"Buffalo Bills President and General Manager gives back" with guest Tom Donahoe (07/26/2005)
John:
Hello everyone and welcome to the only internet radio show talking about high school sports and the business of college recruiting, Collegiate Athlete Today, broadcasting live from Chicago Illinois. And streaming across the world wide web thanks to VoiceAmerica. I'm John Kerr and sitting next to me, the pride and job of North Chicago, Illinois, former Vanderbilt Commodore and founder of the National Collegiate Scouting Association, Chris Krause. Chris ready to rock and roll today?
Chris:
Absolutely John. We've got a terrific line-up today and I can't wait to get started.
John:
Awesome. We have a full show today so lets get to it. So many people of influence in this country talk about the importance of giving back. You hear it all the time, whether it be charity or time or money. A lot of squawkers in this world so we are going to bring in someone who is actually a doer. He's a football guy, his day job is President and General Manger of the Buffalo Bills but we are going to ask Tom Donahoe to come on and talk about the Bills quarterback situation, we invited Tom on to talk about a special program that he created with the National Collegiate Scouting Association here in Chicago and the Buffalo school system designed to get kids out of the inner city and onto college. Tom, welcome to Collegiate Athlete Today with Chris and John.
Tom:
My pleasure to be here.
Chris:
It is a pleasure to have you on here because of your tremendous support for the leadership program and your charity work with the Buffalo city schools. Can you tell us a little bit about why you feel so compelled to be so involved in helping these kids go onto the next level.
Tom:
I really think that its something fundamentally that all of us should do. I think that when we get to be in a position where we can help some people and particularly kids, we should. I was into teaching and coaching before I got into the National Football League and I'm really a coach at heart and I like to see kids have opportunities. I think with the National Collegiate Scouting Association, we have been able to provide some kids with some opportunities that they might not have had. Going back a few years, I got involved with the program with Steve Potter when I was in Pittsburgh but when I came up to Buffalo we tried to do some of the same things here and it's been very successful.
Chris:
Tom, I had the honor and privilege to see you talk to many of the award recipients over at the stadium in Buffalo and see you have a chance to connect with them. I listened to you talk about some of the things that help to build character. And a couple of things that stuck out in my mind that you shared with the kids that seemed to hit a cord with them and one was that "excuses are for losers." Tell me what your take is on excuses.
Tom:
Well, when I coached, one of the things that I never wanted kids to do was to make an excuse. Don't blame the officials, field conditions, bad bounces. We didn't want to make excuses we wanted to compete hard and at the end of the day we wanted to feel that we made our best effort whether we won or lost. I think that sports is such a great teacher and kids who get involved in sports learn some great lessons in life. They learn to deal with adversity, they learn that things are not always going to go the way that they want to and sometimes they learn that even with all the hard work and preparation its still not always going to go your way. I think that there are so many things that we can teach kids through sports and these are lessons that are invaluable. And they can take these lessons anywhere.
Chris:
Absolutely. Another thing that I remember you sharing was your view on potential. Like this kid has the potential to play here or do this. Can you share with us your view on potential?
Tom:
Chris we talk to our scouts for the Bills all the time about overusing the word 'potential' because usually when they talk about a player's potential it means that they haven't done it. Potential can be one of those words that can be a red flag that maybe someone could be an underachiever or somebody just hasn't performed up to their abilities. And we think that you are successful in football and successful in life with people who are achievers. I don't want to hear about what we think a guy can do or might do, I wanna year about what a guy has done. You know the proof is always in the pudding and generally when you're scouting players, the ones that have been successful at the collegiate level and know what it takes, they have the best chance of being successful at the pro level as well.
Chris:
Beautiful. There's a couple of things in regards to potential and living up to potential as well. A few of the kids that come to mind that you have had an impact on in the Buffalo area, Sierra Hawkins who found a way to get a 95,000 dollar scholarship to a school for example. What gives you the most satisfaction Tom? Can you give us some feedback as to how this program is working.
Tom:
For me the most satisfaction comes from watching these kids go on and make something of themselves. Sports is a means to a end and most of the kids that we deal with wont become professional athletes, very few go that route but hopefully we can get a few. But the important thing is to see the kids presented with an opportunity and then have them take advantage of the opportunity but the most important thing is that they get an education so that they always have that to fall back on. Also because at some point in their lives, because of injury or lack of talent, sports is going to go away so some of the habits that they gain in terms of getting their degree will always be with them and will help them.
