He was a part of five teams over the span of seven years in the National Football League. Neil Graff, a graduate of Sioux Falls Lincoln and the University of Wisconsin, is one of just two quarterbacks born in South Dakota to ever play in a regular season NFL game.
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He's a member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, our guest Neil Graff of Sioux Falls. And Neil, before we talk about that time at Wisconsin and the NFL, you were a part of the very first class to open Sioux Falls Lincoln, back in 1965. What was it like opening a brand new high school?
Well. Yeah, that's correct Craig and thanks for having me, it's always fun to talk about the good old days and relive some of those memories. So it's a pleasure to visit with and talk about the past a littler bit, but yes, I'm Sioux Falls native. I grew up on the east side of Sioux Falls and went to Whittier Middle School. And as you said, I was fortunate, I guess you could say to be in the first class of Lincoln High School, they started in the fall of 1965, brand new high school. And I remember that first year football that fall of 1965 Lincoln High School, the actual physical building was not completed yet. So we had to do split shifts at Washington High School. Washington students went in the morning from 7:00 to 1:00, Lincoln went from 1:00 to 4:00 or 5:00. And then I remember football practices, the field at Lincoln wasn't finished yet. So we had football down at Drake Spring swimming pool.
We dressed in the bathing at the bathhouse there, showered. And we had to walk across the street to the ice skating rink. Some of the older people remember there was a ice skating rink right across from the old swimming pool. That's where we practiced. So our initial fall football season there was just a lot of hoop law involved and not a lot of continuity, but I had the good fortune of playing, I started as a sophomore at Lincoln and so got a lot of experience. And then as we transitioned into the basketball season, we had to practice at Patrick Henry Middle School for the first part of the season. And then I think it was about January of '66, where we were able to start playing our basketball games at Lincoln. Lincoln was much completed. So it was kind of a strange initial year at Lincoln, but a lot of fun.
No playoffs back in the '60s when it comes to football in South Dakota. But you led Lincoln to that mythical title as a junior. What was football like as a junior then for the Patriots?
Well, it was kind of a strange situation because when Lincoln started, the people at Washington, we didn't have open enrollment then. So if you were in the Lincoln District, you had to go to Lincoln. If you were in the Washington District, you had to go to Washington. But the students at Washington who were in the Lincoln District, they had the option of either finishing their high school career at Washington, or they could come over to Lincoln. So the athletes at Washington, the guys who were the kind of the second and third stringers at Washington, they opted to come over to Lincoln and finish out their high school career because they thought they'd be able to play over there. I had Lincoln where they weren't going to be able to play a Washington because they were like second or third string.
So we got the so called for lack of a better term the second stringers or the leftovers from Washington that came over to Lincoln, so our sophomore year, we had a respectable year. I don't know we were three and five or three and six. We won a few games, but my junior year, we had a great senior class that year. And we still had some of the Washington leftovers there that were still playing and we had a great senior class. So we ended up winning the Mythical at that time, as you mentioned, there weren't playoffs. It was the Mythical State Champions. The state champion was voted by the sports writers of South Dakota. So we were in our second year of operation, we were the state football champions and that would've been 1967 which was quite a feat for a new school, with all of the confusion and all of the hoop law that was going on there. So that was quite a feat.
So I was fortunate to be selected as the Allstate quarterback that year. Part of that was, I mean based on performance and leading the team to the championship, so it was a great honor and just a great team accomplishment and I was proud of my individual accomplishment. So it was just a great time there at Lincoln.
Was it air Graff or was it a lot of running too? I mean, we didn't have the spread offense yet back in the '60s.
It was a lot of running, I think back on those days and I played football in the fall and then basketball in the winter, and then I did baseball in the summer. I never practiced football, I never practiced basketball, I never practiced baseball, I played whatever sport was in season. So I never had anybody teach me how to be a quarterback, how to throw a football. It was just all came naturally or just based on my athletic ability. So we never had any quarterback coaches or anything at Lincoln. In fact, I actually liked basketball a lot better than football. That was my sport was basketball.
And I only went out for football because all my friends were going out and I wanted to hang out with my friends. So I went out for football and as many times what happens, especially in youth sports, the good athlete gets put at quarterback, because he can run and pass and do all those types of things. And that's what got me the quarterback job at Lincoln and then had some success and again, just that natural ability, just rose to the forefront and we ended up having some great success there.
There was another South Dakotan to get into the NFL about that same time. And that was John Dutton of Rapid City Central. Did you ever get a chance to meet John on the playing field?
