A Dick Vermeil Story You Likely Have Not Heard

I don’t often write about myself when it comes to my career. But it’s so incredible to me that someone who graduated from East Stroudsburg High School in Pennsylvania in 1977 has been able to do what I have done for roughly 40 years.

But six years out of high school, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a living. I had worked in restaurants and retail and was working at a popular resort in the Poconos named Shawnee on the Delaware. The place was one of the forerunners of time sharing and hosted many big events in the Poconos. One such event was the hosting of the Pennsylvania Special Olympics in 1984.

In November of 1983, I decided that I wanted to take advantage of my love for the game of football. I started penning a newsletter for the resort making predictions and previewing games. It was printed for the local bar (known as Charlie’s Place). I thought it would get me started. And lo and behold, there came a publication called Tempo Magazine. It was based in Scranton Pennsylvania. And the office was not run by Michael Scott.

I had been in contact with the publication and vice versa. The subject was the only living member of the “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame,” Jim Crowley. But nothing had been set.

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Back to the Special Olympics. There supporting the event was former Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Dick Vermeil. He had stepped away from the NFL after the 1982 season citing “burnout.”

I’m not sure what made me so bold that day. I introduced myself to Coach Vermeil and asked him if he would be interested in doing an interview at some time. He not only said yes but invited me to his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Well, I don’t think I could have driven any faster to get home to call Tempo Magazine. I told them about the opportunity and they agreed they would publish the piece. They would also take the Crowley story. So from nothing to two pieces, just like that.

As it turned out, a major snowstorm would keep me stuck on a highway and I wasn’t able to interview Crowley in person. But I would make the trip to Bryn Mawr and Vermeil couldn’t have been kinder and more accessible. Those two pieces, along with my newsletter, began opening doors for me in the profession. I didn’t receive any money for that work but that was not important.

Other doors would open and I finally had the semblance of a resume. It caught the attention of Howie Schwab, the editor of College and Pro Football Newsweekly in Long Island. My middle sister Gina drove me there in the summer of 1987 (I was terrified of bridges).

And I would get the job. I worked with men of quality such as Peter Hayes, Steve Kurtzman, Mike Leber and Craig Ellenport. They were keys to a life-changing time in my life.

In 1989 came a freelance gig with ESPN thanks to Howie, Bob Rauscher, and the late Frank Ross. I would spend more than two decades there. At the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990, I met Chris Berman and Tom Jackson (both of who I had interviewed previously for pieces) for the first time. And my Sunday afternoons would never be the same.

I’m still doing that football thing. I am currently back in Canton, Ohio, this time for the 2022 ceremonies. I have quite a seat in the press box and are listening to these amazing speeches. And one of the eight new members being enshrined is coach Dick Vermeil. I did see him roughly 20 years ago at a charity event. And if I am fortunate, I will get to cross paths with him once again. And this time, I have quite a story to tell him.