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Budd Thalman could -- and should -- write a book.
The people, events and experiences the 1953 Wheeling Central and 1957 West Virginia University graduate encountered in a 40-year career working in sports communications both at the collegiate and professional level would impress even the most casual sports fan.
A lot of interesting anecdotes are accumulated working in sports alone, but when your path crosses with some of the people Thalman did and then the chapters begin to write themselves.
Thalman will have a chance to share some of his memories and stories on June 28 and 29 when he's honored at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton with an 'Award of Excellence' for his career working as the PR director for the Buffalo Bills from 1973-86.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Fouts will serve as the master of ceremonies for the event, which will be held at the Hall of Fame.
"To say that you've been recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame is sort of a validation of your career," Thalman said. "I've talked to a couple of guys I've known who have been recognized previously and they've all said what a great event it is, especially for the families. I know my family is all super excited. I am really looking forward to it, too. It's very humbling to be recognized."
The NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame has consistently tried to pay homage to folks who have added to the pro football experience, but aren't going to get into the actual hall of fame like players, coaches and executives.
"A friend of mine, former Ravens PR guy Kevin Byrne, nominated me for this award last year and now he's being honored with me this year, so that makes it even more exciting," Thalman said. "
Thalman's passion for sports, writing and journalism began at a young age. Actually, despite his father's urging to become a dentist, Thalman decided to follow his mother's advice and pursue writing.
"I was always attracted to writing, but my mother really encouraged it," Thalman recalled. "Even though she didn't go to college, she was a writer herself. But, my dad saw becoming a dentist as a quick way to make a lot of money, and it just never appealed to me, so I ended up in journalism school."
After graduating from WVU, Thalman had a two-year military obligation to fulfill, but it was delayed for a year, so in the meantime, he landed a job with the Associated Press in its Huntington office.
He started his duty with the army in 1958 and in 1960, upon leaving the service, he worked in Annapolis, Md. At the time, Thalman had no idea the opportunity that would present him.
In 1962, Thalman was hired as the Sports Information Director at the Naval Academy. He held that position until the summer of 1973. During his time at Navy, he began to earn some acclaim for his work because of his work promoting eventual Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach.
As he worked through his time at Navy, he became friends with a lot of other collegiate SIDs, which happened to open the door for his opportunity in pro football.
"The Buffalo Bills PR guy had gotten sick, so they started looking for a replacement," Thalman said. "I had been wanting to try a new challenge and pro football was definitely a different challenge."
With the help of the late Don Canham, who was the athletic director at the University of Michigan at the time, Thalman received an interview with Ralph Wilison, the Bills team owner, in Detroit.
"I had a lot of people speaking on my behalf," Thalman said. "Beano Cook is one of the guys who recommended me."
After accepting the position with the Bills in 1973, Thalman had a season similar to Staubach's Heisman Trophy campaign to deal with. In 1973, OJ Simpson broke Jim Brown's NFL rushing record and ran for more than 2,000 yards. The Bills made the playoffs in 1974 and 75, but from that point on, Buffalo struggled.
"The NFL was the place you wanted to be in sports PR and it was a great opportunity," Thalman said. "But the NFL was definitely a different animal. It's part sports and part business, whereas college is a little more sport with a mission beyond sports like education."
Because of the Bills struggles throughout much of Thalman's tenure there, they didn't make many playoff appearances. However, he was involved in the Super Bowl seven times, working with the media in different roles.
"I usually ran the Super Bowl press room, handling all of the media requests, distributing credentials, compiling post-game quotes and summaries and other things like that," Thalman said. "It was an enormous learning experience that put you in touch with all of the great sports writers across the country. Working the Super Bowl is like being at Disney Land for a PR guy."
It got to the point where Thalman's thirst to be around a winning team outweighed being in the NFL, so when he opportunity at Penn State presented itself, Thalman jumped on it.