Well, I didn't, he was a couple years younger than me and we never met head to head. Yeah, he was quite a defensive lineman. I'm sure I would've met him, probably face to face if we would've met on the field, but what's kind interesting about that time period Craig is that prior to that mid to late '60s, '66, '78, you could count on one hand the number of division athletes that had come to come out of South Dakota. South Dakota, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, all Eastern South Dakota. We were not on the radar screen of the division one college coaches, football, basketball, baseball. And the year that I graduated in 1968, both myself and Del Larry Jacobson from O'Gorman, we went to Division 1 schools. He went to Nebraska, went to Wisconsin and Al Nisen, who was a basketball player at Miller, great basketball player he went Division 1 Basketball, same year, 1968. There were three guys out of South Dakota went Division 1.
The following year, George Amundson from Aberdeen went Division 1 to Iowa State and then another year or so later, John Dutton went to Nebraska on Division 1. So that era, from '68 to '70 or '71, we had more Division 1 athletes out of South Dakota than we'd had probably in the history of South Dakota. So that time period was, was great. I mean, there was some really great athletes that came out of South Dakota during that short time period.
You chose Wisconsin though to pull a college football, why?
Well, it's interesting. Again, I was hoping or thinking that I might have a future in basketball. I was all stayed in basketball two years and actually I got a number of Division I Basketball scholarship. So when I look back, I wonder why I chose football rather than basketball, but back then when the recruiters were recruiting high school athletes, they never recruited you until after your season was over. Now they're recruiting athletes one to two years before they graduate, but back then, it wasn't until after you graduated that's when the recruiters came around. So when I got done playing my senior year in football, the recruiter started coming around. It's a unique story how I think I got on the Division 1 radar screen, but anyway, I got offers from, oh, I don't know 75 or 100 schools.
And at that time, the Big Ten was the premier football conference and basketball too. They the SCC wasn't real prevalent then, the Big 12 was just starting to gain traction. And the Pac-10 was pretty good, but the Big Ten was the premier conference. And I'd always dreamed about playing football in the Big Ten and I got recruited by Minnesota was my favorite Minnesota recruited me, but not real heavily and Iowa. And I actually signed a letter of intent to go to Iowa State, but then at the last minute changed my mind and went to Wisconsin. But the reason I chose Wisconsin was Wisconsin really impressed me. They had a network of alumni, Wisconsin alumni from all over the country. And when they were really recruiting an athlete heavily, they would ask the alumni from all over the country to send letters of encouragement to the respective recruit.
So after my football season, I bet I got 200 letters from Wisconsin alumni all over the country saying, We meaning the person who was writing the letter, "We had a great experience at Wisconsin and we loved it and we hope you'll go to Wisconsin, we know you'd like it." And that really impressed me when I got these letters, I'd get five or 10 letters every day from these Wisconsin alumni. And that really impressed me. And I had never sat on the bench as an athlete, football, basketball, baseball, I had always played. I'd never sat on the bench. And I didn't like the prospects of possibly sitting on the bench and I looked at Wisconsin's quarterback situation. And I thought there was a good opportunity to start there as a sophomore back then freshmen weren't eligible to play. The thought was that freshmen needed a year to transition to college.
So I thought there was a good chance to play as a sophomore. So the fact that I knew I'd get a good education there. And the thought that there was a decent chance I could start as a sophomore. I didn't want to sit on the bench and to play in the premier conference of the country. That was the allure that got me to finally go to Wisconsin.
You started as a sophomore, as quarterback for Wisconsin, you started 33 straight games. What was the transition like though as a sophomore playing at Howard Wood Field in high school to Camp Randall in Madison?
Yeah. It was quite a transition and I'm out of the fact, when I look back that I did start 33 games, in fact, in those 33 games, I never missed an offensive snap. So I was pretty durable. And again, when you're going through that, you don't really think about it. But when I look back, and I know how vulnerable a quarterback can be, I'm proud of the fact that I never missed a snap, but I remember the first game I came out of the tunnel at Camp Randall field in Madison, and there's 85,000 people there. And they're all in red. And I'm thinking at the time, that was about the population of Sioux Falls at that time. And I remember thinking I'd never been used to playing more than before, maybe 1,000 or 2,000 people at Howard Wood Field when we play Washington or O'Gorman.
