Jerry Glanville

Being a journalist has given me the opportunity to meet a number of celebrities from the sports and entertainment arenas.

However, I figured that would be an unfair advantage for this section.

It would have to be someone I met per-chance on the street. Or in this case, in a hotel lobby waiting for an elevator.

I can't remember the exact year ... maybe 1992 or 93. It was in Daytona during Speedweeks. There were a few of us up from the Port Charlotte area to take in the races.

We were staying at a high-rise beachfront hotel. Anyway, it was a nice day and I was on foot checking out the scene. As I returned to the hotel, I remember seeing on the marquee - Welcome, Jerry Glanville.

I chuckled to myself, "Jerry Glanville, the man in black, the outlaw NFL coach. The man who coined the phrase NFL stands for Not For Long. The man who used to leave tickets for every Falcon home game for Elvis in case he was still alive. The man who quit coaching to become, of all things, a stock car racer."

I didn't think much more of it as I returned to my room - which was several stories up, I changed and left again to go down to the beach.

I pressed the botton for the elevator. Coming around the corner, I see this guy who looks confused. He looks around to the left, then back to the right. I can tell he's looking for the elevator. I yell "Over here."

As he comes closer, I can see that it's Glanville. He seems relieved to find the elevator.

"Going down?" I ask. He says, "Yeah, thanks."

The elevator arrives and there's no one else aboard.

As we get on, I said "You're Jerry Glanville, aren't you."

He answered "Yep, that's me."

"I wouldn't have thought of you, but they have your name on the

marquee," I said.

He seemed surprised that they did.