It didn't take long for Thalman to experience winning. The Nittany Lions won the 1986 national championship by beating Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Thalman still contends that Penn State should have won the title in 1994 when it finished undefeated and rolled past Oregon in the Rose Bowl with the likes of Ki-Jana Carter, Kerry Collins and Kyle Brady leading the way.
Thalman indicated that he and Paterno had a great relationship in their time working together.
"Though he didn't always agree, Joe always listened to me," Thalman said. "He respected my opinion and that's really all you can ask for. If the people around you respect your opinion, you're succeeding."
Thalman retired in 2001, which was three years after he was inducted to the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame.
"I had a wonderful career that led to meeting a lot of wonderful people and experiencing a lot of great events in a lot of wonderful places," Thalman said.
Since the announcement that Thalman was being honored, he's been blown away by the number of people he's heard from.
"One of my great friends at Navy is Tom Lynch and he was the center on the 1963 team and he sent out a note to the team and I've gotten at least 20 emails from players on that team," Thalman said.
Though he's moved around, Annapolis will always a special place in Thalman's heart and it's not just professionally. He and his wife, Patricia, met at the academy. They've been married 57 years.
As he approaches his 88th birthday, Thalman is still a huge sports fan, but the way media and sports coverage has changed is something of which he's not the biggest fan.
"I tell myself I could not deal with today's media atmosphere," Thalman said without hesitation. "When I was in Buffalo, for instance, we would make a trade, I announced it and that would be the end of it. Now, you have the player announcing it, the agent announcing it and some guy you've never heard of announcing all of the particulars. I simply could not deal with that."
Thalman pointed out he watched "not one minute" of the recent NFL Draft because of the so-called experts involved.
"I can't stand the talking heads," Thalman admitted. "I've been in those draft rooms, and I know what goes on in there. These guys today are just talking. I simply could not deal with people spouting their opinions on social media."
There are some parts of today's sports communication climate that Thalman wishes existed when he was still working. But most of those center around making his job easier.
"They're able to hit a button and send a release to 500 media outlets at one time," Thalman said. "I used to have to type it on a typewriter and then mail it out. Covering the events is much easier now, too."
Budd and Patricia, who live in Fredericksburg, Va., which is some 50 miles from Washington D.C., have three adult children Mark, Scott and a daughter, Kelly. They also have five grandchildren, ranging in age from eight to 20.
Though he's not been back to the Ohio Valley in a while, Budd's sister, Carol Wilhelm, still lives in Wheeling. He has a brother,Tim, who resides in Southern California.
VICTORY AWARDS DINNER
Two Ohio Valley prep athletes and a college coach will be recognized Sunday at the 76th annual Victory Awards Dinner in Charleston.
Wheeling Park sophomore Alexis Bordas and senior Brett Phillips plus West Liberty University men's basketball coach Ben Howlett will be among honorees by the W. Va. Sports Writers Association at the nation's oldest statewide sports fete.
Bordas will receive the Ostrowski Award as the state Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Phillips is recipient of a Kennedy Foundation Scholarship by WesBanco. Howlett is honored as the Furfari Award winner as state College Coach of the Year.
SETH'S SCOOPS
BUCKEYE LOCAL grad Chet Pobolish has been hired as head football coach at Arkansas City High School in Arkansas City, Kansas. Pobolish has spent the last 24 seasons coaching at the collegiate level and the last few seasons at Reinhardt University, which is a NAIA school in Georgia.
JERRY NARCISI, a long-time track and field official, will be recognized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association at its Officials Hall of Fame Banquet for his 50 years of service as an official in the sport. He will also be inducted to the Eastern District Track and Field Hall of Fame in June.
MONROE CENTRAL grad Trista Morris, who plays softball at Bethany, was recently named Rookie of the Week in the Presidents Athletic Conference. She hit .538 for the week with three runs scored, three RBI and stole three bases.
FORMER AREA prep wrestling standouts -- Peyton Hall (Oak Glen) and Anthony Carman (John Marshall) -- were both recognized on the Big 12's Winter Academic All-Conference teams. Both are sports management majors.