And I remember thinking, this is like the whole city of Sioux Falls watching me, and obviously was very nervous. Our first game was against Oklahoma who at that time, I think they ended up being in the top 10 of the country. They were really good. And I remember my first pass, my hands were just trembling under the center thinking, oh God, just don't let me fumble the ball, don't let me look like a fool out here before all these people. And I went back to pass and I think I threw the ball about 10 yards over the guy's head because the adrenaline that was just flowing freely and I settle down after that and we lost the game, but it was a good game but we lost by seven points or something but we played well.
And then from then on I got more comfortable, but it was a big transition going. I'll share this with you. I remember going to Wisconsin and wondering, was I going to be able to make it there? Could I make it? And I remember the first, when I went as a freshman, I didn't even unpack my bags for the first month or so, because I didn't know if I was going to be there, if I could make it, but I'll tell you, and I think the people of South Dakota and the surrounding area would be interested to know that at that time I came together with guys from all over the country, other football players people from Texas and New Jersey and Florida and Chicago area and California.
And I realized at that time that we played a really good quality of football in South Dakota, and not only did we have as good of facilities in Sioux Falls in South Dakota as these guys from the big cities, but we had as good or better coaching abilities and good coaches that really prepared their athletes for future success. So I was really proud to realize that my background in Sioux Falls was as good as anybody's in the country in terms of preparing me for success at Wisconsin. But even with that, it was a big transition. I mean, the guys I played with at Wisconsin and all of the big 10 competition, my first year at Madison as a sophomore, our first three games were Oklahoma, UCLA and Syracuse before we even got into the Big Ten season.
So it was great. It was really big time competition, but I had to rise to the occasion and each game I got better, better, and felt more comfortable. But it was a transition, but part of being successful is being able to make that transition. And as I said, rise to the occasion. So again, as I look back, I think I did that reasonably successfully.
As a junior, you led the Big Ten in passing, as a senior for Wisconsin, you were all Big Ten. So your name certainly was out there, come the NFL draft in 1972, you were picked by the Vikings and it was the 16th round. Of course they don't go that deep anymore. What was Draft Day like for you back in 72?
Well. Actually, it disappointed because after my senior year, I played in a couple of the all-star games they have, I played in the blue gray game and the East-West game. And that's where a lot the scouts really get to see you in person. They come down to those games and they watch your practice. And I had a pretty good week of practices there. I didn't play real well in the games itself. I remember you're only in for a short period of time because they've got several quarterbacks and stuff that they're trying to get playing time and I didn't play very well, but I was hoping that I would've gotten drafted higher, but it was in the later rounds and football fans might know that.
And it's a proven fact that if you're drafted after about the third round or about the fourth round, the odds of making it in the NFL are very small of now they have like seven or eight rounds in the draft and then they sign a lot of free agents where back in my day, they'd have more draft rounds and then they'd have fewer free agents, but the odds of a 16th round draft choice making it in the NFL are pretty small. But I was drafted by Minnesota, which was great because I'd grown up a Viking fan, went to the first Viking game preseason game in Sioux Falls in about what was that? 64 or 65, Fran Tarkenton was a rookie then. So it was a great honor to be drafted by the Vikings.
And I worked really hard. I worked, I remember that summer leading up to that first year with the Vikings, I worked really hard and long story short, I was able to hang on and make the Vikings. And that was great. Fran Tarkenton and Bob Lee and myself were the three quarterbacks. And I learned an awful lot that year. Fran Tarkenton was great in terms of, taken me under his wing and showing me the ropes and answering any questions that I had. So he was a great mentor, I guess you could say. And I learned an awful lot, but the draft, as I mentioned, I was hoping to be drafted earlier. So I remember that Draft Day as the draft wore on and I wasn't drafted, I was very disappointed but ultimately glad to be drafted. And of course by the Vikings, it was just a blessing that I was in the right place at the right time. And I butt the odds of a 16th round draft choice, making it and particularly making it with the Vikings, it was just a real honor and pleasure to be in that spot.
What happened in 1973?
Well. In '73, the Vikings drafted in the fourth round another quarterback, Mike Wells out of Illinois, another big tenor. And as I mentioned the first three or four rounds of drafted rounds in the NFL, there's pretty high probability that they will make it. And so that year Mike Wells got drafted and we battled for that third quarterback position. And he won, he beat me out or I'm not sure that he beat me out, but because of his fourth round draft choice, I think the Vikings, they saw some potential there and being such a higher draft choice, they wanted to keep him on the team to see if he might fulfill his potential. So actually 1973, after I was with the team right up until the last cut, and then I got cut the last cut and it was too late to catch on with any other team at that time. So I actually sat out the 1973 season and then signed in 1974 with the New England Patriots. And Jim Plunkett was the quarterback at that time. So actually- '73 I had sat out. Another Hall of Famer, Tarkenton a Hall of Famer, Plunkett Hall of Famer based on his two Super Bowl victories with the Oakland Raiders.
