had a twitter question today about the first professional athlete you met, and where you met them. Mine was meeting Tom Dempsey at a sports banquet at the Niagara Falls Ramada Inn..maybe 71 or 72...and he was receiving some kind of sports award that always seemed to be presented in Buffalo. I cannot for the life of me remember what that award was!!! does anyone else recollect this or am i just going crazy? I almost met Dempsey at a craft fair. I waited my turn in line but he ended up leaving suddenly. I got close...within half a foot or so. 1 6
plenzmd1 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Posted May 28, 2020 31 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said: PFWA George Halas Award Presented in 1972 Banquet was in Niagara Falls as Larry Felser had just been elected PFWA president How in the hell did you know this? 1
plenzmd1 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Posted May 28, 2020 23 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said: I almost met Dempsey at a craft fair. I waited my turn in line but he ended up leaving suddenly. I got close...within half a foot or so. Still hate the dude for missing that gimme against the Dolphins in 79 1 1 1
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 (edited) I’ve bumped into Mike Shanahan at a Target in VA. I bumped onto Pete Rose in DelRay Beach at Hugh Jorgans a couple of times. Edited May 28, 2020 by SlimShady'sSpaceForce
Prospector Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I met Shaq, Jonathan Ogden, Michael Jordan, Robert Horry(spell check), Roger Craig, Donte Witner(with James Hardy), Steven Jackson, Floyd Mayweather(many times), Jimmy Johnson, Dana White, Tito Ortiz, Sam Bradford, Jason Hanson and Jenna Jameson all within my first couple years at my initial job in Vegas... but the first big time athlete I met was Mike Eruzione when I was a little kid at some Victors Awards thing in Vegas. I believe Stan Musial said hello also. 1
SC BIlls Fan Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 Ernie Warlic TE. His home was about 5 min (by foot) from where I grew up. Also met O.J. 2
Wagon Circler Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 Daryle Lamonica at Ahavas Achim Synagogue Sports Night maybe 1965? There were about 100 people there. He told the following limerick: "There was a young man named Lamonica, who attended a church out in Wanakah. He turned sort of bluish, when he found the church jewish, when the members all yelled "Happy Chanukah!". Funny the things that stick in your head forever. 1
ExWNYer Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 (edited) For me, it was Bills DE Earl Edwards. He was making an appearance in the mid 1970s at the Firestone on Niagara Falls Blvd. My dad was the store manager there at the time and brought my sister & brother (both younger than me) and me down to the store that night to meet a real Buffalo Bills player! He loaded the three of us into the car in our pajamas and took us down to the store where Earl indulged all of our questions and asked us about ourselves, as well. He was very accommodating even though he probably would have preferred to have been anywhere other than there and I'm sure he wasn't making much for that appearance but we were all thrilled to meet him. I think we were the only five people in the entire store. It's amazing what a lasting impression, either good or bad, that an athlete can have on a young kid. To this day, Earl Edwards is one of my all-time favorite Bills players. My dad passed away last November and I will always cherish this lifetime Bills memory that he created for his three kids. Thanks for this thread @plenzmd1 Side note: Dad was a pretty good golfer back in the day (shot in the 70s and low 80s) and played with Bills DL Jeff Yeates (Cardinal O'Hara High School, Tonawanda) on a few occasions. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to meet Jeff. He wasn't one of the better known Bills at the time (4th Round draft pick in 1973) and had a more memorable career with the Falcons but I was bummed when the Bills waived him and Atlanta claimed him as he was a local kid. Below is an interesting podcast with him talking about his playing days. It starts off with him discussing his time in Buffalo and there is also a cool personal story relating to this at the end of the interview around the 30:00 mark. He was good friends with Joe DeLamielleure. Edited May 28, 2020 by ExWNYer 4 1
Nanker Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I walked past Chris Farley on Broadway near 50th and we nodded to each other. He wasn’t a Bill, but couple probably have been able to take a few snaps on the OL. 1
BigdaddyinOrlando Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 No Bills in that time, but met Dave Winfield, Larry playfair, Billy Martin, The Mauler and a couple others I can’t remember from a Columbus Nights banquet my dad took me to. Remember thinking how y’all Winfield was and how bent Playfairs nose was!! A lot of fun and got pictures with them all.
maryland-bills-fan Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 Back in 1973? we were in South Carolina and went to see a Bills game in Atlanta. After the game was over, my wife and I were hanging around watching the last players going off the field and were near a black family with a couple of older women. Robert James (who was an all pro CB) brought OJ over to introduce him to his family. We got all excited and were jumping up and down at getting close to those guys. One of the ladies, identified herself as Jame's aunt(?) and I got all excited and told her that James was an all-pro and she was happy we knew that. "Gaming" it a little, I got all excited to my wife about "here comes Robert James" and " oh there's OJ too" . I think I made her day. OJ was polite to all the introductions and paid respect to the family. James got a knee imjury some time soon after that and never came back from it.
VirginiaMike Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I met and got Ed Kranepool's autograph when he played for the Bisons in 1963. 1
PaBills Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I met Marv Levy about 15 years ago at the visitor center in Williamsburg, Va and met Howard Cossell back in the early 70's. He was in a parade that I was at.
scuba guy Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I met the Bermuda triangle at the buffalo airport. Let's see how many of you know who they are no google Funny thing is 2 days later we were eating dinner next to them ( boy could they eat) Fs looked at me and said good things come in small packages
oldmanfan Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 I’ve brought this up in other threads, but back in the 60’s most if the guys had jobs in the off-season. The guys that stayed in Buffalo would play charity basketball games, and each year they’d play the faculty at Cardinal O’Hara. My dad was always asked to ref the game and he’s take me with him. So I’d get to hang out in the locker room with guys like Lamonica, Stew Barber, Paul Costa, Al Bemiller. Think Butch Byrd was there. And Ernie Warlick - HUGE hands. For an 8 year old kid it was pretty cool. 2 minutes ago, scuba guy said: I met the Bermuda triangle at the buffalo airport. Let's see how many of you know who they are no google Funny thing is 2 days later we were eating dinner next to them ( boy could they eat) Fs looked at me and said good things come in small packages Shane Nelson, Jim Haslett, Fred Smerlas
buffalostu2 Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 Wow, looks off the rails a bit so I will bring it back to Bills related at least. Even though I have no idea of the event or the award I did meet two significant Bills when I was just a boy (only 47 now). I met Reggie Mckenzie jogging around the ECC track on the Williamsville campus when I was in grade school. He was jogging on a cinder track that was absolutely awful but stopped to talk with us and was very nice even in the middle of a jog. Jim Braxton was also a little league coach in my Joe McCarthy Little League. He was an all star coach of mine and I remember one game that we were all bouncing around like 11 year olds do before a game and he made us sit down and watch him eat. Three or four whoppers engulfed in an instant. He was a good coach and a good dad to Bubba and Justin. He passed way too early and I heard OJ was there to take care of the kids financially when his blocking back passed away at an early age.
Tenhigh Posted May 28, 2020 Posted May 28, 2020 51 minutes ago, Nanker said: I walked past Chris Farley on Broadway near 50th and we nodded to each other. He wasn’t a Bill, but couple probably have been able to take a few snaps on the OL. Ha! I literally ran into Dan Akroyd while I was on rollerblades. He would have been a special teamer.
Recommended Posts