Saw Bellino & Huarte in the Patriots locker room at Fenway..

Not sure what year it was, but probably 1966. Curt Gowdy, Jr. was a neighborhood friend, and he invited me to go to the Pats vs. Jets game being played at Fenway Park. Curt Sr. was announcing the game for NBC (he was the AFL’s lead sportscaster...former Red Sox announcer...and did the Olympics & American Sportsman) and he was interviewing some players in the locker room. So Jr. and I were let into the locker room before the game.

We sat down next to Bobby Dee (DE) who was a great guy and very friendly to us 14 year old kids. Then Jim Nance (FB...if anybody can remember that position) sat down next to us...what a huge guy...the Star of the team...the biggest ass I ever saw in my life.

Then I look off to the side and my biggest thrill was seeing John Huarte walk by, and along came Joe Bellino (who I met years earlier at a Book signing at Jordan Marsh in Framingham). My dad was a ND grad and my oldest brother was a sophomore at ND. So Huarte was a “god” to me...and I had to go and later watch Namath play the Pats. I think that Namath got the highest draft bonus of $400K from the Jets and Huarte got $200K also from the Jets. As a kid, I never liked Namath due to the Huarte ND/Ara vs. Namath Bama/Bear debate...Good vs. Evil...the civil rights issues of the time probably made the demonization of everything Alabama easier. Those were the days when the NFL and AFL competed for talent prior to the merger. I was an AFL lean due to the Pats, and forgave Namath, when he won Super Bowl III.