John:
Certainly your background as an NFL executive with the Steelers, the Bills, of course you were a football coach, a teacher in western Pennsylvania and you've been around a lot of good football players in your time and certainly now. So you understand the importance of teamwork. And without a team structure this team with the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo school districts never could have happened. Correct?
Tom:
That's correct and owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the NCSA, to Chris, to Steve Potter, to Dave Thomas here in Buffalo who is the Athletic Director for the Buffalo city school system. People in our organization who have helped put these programs together, I'm just a figure head who sort of walks in when all the work is done and they have put it all together. But I think that's true with any successful venture, it's a team effort, people have to be united and on the same page and they have to understand what is trying to be accomplished.
John:
Well Tom, you being a football guy and all, it's hard to run through it without an offensive line creating holes for you. And we want to keep you on the other side of the break, when we come back we are going to have a few members of that team that you just mentioned, Steve Potter is going to be here. So when we come back more with Tom Donahoe after the break.
(13:45)
John:
Welcome back. We have been talking to Tom Donahoe, the president and general manager of the Buffalo Bills. And certainly one of the messages that we've gotten from Tom is that when you are presented with an opportunity like these kids in Buffalo, you gotta take ownership and run right through it. We also talked about team work and one of the members behind the scenes and very instrumental in making this happen is Steve Potter. A former scholarship basketball player at St. Vincent College and NAI school in Latrobe, Wisconsin, he is currently a senior national scout with the National Collegiate Scouting Association, not to mention one of the best Texas holdem' players in Western Pennsylvania, the pride and joy of Greensburg Pennsylvania, Steve Potter. Steve welcome to the show. Give us a little background on the program from your prospective.
Steve:
How are you doing? Well first of all I would like to reiterate the team work thing that Tom talked about. Tom and I did some work together in Pittsburgh and when he went to Buffalo he wanted to do some work out there too. And we developed this program here to help inner city athletes and we were able to set up Tom's leadership program where he was going to sponsor some student athletes in Buffalo. The first year we had 40 nominations, we picked 12 student athletes based on an essay on why they wanted to go to college to get a degree and why playing sports was so important to them. And if you read some of these essays, it just really gets to your heart. And of those 12 that we picked, 10 made commitments to colleges to a tune of 290,000 dollars. And this fall we are looking forward to getting it going again for the 3rd straight year. I am very excited about this program and I love the support that we get from people like Tom Donahoe and Dave Thomas, it's a very exciting thing. This program is a great way to really just help some Buffalo student athletes who really want to go to college and play and better themselves and it's nice to be able to help in that way.
Chris:
Steve, I was going to ask you, and maybe Tom can help you, but any success stories that come to you mind that have come about through your efforts?
Steve:
Yeah, I think the first year was one of the best stories that I thought. A student athlete by the name of Ferrod Mohammad who ended up going to Central Connecticut State where he is playing football, he's working towards getting his engineering degree. Central Conn. State at the time was $17,000/yr and Ferrod ended up paying 1600/yr to go to college. And now he can afford to get his degree. And the most exciting thing for me was the letter that I received from his mom after the program saying that now her baby is getting her education and she wouldn't have without this program. And Im just a facilitator, its about helping the kids out, its not me, its all the volunteers and people who help out and the kids who want to move on and better themselves.
Chris:
How do you go about picking the kids?
Steve:
Well we have a system where each school nominates one male and one female student athlete into the program and the kids have to write an essay on why they want to go onto college and play sports and get their degrees etc. At that time we usually have over 40 student athletes and we pick 12 based on that essay and the criteria that we're looking for. And that's pretty much how we do it. And then from there we pick our student athletes. The program has really caught momentum and now people are even seeking us out to find out how they become a part of it.
John:
How can anyone who wants to get involved with this program find out more information and learn about entering this program?
Steve:
They can contact me through the NCSA or through email, it's all on our website, www.ncsasports.org just go there and we'll be happy to respond back to you. We have a lot of people who want to get involved in this leadership program, all the way up to the Chicago Bears Organization.
(19:35)
Chris:
Tom, I had a chance to see you out there talking to the kids and taking pictures with them. Any personal stories that you can share with us? Maybe something about the effects or the people that you have met through this contribution?
