Bucket List day, Chuck Ealey…Check

By Don Radebaugh — I’m not one to line up football stars on my wall at home…I take my heroes seriously. In fact there’s only one who would ever make it to my “wall of fame”. If there ever was a ‘bucket list’ day in my world, it happened to me yesterday. I met, in my opinion, the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. But that’s only part of his story…it’s the great dignity, integrity and gracious class of Chuck Ealey that jumps out the most. And he officially proved it to me. Sealed the deal. Contract signed and delivered.

Ealey, if you didn’t already know, is the only human in history to go undefeated as a quarterback — 35-0 — over his entire college career. Today, that would be a hot ticket to the NFL. Unfortunately, Ealey received no draft picks in 1972 out of 442 cast. Whether Ealey was not drafted because he is black remains an open question. At any rate he went to the Canadian Football League (CFL) where he led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to victory in the Grey Cup in his first season. No surprise there, or here. The Grey Cup is Canada’s version of the Super Bowl, by the way.

When I was a mere boy of 9, 10 and 11, I would plaster either ear to my transistor radio and listen to WSPD’s Jerry Keil call the live play-by-play action of University of Toledo (UT) football games. And that’s where and when I came to know about Chuck Ealey. It was so exciting. He never lost. He either pummeled his opponents, which was usually the case, or he pulled it out in the final minutes or seconds. It was pure magic. And he belonged to our very own hometown Rockets. He was, for so many, a gigantic source of local pride.

Then came the NFL draft…17 rounds, 442 draft picks. Not one for Chuck Ealey…not one. We couldn’t fathom that, or even imagine it. Nor could we accept it, until Chuck Ealey did…then we had no choice. If the NFL didn’t want him, Canada had no issues and came calling immediately. Ealey did not raise a stir in the media. He just, with great dignity, integrity and class — there are those words again — picked up his things and quietly moved north of the border, and the rest is history.

Through the years, my interest in Ealey only got bigger. I learned that after his seven years in the CFL, he and his wife — his UT sweetheart — settled in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario and started a family. He became a successful financial adviser. His amazing record, still intact nearly 50 years later, and his inspiring story that followed, continued to intrigue me. For years, I tried to figure out how I’d arrange a meeting with Mr. Ealey…not to monopolize his time, but simply to shake his hand and get him to sign my picture that would go up on the wall. I knew that Ealey traveled to UT with some level of regularity. It seemed doable; but for whatever reason our paths just never crossed. I found myself waiting around after the games to see if I could find him hanging around. No luck.

Then it dawned on me. “Hey…wait a minute…I’m now a part-time teacher at the University of Toledo,” I reminded myself. So I reached out to an appropriate source and pleaded my case. I assured my source that I would not be that guy who monopolized Ealey’s time…just a signature and a handshake and I’ll go away. He immediately got back with me and handed off Mr. Ealey’s email address. I had to stare at it for just a little while…I was taken back that I actually had his email address. Anyway, I immediately crafted a carefully-worded email to Chuck Ealey.

“Mr. Ealey…Please pardon the cold call. My name is Don Radebaugh and I teach at the University of Toledo, my alma mater. For the longest time, I’ve wanted to meet you, shake your hand and have you sign a poster/picture. I’m going to the Homecoming game this Saturday at the Glass Bowl and if it would be possible to meet — before, during or after — for just a couple minutes I’d be grateful. I won’t take much of your time at all.”

I also let him know that I wrote a feature story on him and sent the link inside the email in case he had time to check it out. And of course you never know how these cold calls are going to go; I had no idea if he’d even read the email, much less reply. It couldn’t have been more than an hour when Mr. Ealey’s email return came to me.

“Let’s meet at the alumni pavilion at 11:30,” answered Ealey. “Dan will be there and will be able to connect us.”

I mean…are you kiddin’ me? “That sounds great,” I answered. “I’ll be there, and thanks so much for the return…much appreciated.” Tried to play it cool but I was beaming way beyond those aforementioned words.

