22.02.12
I began and ended my working career on the high school football beat and I could never imagine better bookends. Starting at The Plain Dealer in 1964, I covered big games every Friday night, mostly in Greater Cleveland. We had bureaus in Lorain, Akron and Canton and we were respectful not to step on anybody's toes there, so I stayed close to home.
Forty years later I was flying around in the Fox 8 helicopter, covering games from one end of our viewing area to the other, as far away as Ashland, Warren, Canton and Massillon, which became a regular destination. I had the feeling that everybody in Stark County watched Fox 8 and the ratings seemed to confirm that. Stark County was very important to us.
I landed at classic high school football stadiums that I never would have seen otherwise, such as Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon, the most famous of them all. After covering Paul Brown's funeral in Massillon in August 1991, I drove from the church downtown to the stadium for my standup, where I ran into NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle and Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm. They got out of a long, black limousine and wandered inside through the main gate, which was open. They walked onto the field near the north end zone and looked up at the bleachers on both sides. I asked them about their visit.
Source: Plain Dealer