Tom:
Well Steve gave you a good example from our work here in Buffalo but I'd like to give one from when we were in Pittsburgh, well as a matter of fact this year Rasheed Marshall, the quarterback for West Virginia is a kid who came through this program and he was drafted the 49ers. So that's a great story. Rasheed was not a kid who was heavily recruited coming out of high school and went onto West Virginia and had a great career there and now is attempting to make it with the 49ers. There are a lot of stories like that, some of them are not as famous but I think that the important thing is that the program is designed to help kids and its doing that and being very effective. And Steve and all the good people at NCSA deserve a lot of credit for that.
John:
And Tom, as we wrap up here, I lead this segment by saying that a lot of people are squawkers and not doers. As someone in your position in Buffalo who does all of these extra things, do you feel like it is an obligation of people of influence to give back?
Tom:
Yeah, there's no question, when you look at my career and the things that I have been able to do, I could be the luckiest guy in the world. I have had great jobs, great people who have helped me consistently along the way and it hasn't been just me, there have been a lot of people who have pushed and gotten me headed in the right direction. And I feel tremendous responsibility being in the position that I'm in here in Buffalo to try to do something in this community. Because like a lot of cities in this country, we are economically strapped, the city schools are in trouble here and the city schools aren't anything like they are in the suburbs. But if we can do something to help those kids and to present them with an opportunity, I'm always confident that when you give the right kid the opportunity they are going to take it and run with it.
(28:50)
John:
Welcome back everybody, John Kerr along with Chris Krause and you are listening to Collegiate Athlete Today. Good show so far today, Tom Donahoe, President and General Manager of the Buffalo Bills, also Steve Potter with the National Collegiate Scouting Association both talking about a very unique program. I'm not sure of my corporations especially of any NFL teams that are taking it upon themselves to get involved in the inner city. But with this Leadership program they are really able to get kids onto the next level.
Chris:
Absolutely. Leadership comes from the top and we have to give credit to men like Tom Donahoe who feel that it's an obligation to give back. Because of him, there are going to be a bunch of kids who would have never had the chance to go to college who are going to come back and help these same types of communities. Success breeds success.
John:
We want to hear from one of the student athletes that was on this program and we talked about all the student athletes that had gone through this but also behind the scenes there's another individual that we want to get to here. Forty years an educator, 11 years as the current athletic director of the Buffalo school district and really behind the scenes very instrumental in selecting the student athletes that went through this program and onto the next level. A former men's tennis player at Bradley University, let's welcome Dave Thomas to the program. Dave, why has this program for you been so important? Give us a little background on the Buffalo area.
Dave:
Well, we are the second largest school system in the state of New York. Buffalo has lost a lot of industry, and lost a lot of jobs due to lost revenue. So people have been moving out of the city at a rapid rate, at one time we were one of the finest school systems in the state but because of the loss of money and the inability to tax residents, our school system has gone down. We haven't been able to build any new schools in years and we're just starting to build a few now. And believe it or not we have a high school football league now made of 10 schools that play on only 2 football fields. So there's a good example of what we are up against. Our kids are not on the same level as those kids in the suburbs who have plenty of green space. But these kids have a lot of desire.
John:
Well Dave you never would have accomplished the things that you did as a student athlete without desire. And calling in from Las Vegas, Nevada where she is out there at the Main Event basketball tournament with her AU team, the GC Ballers, the pride and joy of Hutchinson Central Tech in Buffalo, Sierra Hawkins.
Chris:
Sierra I had a chance to look at your profile and your resume and besides being a terrific basketball player, you had a 3.5 GPA, tell me how those academics helped you out in getting you to Fort Valley State in Georgia?
Sierra:
Oh yeah, both athletics and academics are important coming out of Buffalo because you can't have one without the other because college coaches wont look at you if you don't have a certain GPA.
Chris:
How does a young lady from western New York end up picking a school down in Georgia?
Sierra:
Basically through the program that Dave Thomas and Tom Donahoe set up for me.
Chris:
Fantastic, well anything in terms of the visits that turned you onto that school? How did you pick it?
Sierra:
Well it was a tough decision but through the program I was able to break down specific things that I wanted in a college. I was able to narrow my search down before I went on my college visits.
Chris:
Do you have any plans for when you get back to Buffalo as far as being an inspiration to kids? I was going to ask Dave if he saw any results from the kids he helped in being inspired to help others back home.
Sierra:
Well yeah, this program has given a lot of people something to look forward to in life.
Dave:
You know, people like Sierra who otherwise would not have been able to afford college and took advantage of the program's opportunities will be the best salesmen for the program. Word of mouth is the best thing.
