http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
Sunday night's Pairings Party for today's fifth annual Andre Reed Celebrity Golf Classic was a lively, festive, fun-loving good time.
But toward the latter part of the evening, Andre took the podium to make a special announcement.
"Several months ago, I lost a very special person," he said. "Al Leonzi was my coach, a friend, a father figure to me. He was such a giving guy. He's up there [in heaven] with my dad [Calvin] right now. Let me tell you, come Aug. 2, there's going to some tears shed because Al, George Baldwin [another former Kutztown head coach] were all like my dad. They talked to me like they were my dad. I did whatever I could for them.
"We're dedicating this year's tournament to Al Leonzi and George Baldwin, and of course, we dedicate it to my father every year."
At the same time, Reed also asked for everyone to send a few more prayers for Jim Kelly, Reed's quarterback with the Buffalo Bills and a Hall of Famer, who is battling sinus cancer.
"He's battling and fighting it and everybody knows what he's going through," Reed said. "I wouldn't be in the Hall of Fame without that guy. He's 'Kelly tough' and that family has been like my second family.
"So as you're having fun, say a few prayers for Jim because he could use it. I don't want to be somber, but when you talk about these special people, you're talking about my family."
Eric Dickerson (seen being interviewed by me above on the right) was one of the many celebrity golfers who attended the Pairings Party along with fellow Hall of Famer Carl Eller, and several of Reed's Bills teammates including Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Pete Metzlaars and Darryl Talley.
All of the people I talked to, including former Liberty High and Penn State standout Mike Hartenstine, couldn't have been nicer.
As a Rams fan, one of the more special moments for me, was getting to chat with Leroy Irvin, who had a great career as a defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1980s. He was an outstanding player on a good team that was overshadowed by the 49ers in that division. That's me and Leroy, old No. 47, below.
We talked about how the Rams could have used a quarterback to beat Hartenstine and the much-talked 1985 Chicago Bears in the NFC title game.
Even Hartenstine, a proud member of that famous defensive front, said that we knew the quarterback [Dieter Brock] couldn't beat us. "So we concentrated on stopping Eric Dickerson," he said.
They did, 24-0.
As bad as that was, the Bears crushed the Patriots by a much larger margin in the Super Bowl.
There were a lot of memories shared at the Sands and they will be today at Lehigh Country Club where the tournament will unfold.
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