Did you have an agent at that time that you dealt with dealing with going from Minnesota to New England?
I did. And at that time agents were just starting to be the thing, they are the person in between the teams and the players. And so I did have an agent and his name was Lowell Morris. He was out of San Francisco and he had been an agent or he was an agent with several of the Vikings and that's how I got introduced to him. So it was nice to have someone out there lobbying or out there looking for opportunities and visiting with the NFL, the different team, general managers and stuff. So it was something that I wasn't familiar with that process and I'm not sure how good I would've been, trying to intercede from myself. So it was easier to have someone else like that, like the agent would do that. And so it was nice to have someone in that capacity working for you.
So you got Jim Plunkett with you at New England, Chuck Fairbanks, I think is the coach what was that experience like those two years in New England?
Well, I mean, it was a great learning experience. And you might recall, I mentioned that my first game as a sophomore at Wisconsin was against Oklahoma and Chuck Fairbanks was the coach of Oklahoma at that time. So he knew me, he was familiar with me. So when I signed with New England, Jim Plunkett was the quarter and he was the Heisman Trophy winner out of Stanford. I mean, I knew at least initially that there wasn't probably a real good chance that I would unseat him, but I was still in the early part of my career and wanting to get experience and hoping for that opportunity for that break. And so I made the Patriot squad and backed up Jim Plunkett for two years.
When you talk about opportunities, my second year with New England, the last pre-season game of the year, Jim Plunkett got injured and he was going to be out for at least a couple games. And so I was scheduled to start the first game of the year for the Patriots. And then I thought this is my big break. I want to make sure I prepare myself and do well. And this could be the stepping stone that I've been looking for. I'm going to get at least a couple starts here at New England. And then in 1975, the NFL went on strike, wouldn't you know from a timing perspective, the players were negotiating a new contract with the loaners and they weren't able to come together. So the players, the players' association, the players' union called for a strike. So it was the first, I don't know two or three weeks of the year, we were on strike and we didn't play the games.
So those were the games, those were the two or three games that I was scheduled to start. And so my opportunity to showcase my talents went by the wayside. So when the players came back and the games resumed, Plunkett was healthy and he started playing again. So many things I think in football or sports, as well as life timing can be everything. And in this case, by the timing did not work in my favor in terms of the strike and the opportunity I had. But but nonetheless the time in New England was extremely valuable in terms of experience.
Well, opportunity came knocking again, I think in 1976 the expansion draft is the new Seattle Seahawks to join the NFL. And you were drafted by Seattle and this young kid called Jim Zorn was also there. But after the preseason, you got traded after that. What was that experience was Seattle like?
Yeah, well when a new team comes into the league, Tampa and Seattle came into the league in '76, and when a new team comes in, they get to pick three or four players off of every team's roster that is in the NFL. So I got chosen by Seattle. Jack Patera was the coach of Seattle, and he was a former assistant coach at Minnesota when I was there. So he again knew me, knew of my talents and everything. So he selected me from New England. Jim Zorn was the other quarterback. So we battled like mad. I started the first game ever for the Seattle Seahawks quarterback in the Old Kingdom. And we battled during the preseason. And Jim Zorn won the job and I was the backup quarterback. And then after the second game of the year Terry Bradshaw at Pittsburgh got injured. And long story short, I got traded from Seattle to Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh may have seen something in you huh? They trade for you.
Well. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, and I didn't have any real experience with Pittsburgh. I mean, I don't remember ever playing there, but obviously the coaches are looking at films and all of that. And at that time they thought I was the best quarterback of available to come into Pittsburgh and play if I had to. So they traded for me. And you remember at that time, 1976, they had won two Super Bowls at that time. So I was coming into a talent laden team. This is Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Mean Joe Green, Jack Lambert. I mean, arguably the best team ever in football. Of the 22 starters with the Steelers 11 on offense and 11 defense, they've got 11 guys in the Hall of Fame. There's no other team that could be in that conversation for best team ever. The Montana 49ers, the Staubach Aikman Cowboys, or the McMahon Bears of '85, nobody has anywhere near that number of Hall of Famers. So the Steelers had some tremendous athletes during that time period, but it I went in there, I was really worried about whether they would accept me, there are these guys, two straight Super Bowls but they were so nice and down to earth and they accepted me coming in, in mid season, but after the second game of the year, but then they were really encouraging and really nice. So that was a tremendous experience though, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Rooney family who owns the Steelers.
