twenty years later, the old qb still has it
Vinny Testaverde is again throwing passes in the NFL, and even won a game for the Carolina Panthers. I guess he needs the money - he bought the highest-priced home purchase in Hillsborough County this year. I met Vinny once. Almost twenty years ago.
It was on a St. Patrick’s Day, somewhere between 1988 or 1990. Buccaneers quarterback Testaverde was holding a fundraiser for some non-profit or another - maybe the Boys and Girls Club. I was a big fan of the Bucs then - a season ticket holder, and scored a couple of tickets to the event held at Stinger’s nightclub on North Dale Mabry.
At that time, the Buccaneers were simply horrible (think Ray Perkins, Richard Williamson), so Testaverde asked a number of other NFL quarterbacks to show up at the club to give partygoers a reason to drop some dough for the kids. My girlfriend at the time was from Buffalo, and Rosie thought she would enjoy meeting Jim Kelly, but he was a dick. Dan Marino was a bit nicer, and Testaverde was real friendly.
After taking a look at the items up for silent auction and mingling with VIPs and NSVIPs, we sat down at the bar nearest the entrance, and ordered a couple of beers. Halfway into those, Joe Namath walked into Stinger’s, and immediately sat down next to Rosie and said hello. He was on the wagon at the time, and asked the bartender for an O’Doul’s and began to talk to us about all sorts of things. Now this was a very friendly guy.
By the time I bought him his second O’Doul’s, a number of people had recognized him, and he was being surrounded by a bunch of Tampa hotties. One of the girls asked him why he wasn’t wearing green for St. Patrick’s Day, and he responded that his green was in his pocket. That’s when he pulled out his championship ring from the Jets Super Bowl win in 1969.
He eventually handed the ring to me so I could take a better look, and all this time, I was sort of awed because I was holding the championship ring of a hall-of-fame quarterback who guaranteed (and backed up) a Super Bowl III win against the Colts twenty years previous. Being a fan of the late 80’s Buccaneers, I had never even considered being close to anything related to any Super Bowl. I slipped the ring on my finger. It was heavy, and way too big for my skinny fingers. Of course, Joe was busy talking to all the girls.
Tags: tampa
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October 17th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
That’s an awesome story
October 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I concur. Vinny and Broadway have great reputations. Kelly sux.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I thought Jim Kelly was very sweet when in town for the SuperBowl of…what was it…1991?
But I suppose it helps if you have Irish eyes and a winning smile and a Buffalo Bills “Talkin’ Proud” button from when you lived there in the early 80s.
Or maybe just the Irish eyes…