I got to the Pavilion an hour ahead of time. I wasn’t going to mess this one up. I had been trying to meet Chuck Ealey for decades. For whatever reason, these moments are difficult for me. Would he actually show? It was nerve-wracking. I peered through the fence into the Pavilion area and searched for Ealey. If he was there, he wouldn’t be hard to spot. But I didn’t see him, so I started with the beer guy just inside the Pavilion.

“Excuse me…do you know if Chuck Ealey is here?” “I have no idea,” the young man answered. As it turned out, he had no idea who Chuck Ealey was/is. Don’t worry…I told him all about Chuck Ealey. Then I walked up to the entrance and there was a very nice gentleman there to greet me, as he so graciously did for all the alumni guests who marched through the gate.

“Very nice to meet you. Do you know if Chuck Ealey is here?”

“I haven’t seen him,” he said. “Do you need to get in touch with him? Want me to text him?” This guy was exceptionally kind and seemed to understand my plight, without really knowing it.

I said, “No sir…don’t do that, but he did say he’d meet me here at 11:30.”

Then came the words I had longed to hear. “If Chuck said he’ll be here at 11:30, then he’ll be here at 11:30.” End of story…actually it was only the beginning.

I thought to myself…wow. He really is the guy I imagined him to be. It only gets better.

Now I’m feeling some sense of relief, but still nervous to meet my childhood, and adulthood hero. It was a beautiful day. It was homecoming and the Pavilion was absolutely packed so I waited just outside the main entrance, scouring every human coming and going as best as I could.

It was now 11:25. I don’t mean to add all this drama, but my heart was pounding…it just was. I looked to the right, then glanced back to the left. Out of nowhere, there he was…the classic bigger-than-life grin shining back at me. “Was he looking at me?” I wondered. “How could he even know who I am?” As it turned out, the nice guy at the main gate got to him first and must have told him I was waiting for him. I immediately sliced my way through the crowd. It was a real moment for me. I don’t really know, but it seemed like the crowd parted just for the occasion…a sign from the universe which conspired to make it all happen. I was now, finally, face to face with Chuck Ealey, his lovely wife standing alongside. We shook hands and made our introductions. There’s no mistaking standing next to Chuck Ealey…he needed no introduction, but politely did it anyway.

Then he blew my mind. He reached inside a plastic bag he was holding and pulled out a book. “Here…I brought you something,” Ealey said to me. “Are you kidding me?” I thought to myself…an ‘el Marko’ on my poster and a handshake would have been more than enough.

“This is a book that my daughter wrote,” he said. “She signed it and so did I.”

Holy Toledo…I was about ready to cry. Thank God I didn’t do that. That would have been embarrassing. Grown man crying…come on Don…keep it together. I wanted him to know that I wrote a story about him. “Yes, I know…I read it,” he said. That was yet another big moment for me…they were just piling up. Then I gathered my senses and unraveled my poster for him to sign, addressing it to me. Then I unraveled another poster for him to sign, addressed to a family who shared my admiration for this wonderful man. By now I knew he had other obligations to meet and started to wrap up the meeting as I promised I would. It was already way more than I could have imagined. As we were saying goodbye, thank God, it came to me at the last possible second. You know how those moments are…you’re sort of outside yourself watching, and it’s easy to forget something crucial.

“Can I take a picture with you before you go?” “Of course,” he said. His wife took the shot. “Take two,” I said. “Just in case.” She took three. Then Ealey said to me, “Check your phone…make sure you got it.”

Then other people starting pouring in. As Ealey greeted them, his wife, as gracious as can be, engaged me and asked me questions about myself, keeping me comfortable through the very end. Mr. Ealey wrapped his handshakes up with the others, and turned to me and shook my hand one more time. I thanked him every way I could. He smiled, patted me on the shoulder and scurried off with his wife. And just like that, he was gone. But not before he sealed the deal…signed and delivered.

Thank you Mr. Ealey, for everything. I’ve already been to the frame shop. My wall of fame will soon gain another hero, joining the likes of Abraham Lincoln. As you can see, I don’t take heroes lightly…I only go after the best.

PS: Your daughter is an exceptional writer…I loved the book and learned so much.

#GoRockets
#Sweet16

For the complete Chuck Ealey feature story, click here.

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