You were there for two years with the Steelers overall what was Terry Bradshaw like with you and backing up another Hall of Fame.
Yeah. Another Hall of Famer. At that time I was single, single my whole playing career and Terry Bradshaw was single at that time. Jack Lambert was single Lynn Swann was single. So we used to hang out a lot because we didn't have any families or anything. But Terry Bradshaw was a great guy. I mean, he's just like he portrays himself to be on TV. I mean, he is that good old country boy image, just down home guy, fun loving. I always tell people that if you're going to have a party, you'd like Terry Bradshaw there because he's naturally the life of the party. He just likes to hammer it up and have fun. And so he was really fun to be around and got some great stories about him. Probably don't have time to talk about him today, but sometime we should do a little visit about some of the stories, Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, and Jack Lambert, you'd appreciate some of those things.
Just the mighty Steelers. And you got to be a part of that at that at that point in time.
Yeah. Like I said, maybe the best team ever. And it was just a privilege to be a part of that a part of that heritage and the legends that they've created.
Well, because of the Hall of Famer and Bradshaw, you really didn't get a heck of a lot of playing time though, did you?
No, I didn't, not only was he very talented, but he was just I mean, strong hardy guy. I mean, he just didn't get injured. And if he did get nicked up a little bit, I mean, he didn't want to ever leave the playing field. He loved to be out there. And I remember a couple times where the average guy would've been on the sidelines, but he didn't want to be on this. He was a tough, tough guy and he would persevere and do anything to be out there on the field. So I didn't get much playing time there, but again, just a privilege to be a part of that team.
One last thing on the Steelers, of course, Mike Webster was the center for the Steelers. Was he with you at Wisconsin?
Yeah. He was a Badger he's from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. And he was my center at Wisconsin. And of course, Mike Webster Hall of Famer with the Steelers a stalwart I think he played like 19 years or something like that in the NFL and people who have seen the movie Concussion, all of the dementia issues that are now plaguing some of the old NFL guys Mike Webster had severe dementia and ended up basically dying at a young age because of the dementia issues and a sad story. But Mike Webster was the center piece of the movie Concussion I'd encourage any football fan to see that movie if they can. Is really is interesting. And it's about Mike Webster and a couple of the other guys that are older players that have had of dementia in the NFL, but it's a great view. And Mike was just such an integral part of the success that the Steelers had. It was for me to reunite with him, with the Steelers.
Well, one last opportunity for you in the NFL after the Steelers, it was 1978 and the Packers come a calling, they got Bobby Douglas and David Whitehurst. Did you think at that point in time that that was your last opportunity to try to get something going in the NFL?
Well, I did, while I was playing football during the off season, I went back to Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, and I got my master's degree in financing in MBA. So I was starting to prepare myself for life after football. I mean, I guess I was smart enough to know that football wasn't going to last forever. And I had to prepare myself for, I call it the real world where the football world was a fantasy world, but I had to prepare myself for the real world. And I started to realize that maybe my destiny was to be a journeyman quarterback. And then not there's anything wrong with that, but I mentioned, I had never been used to sitting on the bench, so my time as a backup quarterback, it really wore on me psychologically because I wanted to play, that was my DNA as an athlete was to play.
And I hadn't gotten that much playing time in, but I started to realize that maybe that was my destiny. So I realized with Green Bay at that time, and by the way, Barch Star was the coach then. So he was my boyhood idol and, early '60s where Green Bay won their championships with Paul Horning and Jim Taylor and all those guys. But it was a pleasure to play with him. So I was with Green Bay and unfortunately in the pre-season, one of the games that I was playing, I really hurt my knee really badly, really tore it up. And I hung on with Green Bay that year for the first two or three games. I mean, I was on the squad. I made the team basically.
But my knee continued to bother me and it got worse and worse. And I realized after about the third game of the year, that I couldn't do the things that I needed to do in terms of mobility. I couldn't run very well anymore because of my knee and you need your legs under you to be a good passer. You're going to have a good foundation. And with one of my knees bothering me, I just didn't have that good foundation. So I basically retired. I went on the injured reserve list because of my knee. So I was basically on the team, but injured reserve for that year. And then I realized my knee was just was not going to make it. So I retired after that year.
