Bethlehem luminary Larry Kisslinger has sent out one of his famous mass emails, asking his numerous friends and acquaintances to buy Concrete Charlie, the latest reminiscences of Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik. As hard as the steel then produced in Bethlehem, Liberty High grad Bednarik is a rare breed - the last of the iron men who could and did play both offense and defense in NFL football. But before doing this, he was an Air Force gunner in thirty combat missions over Germany during WWII. After the war, he played college ball at the University of Pennsylvania, not Penn State. Professionally, he played 58 minutes during the 1960 title game, the last title ever claimed by the Birds. According to Governor Ed Rendell, "He was the consummate hard hitter. He was a force that gripped the town."If you believe what former Morning Call reporter Mike Sielski writes, Bednarik is also a bigot. During a 2003 interview in this legend's living room, "Bednarik began to rant, for five to 10 minutes, about the "n—--r bull—-t" in present-day pro football. Deion Sanders, end-zone dances, guys who weren't tough enough to play both ways — he took a blowtorch to all of them."
Sielski waited five years, apparently 'till he was selling his own book, before publishing a word of this supposed rant. "For one thing, it wasn't relevant to the primary thrust of the piece: Bednarik's dispute with the Eagles. For another, I felt sorry for him. Here was an old man trapped in his sad, antiquated way of looking at the world, and I didn't want to embarrass him more than he already had embarrassed himself. One terrible sound bite can drown out the music of a man's life."
Wonderfully considerate of Sielski, don't you think? So did Bednarik get younger in the last five years? Why would Sielski try to drown out the music now? Personally, I prefer sportswriter Ray Didinger's assessment. "When people retell things, the legends tend to get exaggerated. Chuck Bednarik is one of the very few cases where the accomplishments were greater than the legend. What’s been lost is not just that he played two ways, but how great he played."
I'll be buying Bednarik's book.
Poor Frank Gifford. He didn't stand a chance.
ReplyDeletePeace, ~~Alex
Once again, Mr. O'Hare, you shade the facts to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteThe Bednarik racism story became significant five years after the writer experienced it, when the writer contributed to a book about Jackie Robinson. Then, as the writer states, racism became part, if not the "thrust", of the story. It wasn't because the writer was selling "his" book five years later. (Yeah, newspaper reporters always save stuff so they can someday write a book). In fact, if you read the link, you'll learn it wasn't his book, he was a contributor.
He is the co-author and obviously stood to profit. His statement was made in an interview promoting the Robinsons book. I'm comfortable w what I wrote, and question anyone who waits 5 years before dumping all over a football legend.
ReplyDeletewell, now he's another kind of legend, too. for years, he's been seen as a bitter old man who clings to his press clips from the bygone days. Now, he looks like blockhead charlie, too.
ReplyDeleteEverything is always about race around here.
ReplyDeleteSad.
I play two ways, too! Nice to know Chuck and I have that in common.
ReplyDeleteHe appears, in the photo, to be doing exactly that which he is claimed to have excoriated.
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly too young to have seen the game depicted. Is Bednarik "styling" over the prone Gifford? Is he performing an old school version of pulling out a Sharpee or Tweeting from the field? Can any seasoned fans illuminate?
I missed the game but remember his own explanation that it was very momentary.
ReplyDeleteOhare goes both ways himself. Now I here he goes mainly one way.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. O'Hare,
ReplyDeleteI came across your posting this morning, and I just wanted to clear up a few things for the sake of accuracy.
I did not discuss my interview with Bednarik to promote a book. My Jackie Robinson book was published in 2005; I conducted the interview with Deadspin.com in 2008. As part of a bio to identify me to Deadspin readers, I mentioned "HTBLJR." That's all. I wasn't hoping to up sales of the book or profit from making Bednarik look bad.
I waited five years to "dump all over Bednarik" (a mischaracterization, if you read carefully what I wrote) for two reasons: 1) Enough stories of Bednarik's bitterness and anger had been made public over the years that revealing what he said to me wouldn't be so shocking anymore. 2) As I said in the Deadspin piece, I didn't initially reveal what he said because the remarks had nothing to do with what I was writing about--and because I felt sorry for him. I don't anymore. Those views are part of who Chuck Bednarik is, for good or bad. You and your readers can decide for themselves how to feel about them.
Best,
Mike Sielski
You and your readers can decide for *yourselves*. My bad.
ReplyDeleteMike