Sports Talk “60″

Being a member of the sports media has its perks. Locker room access, press box, standing on the field during practice, but Tuesday afternoon I had a unique experience.
Sports Talk 60 has just acquired a new sponsor; Kickers Entertainment Complex in Livonia, an establishment run by two brothers who were football kickers. I stopped in there today to pick up some giveaways and was introduced to Pete Stoyanovich.

A true football fan will know this name. He was a local boy (Crestwood H.S. in Dearborn Heights, MI) who made it to the NFL and never forgot where his roots were. He is busy running a business in the same area that he grew up in; in fact, our conversation took place in his office at Kickers/Joeys Comedy Club in Livonia.
My first impression was, why is he retired? He looks like he could still kick. We talked about his career. He was acclaimed as Indiana University’s best two sport athlete, and finished his career at Indiana with numerous school and Big Ten records as a kicker. Pete was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1989 and played in the NFL until 2000 and is considered one of the most accurate NFL kickers during those years.
I have always been accused of drinking the lions “kool-aid”, but they are my team. My other team has always been the Dolphins, and here I was chatting with their kicker from 1989-1995. He still holds the record for the longest field goal of 59 yards on November, 12th 1989 against the Jets. He also booted a 58 yarder against the K.C. Chiefs in 1991. In 1996 he was traded to the Chiefs and then retired in 2000 with the rams. 13 seasons of kicking a pigskin through the uprights. In 9 seasons he scored over 100 points . In 1992 he had a record 124 for his career, that is some respectable kicking.
We talked about his college days, the draft, playing for Coach Shula and with Marino and other greats such as Warner, Moon, Faulk, and Gonzalez. In no time I had taken up about an hour of his time and this man just let me ask anything I wanted.
This was truly a memorable event for me. I usually get to spend five minutes with the players that we cover. When they come on the show we get them for as much time as we need, but that’s work. Today this was just two guys talking football, no clock ticking, no commercial break, no ego. I was truly honored that Mr. Stoyanovich shared stories with me that I will be telling the guys on our Florida trip. The only thing I didn’t have the gall to ask him was, “if he had been a QB or defensive end… what would his place be called then?
Thanks Pete, for reminding me of why I love talking about sports.