In The Front Row Podcast

Oliver Luck grew up in Cleveland playing basketball, baseball and football. After a standout career as quarterback at St. Ignatius High School, Luck attended West Virginia playing for Hall of Fame coaches Frank Cignetti Sr. and Don Nehlen. A three-year starter for the Mountaineers, Luck set several school records before the Houston Oilers drafted him 44th overall in 1982. Luck played alongside Arc...

Mike Quick grew up in the small town on Hamlet, NC as the youngest of 9 kids raised by his mom, Mary. Quick played multiple sports at Richmond Senor HS before attending Fork Union Academy in Virginia. He would go on to play football at NC State from 1978-81 before the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him 20th overall in 1982.  During his 9 years with the Eagles, Quick became the favorite targ...

Tom House was born in Seattle, spent time in Portland, OR and went to high school in California.  From there, the lefty would play for USC and legendary head coach Rod Dedeaux.  The Cubs drafted House in 1965, but following his mom’s wishes he remained in school and did not sign. House was drafted again in 1967 and this time signed with the Atlanta Braves where he would debut in 1971 and...

Eruzione grew up in Winthrop, MA surrounded by his Italian American family playing baseball, football and hockey. After excelling in high school and prep school, Eruzione wanted to play all three sports at the University of New Hampshire and enrolled at Merrimack College before fate intervened and sent him to Boston University. Playing most of his career for Jack Parker, Eruzione would become...

Walter Jones grew up in Aliceville, AL raised by his mom and seven siblings. He was introduced to football as a child and started to excel in high school. Grades forced Jones to spend two years at Holmes Community College in Mississippi before he transferred to Florida State. Playing for the legendary Bobby Bowden, Jones would be an All-ACC performer despite not being a regular starter.  Forg...

Cedric Maxwell was born in Kinston, NC and spent his early years there before moving to Hawaii for a time. He eventually returned to Kinston where he would become a standout basketball player in high school. Staying in NC, Maxwell attended the University North Carolina at Charlotte and in 1976 led the 49ers to the NIT finals where he was named MVP despite losing in the championship. In 1977, Maxwe...

Jesse Cole grew up in Massachusetts and fell in love with baseball thanks to his dad. Recruited by Boston College and Northeastern to play baseball, Cole went south to Wofford College in South Carolina where he had an opportunity to be a two-way player. An injury his senior season, would deny Cole a chance at pro ball, but it would change his path forever. A short stint as a coach in the Cape Cod...

Marinaro was born in New York City before moving to New Jersey where he was a high school standout in both basketball and football. Basketball coaches "Lefty" Driesell and Bob Knight recruited Marinaro, but football is what took him to Cornell. A three-time All-American with the Big Red in the Ivy League, Marinaro rushed for almost 5000 career yards and finished second to Auburn's Pat Sullivan for...

Growing up in Indiana, Montross quickly fell in love with basketball, the sport synonymous with the state. He led Lawrence North High School to the state championship in the tournament made famous by the movie "Hoosiers". A 1990 McDonald's All American, Montross was highly recruited by many Big 10 coaches including Bob Knight at Indiana, Gene Keady at Purdue and Bill Frieder at Michigan where Eric...

Csonka was raised on a farm outside Akron, OH.  He joined the football team in the 7th grade, but soon quit because he didn’t like getting hit.  A coach re-introduced Larry to the sport when he got in trouble and Larry eventually learned how to play the game.  Csonka began playing on the defensive side of the ball at Stow High School in the early 1960s before a chance encounter set...

Growing up in Connecticut, Freeney excelled in all sports he played including basketball and baseball.  At 6-1, his size led him to football where he set records as a defensive end at Bloomfield High School. It was in high school where he developed his spin move which helped him collect 37 sacks in his career and got him noticed by college coaches.  After a visit to Syracuse, it was obvi...

Nixon was born in Durham, NC, but moved to Wilmington, NC at a very early age. It was in the Port City that Nixon played multiple sports but concentrated on football and baseball when he attended New Hanover High School. In football, Nixon played for the late Joe Miller and broke several records held at the time by NFL greats Sonny Jurgensen and Roman Gabriel. In baseball, he helped lead the Wildc...