What's going through your mind at the time you're going to retire knowing that you've been playing football every year since witty or middle school, through high school, four years at Wisconsin. And then those years in the NFL, was there some really emotional times coming for you at that time?
You bet, there really was Craig, and it still is a part of me to date. It was a really hard transition because football was such a huge part of my life. I mean, my life was centered around football. As you said, ever since I was 12, 13 years old at Whittier Middle School. So it was really hard transitioning back into the real world. But fortunately, as I said, I had prepared myself from business perspective. So many players, I think have the same issues or problems transitioning, but they don't have anything to fall back on. Many of them haven't finished college, or if they have finished college, they're not sure what they want to do with their life. And it takes, them a long time to figure that out, but fortunately I had thought about that and worked through that.
So it was a little bit easier for me because I knew what I wanted to do and I had the work ethic and the motivation to do it. But it's interesting every late summer in July and August when training camp would normally start, I get emotion or kind of I get worked up because I'm used to, I keep thinking about going back to training camp every year and getting ready for the season. And it still is that way today, every time late in the summer, July, August, when I hear training camps start starting, I get pumped up and the adrenaline starts flowing. And so again, it's just part of my DNA, is it because it was so ingrained in my being, my psyche, my being that it still is that way today after many years of being absent from the NFL.
Last one for you, Neil, and it's pretty interesting. You didn't spend a lot of time in Seattle, but they had an award named after you in Seattle, the Graffy, do they still do that?
They do. The Graffy is an award that Seattle Seahawk fan club. When I was at Seattle and then I left, the head of the fan club, and it was consensus of the fan club that they wish Neil Graff was still there. And I appreciate, I love the fact that they feel that way. They wish that I was still there. They didn't want to see me leave and that's great. And they decided to create an award for me, or based on my name or my presence. And it's awarded to the most under underappreciated player, meaning the guy who contributed to the success of the Seahawks, but didn't really get the recognition. So some very notable people have got it, Trent Dilfer, Mack Strong. So they still award that. And so it's neat that that my name so to speak is living on through the Graffy, the Neil Graff award or the shorter name is called the Graffy. So it's fun to have that there even though I had a pretty short tenure in Seattle.
What piece of memorabilia, whether it's high school, college, or something from the NFL, do you still have and cherish the most?
Well, that's interesting. You say that of course, I've got some autograph balls from all the teams, the New England, the Vikings and the Steelers, and it's fun every once in a while, I look at the balls and see the names. And when I see the names, it brings back lots of good memories. And maybe I guess the statue limitations is out on this, but I remember my last year or second year in Pittsburgh after the season was over, my locker, the lockers were positioned according to alphabet. So my locker was right next to Franco Harris, G Graff, H Harris.
So Franco was right next to me. So I remember I went in the day after the season was over. I was going to clean out my locker because I was headed back to Madison, Wisconsin, and I remember Franco had a pair of his artificial turf shoes there. And then in the bottom of the shoe, they had written his number, number 32. So they knew who shoes they were. So I again, not a good thing to confess. I took a pair of his shoes. And I said, I think the statue limitations is always over now after all these years, but I've got a pair of Franco Harris' shoes with number 32 in it. And I've actually got those in my closet. And I just like to look at them every once in a while, because again, it brings back a lot of good memories. So that's what my most cherish memorabilia items.
Last one, this is the last one. You are in the financial industry and you talked about how you prepared for the financial industry after football, but how did athletics prepare you for life after football in the financial industry?
Well, I mean, I think football, maybe sports in general, but particularly football, I think provides a person, a guy, or in some cases, a girl, with valuable life lessons. I mean, as I look back in my playing days, I mean, the ability to set goals, both as an individual and as part of a team and work toward those goals, the teamwork, I mean, knowing that you as an individual have some talents, but there's a lot of synergism that's created with teamwork. The old synergism, the old two plus two equals five. When we work together as a team, we can achieve more than the individual parts of that team. So the teamwork aspect, the motivation, the ability to set goals and work toward those goals.
I mean, I think those are applicable not only to my job in the financial services industry, but life in general. I mean, we all, no matter what profession we're in, we all have goals. We all need to be working towards something, but we have to be able to have a plan and to be able to work together, whether it's with our family or our fellow employees, or our neighbors or whoever it might be, we have to be able to work together. And that I think are some of the valuable lessons that football taught me, that enabled me to be successful, not only in football, but in life after football.
