Post by CrimsonPhantom on Apr 20, 2012 8:34:35 GMT -7
Memories stirred of a trip to New York
By Jack Nixon
Kenny Turner, Taveon Rogers and Jonte Green are Aggies who have been mentioned as having professional career potential.
The annual National Football League college player draft reminded me of my role in the college player draft in 1984, when I worked in the USFL.
I had been on the Oklahoma Outlaws staff for 10 days when I was told I was going to New York as the Outlaws’ representative. I had aced my first assignment with the team by successfully driving players to and from the airport in Tulsa for tryout camps.
I arrived in the Big Apple the day before the draft and immediately took a cab to Rodney Dangerfield’s nightclub.
The show was great and cost me all of the advance money the team gave me. My bosses back in Tulsa gave me a hard time over it, but how often was I going to be in New York on someone else’s money?
The draft itself was in the ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel, which was where they filmed Michael Douglas’s “greed is good” speech in “Wall Street.” I was on the phone to the Outlaws general manager, Bruce Kebric, writing down names on a 3-by-5 card every 40 minutes or so.
This went on throughout the day, and as I was getting drowsy in mid-afternoon, a buzz filled the room. I turned around and saw one of my journalistic heroes, Howard Cosell, in the back of the room. Cosell was taller than I would have guessed, about 6-3 or 6-4. He was walking with Carl Petersen, who was running the Philadelphia USFL franchise and would later take over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Outlaws didn’t have another choice for a half hour so I turned around to get a better look at the man who made Monday Night Football a national pasttime.
As he walked my way, I wondered what the most opinionated man in sports thought of the new league. I didn’t have to wonder for very long. He sat down in front of me, turned around and said, “Young man, I want to speak to Sid Gillman, if you please.”
Gillman had built the Chargers franchise from scratch in 1960 and was our general manager. I tried unsuccessfully to act nonchalant and asked Kebric to get Gillman ASAP. He replied, “Does Rodney Dangerfield want to talk to him?”
I explained who did and handed the phone to Cosell as Gillman picked up. Gillman and Cosell were old friends and Cosell finished his chat before our next pick.
I don’t know how it will turn out for this year’s draft class, but seeing Rodney Dangerfield and meeting Howard Cosell within 48 hours made my draft dreams come true in 1984.
From the Las Cruces Bulletin
By Jack Nixon
Kenny Turner, Taveon Rogers and Jonte Green are Aggies who have been mentioned as having professional career potential.
The annual National Football League college player draft reminded me of my role in the college player draft in 1984, when I worked in the USFL.
I had been on the Oklahoma Outlaws staff for 10 days when I was told I was going to New York as the Outlaws’ representative. I had aced my first assignment with the team by successfully driving players to and from the airport in Tulsa for tryout camps.
I arrived in the Big Apple the day before the draft and immediately took a cab to Rodney Dangerfield’s nightclub.
The show was great and cost me all of the advance money the team gave me. My bosses back in Tulsa gave me a hard time over it, but how often was I going to be in New York on someone else’s money?
The draft itself was in the ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel, which was where they filmed Michael Douglas’s “greed is good” speech in “Wall Street.” I was on the phone to the Outlaws general manager, Bruce Kebric, writing down names on a 3-by-5 card every 40 minutes or so.
This went on throughout the day, and as I was getting drowsy in mid-afternoon, a buzz filled the room. I turned around and saw one of my journalistic heroes, Howard Cosell, in the back of the room. Cosell was taller than I would have guessed, about 6-3 or 6-4. He was walking with Carl Petersen, who was running the Philadelphia USFL franchise and would later take over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Outlaws didn’t have another choice for a half hour so I turned around to get a better look at the man who made Monday Night Football a national pasttime.
As he walked my way, I wondered what the most opinionated man in sports thought of the new league. I didn’t have to wonder for very long. He sat down in front of me, turned around and said, “Young man, I want to speak to Sid Gillman, if you please.”
Gillman had built the Chargers franchise from scratch in 1960 and was our general manager. I tried unsuccessfully to act nonchalant and asked Kebric to get Gillman ASAP. He replied, “Does Rodney Dangerfield want to talk to him?”
I explained who did and handed the phone to Cosell as Gillman picked up. Gillman and Cosell were old friends and Cosell finished his chat before our next pick.
I don’t know how it will turn out for this year’s draft class, but seeing Rodney Dangerfield and meeting Howard Cosell within 48 hours made my draft dreams come true in 1984.
From the Las Cruces Bulletin