Kenny Anderson grew up in LeFrak City in Queens, NY raised by his mom and motivated by his older sister.  Basketball was his sport at an early age which took him to Archbishop Molloy High School where he played for legendary head coach Jack Curran. Following in the footsteps of friend and mentor Kenny Smith, Anderson would win many trophies and receive plenty of accolades.  After scoring...

Kiraly was born in Michigan and trained at an early age with his dad, a member of the Hungarian Junior National Team, who fled his native country during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. At age 11, Karch entered his first beach volleyball event with his dad and would eventually spend four decades playing beach volleyball.  After his family moved to California, Kiraly excelled at indoor volley...

Growing up in Auburn, NY, Socci became a big baseball fan and fell in love with Tom Seaver and the NY Mets. He soon started playing baseball while also announcing it as the Public Address announcer of his little league. After high school, Socci attended the University of Dayton to pursue his broadcasting career. An internship with the Cincinnati Reds gave Bob the outlet to do mock broadcasts of Re...

Growing up in Georgia, Curry did not like football. In fact, it was a sport he never wanted to play. But it was the sport he knew could attract the attention of girls in high school (and one in particular Carolyn Newton who he would eventually marry). Even though his dad was a big Georgia fan, Curry would play at Georgia Tech for Hall of Fame coach Bobby Dodd.  With the Yellow Jackets, Curry...

Born in California, Blias was all about water sports and basketball growing up. As he got taller, basketball took center stage and college coaches took notice.  Among those coaches was Duke's Mike Krzyzewski who just finished his second season in Durham.  Bilas was part of a talented recruiting class that would help elevate Duke basketball and lead them to the 1986 National Championship...

Barth was born in Virginia and spent time in Tennessee before growing up in Wilmington, NC when his dad became a professor at UNCW.  It was in this coastal community that Barth played baseball and soccer with younger brother Casey.  Soccer would eventually give way to football when Barth found out he had the talent to be a kicker and punter. Playing at Hoggard High School for legendary c...

The Massachusetts native grew up just outside Boston and realized at an early age baseball was his sport.  He played 3 years at Sharon High School, before moving to Florida his senior season.  Pitching for Wellington High School in Florida, Brebbia was 10-1 with a 0.83 ERA and an 18 strikeout game.  Those numbers caught the attention of college coaches including Mike Kennedy at Elon...

Papale grew up just outside of Philadelphia with a mom who played baseball and a dad who loved sports.  In high school, Vince lettered in multiple sports although he played just one year of football.  Track & Field would be the sport that Papale would excel in and get him to St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia on a scholarship.  After graduation, Papale became a teacher and coach at hi...

Golic grew up just outside Cleveland with his brothers Bob and Greg. Like most kids at the time, Golic and his brothers were playing all sports, but eventually focused on football and wrestling. A standout in both sports in high school, Golic would follow older brother Bob and compete in both at Notre Dame.  On the Fighting Irish football team, Mike played for Gerry Faust and helped lead the...

Born in San Diego and on the move often with his Navy dad, Morris found sports as the way to fit in.  It was also his outlet to avoid an abusive father who he eventually moved away from and settled in Texas where he lived with his grandparents.  With no baseball at Brownwood High School, Morris starred on the football team as a wingback, punter and kicker playing for legendary Gordon Woo...

Veteran sportswriter, and ESPN reporter, Bob Ryan grew up in New Jersey before he went to Boston College where he majored in history.  Sports reporting became his calling after covering a football game between the Eagles and Syracuse Orangemen featuring running back Floyd Little.  Ryan would go on to be the Boston Celtics beat reporter for The Boston Globe . Fellow writer Bill Chuck was...

Minter was born in Cleveland, Ohio but moved to Oklahoma soon after his dad’s passing before Mike turned one. It was in Lawton, Oklahoma where Minter grew up playing with his siblings and developed into a two-sport athlete.  On the football field, Minter was a running back and free safety who led the state in rushing in 1991 with almost 1600 yards and 21 touchdowns.  On the basketball co...

Growing up in the housing projects of Baltimore, Bogues was toughened by his environment. As a 5-year-old, he was hit by a stray bullet and was hospitalized. Sports became his outlet excelling in basketball and wrestling. Basketball would soon take priority and be his way out of the projects. At Dunbar High School, Bogues teamed with David Wingate, Reggie Williams, Reggie Lewis and others who help...