degrees of seperation from the pros

[Crump]

I just thought about this thread due to a response @gerblack posted in the "3 favorite college teams" thread. He mentioned that he played HS ball with a guy that is a coach now. Was just wondering what others degrees of separation from a pro sports everyone was.

I won't bother using my link as a trainer for the ECU football team because that's sort of cheating, and honestly only spending a few weeks with them, its not like any of them would remember me anyways since i was just a white shirt rookie. ( i was there for Garrard and the great Larry Shannon, amongst others)

But anyways, this is one that would be very popular with the site, my degrees....

I played HS ball with a guy named Steven Marsh (a year behind me) who was on Tenns national championship squad and who survived the final rounds of preseason cuts for the Titans before bottom roster churning hit before week 1. Was a stud in the CFL and was getting looks for the pros before he shredded his knee.

The best part is, and what most fins fans will appreciate....his best friend to this day (I'm guess, haven't seen him in awhile) is none other than the perennial All-Pro Eddie Moore.

Of course a guy that was a year ahead of me played ball at NC State and went on to be one of the worst illegal boosters they had, getting quite a few of there players in trouble before finding himself in prison on medicare fraud

 

[DirkForever]

Possibly dead thread, but I spent 6 years with my friend Chris Dalman who had a few positions with the 49ers, most of it was Center. What a great dude. It was back long ago with Steve Young as his QB. To see him grow from a 220lb HS football player, to Stanford, and the Pro Ball was astonishing. He is now the athletic director at our old HS and he recruits talent. THAT man is amazing.

I take that back. He is now the president of our JR and HS. I feel worthless.

 

[mnphinfan]

I ran high school track against Jim Kleinsasser. When he was in high school he won the ND state high school meet all my himself. He placed first in the shotput, discuss and javelin, placed in the 100m and 200m open and ran relay legs on the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. I've ran into him a couple of times since then. Still a nice guy.

I played high school baseball against Darin Erstad.

I also got to know Travis Hafner pretty well. The winter after his rookie year I was bartending in Bismarck ND he would come into O'brian's, the Irish pub I bartended at. He'd basically just pony up to the bar and we'd BS until close while he wasn't fending off chicks. I may have picked up one or two of his strays along the way.

 

[Fins1971]

Racing go karts this year I have been in competition with Doug Cook in about a dozen races. Doug finished 1st in the entire country for Briggs & Stratton series (2400 drivers) and won the Masters class at G&J. Doug has been racing karts for 45 years and has multiple national championships in karting. One race I finished in 2nd place behind him in field of 17 karts. I felt like I won the race since he usually wins and the rest of us are racing for 2nd when he shows up.

 

[fishfanmiami]

Played high school football and baseball against Bucky Dent of Yankees fame
He was a hell of a running back for Hialeah HS

Set next to Hank Aaron on the Redeye back from LA if that counts

 

[Durango_95]

Deion Sanders and Kirby Puckett both used to live in my old neighborhood. Never saw Deion, but Kirby was in our nearby Publix a lot. He had a daughter (Catherine) who was close to my son's age.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I played high school football for Bay City in Texas in the early 80's with Hart Lee Dykes, Simon Fletcher and Joe DeLoach. Joe was the fastest human I've ever seen. He went on to beat Carl Lewis in the '88 Olympics and win a gold medal.

We ran wishbone back in them days - our receivers played from a 3 point stance. Something you obviously don't see anymore. Joe always looked like he was shot out of a cannon and was always behind the defense but we didn't have the QB with the arm to get him the ball that far downfield. I also played baseball with Hart Lee and basketball with a kid that was a few years younger than us at the time by the name of LaBradford Smith. He went on to play college basketball at Louisville and was a 1st round pick by Washington I believe.

Tracy Simien was also from Bay City but he played about 10 miles down the road at Sweeny. We beat their brains out too. I think we played Bert Emanuel's Langham team one year too but I can't remember.

We went 15-0 in 1983 and won 4A state championship and only gave up 68 points all season. None of us on defense were over 200 pounds but nobody was slower than 4.6 either. We beat Thurman Thomas' Willowridge team 42-0 in the quarterfinals that year. I'll always contend that '83 Bay City team was one of the best high school teams there ever was in the state of Texas.

When I got into coaching in the late 80's and early 90's I was on Dyer Carlisle's staff at Austin High School in Decatur, AL. He was my mentor. I learned a lot about football from him. He as the DC at Mississippi St. for a couple of years in the late 80's under Coach Felker.

Back in those days we used to be allowed to participate in David Cutcliffe's quarterback camps in Birmingham every summer. Back in those days you didn't have all the 7-on-7 camps you have now. I had the task of coaching a snotnosed 15 year old kid one day in B'ham by the name of Freddie Kitchens.

I've met a lot of great people through football - most of 'em people you've never heard of. There's so many knowledgeable football coaches that aren't known to the general public. But I'll never forget 'em.

 

[phinfann13]

I went to Navy Football Camp with Paul Posluszny one year. He was unstoppable.

 

[Sirspud]

No stars, but I ran track with Glenn Martinez who had some games as a special teamer and reserve wide receiver with the Lions and Broncos. He returned a punt for a TD. Fast dude, but not very big and the last guy you'd expect from our football team to make the NFL.

My high schools star was our running back Chauncey Davis who bulked up to be a DE with FSU and started for the Falcons and got a second contract with the Bears. He was a big dude but not bulky so surprising to see him fet big enough to play DE...though he lacked rb speed at college or pro level.