John:
And Sierra before we let you go here, and for all you student listening out there who have been listening to you talk, tell them the reason that you are going to Fort Valley is it because of your points per game or your GPA?
Sierra:
It's because of my grade point average. Everything is in my grades. You have to have talent both on and off the court. And the reason that I got a full ride was because of my talent off the court.
Dave:
That's right, grades come before athletics. Athletics may be the path to success but grades is what gets you there.
John:
After the break, Profiles of Success with Tom Thayer, a who's who of female athletes, Bridget Venturi. More after the break.
(41:30)
John:
Welcome back everybody. I mean how can you sit back there today and listen to what we have heard today and not be affected by it? We talked to some real doers today.
Chris:
It's amazing that you get a guy who walks the walk. Tom was a football coach and a math teacher and he goes on to become the President and General Manager of first the Pittsburgh Steelers and now the Buffalo Bills. And this guy has taken time out of his busy schedule to support this leadership program which is really has helped to inspire thousands and thousand of kids in the community. And I can't thank him enough. And now a guy like Dave who has been the teaching business for 40 years helping out with the program. And also kids like Sierra Hawkins who are going to come back and actually be a ray of hope for these kids.
John:
And we want more kids like Sierra Hawkins out there.
Chris:
Yeah, she is going to school for free and getting a great education and she wont have the debt that a lot of kids have coming out of college.
John:
That's right. Our next segment is Profiles Of Success with Tom Thayer. Member of the 1985 Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears and former Notre Dame linebacker. And this week we have Bridget Venturi, one of the most decorated female athletes in this country. And all the way from her time at Michigan, American Gladiators, she is just an incredible story. Here's Tom.
Tom:
Thank you everybody for being here. This is another segment of Profiles Of Success, I'm Tom Thayer and with me, the next guest is probably one of the most decorated female athletes that I have ever had an opportunity to interview. This is Bridget Venturi-Venuma. A four year standout at the University of Michigan, and correct me if I'm wrong, you're fifth year you came back and played basketball.
Bridget:
That's right, four years of softball and my fifth year was basketball.
Tom:
Incredible, I'll tell you a little bit later why that impresses me so much. But you are the first woman to play men's professional baseball. You played on the Colorado Silver Bullets.
Bridget:
Yeah, that was an all female team that Coors Light sponsored and we were an all female team that went all over the country and played against men's teams.
Tom:
Ok, let me tell you, your next accomplishment is the one that I'm most impressed with. 1990 American Gladiator champion. I was a big fan of that show, so let me be the hundredth person to congratulate you on that one.
Bridget:
Well that's funny that you mention that Tom because with all my accomplishments both academic and athletic, that wild and crazy show is the one accomplishment that people are most impressed about. I think its one of those unique pieces of American history that will forever follow me. And thanks to fellow Big 10 athlete, Mike Adamle who was the host, it has lived on through syndication. But sure enough something that I thought was going to be a little niche on the resume has followed me for 15 years now.
Tom:
Well I was a fan of that show and it used to frustrate me that sometimes it seemed that they didn't put equal competition up against the gladiators. But now you are involved with Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, Illinois. Correct?
Bridget:
Yeah that's right. I went to school at Regina and graduated in 1984 and then had the opportunity to return there and become the athletic director. I was actually offered the position the same week that I had the opportunity to make the US women's baseball national team which was the first of its kind. And I thought that this is very poetic and really a sign from god that here I am at the age of 38 getting another opportunity to further my athletic career and also getting the opportunity to give back to the community that founded me and gave me a lot of my ethical, moral, religious, academic and athletic foundations that have made me so successful. So I owe it to the good sisters and catholic education that has taught me to give back to those who have given to me.
(47:30)
Tom:
Well I don't know if I have ever read a more impressive resume of someone who has competed in sports. Not only one sport but many sports. But now you're in Detroit working at Fanfest for MLB All-star Baseball. What's your role there?
Bridget:
Well to continue that legacy of women teaching women, I have the honor to sit with the All American Girls professional baseball league players who the movie A League Of Their Own was based upon. These women are in their 70's and 80's and they invited a couple members of the USA national team, including myself to sit with them and to help promote women in baseball in the next century. And ironically there are four women signing autographs from the All American league and there is a 50 year timeline and they pass the pen over and we are signing autographs. They encourage us to continue the foundations and the struggles and to play with the passion of the game like they did as young women. And I take it as a baton to carry and pass onto the little girls that are coming up to us at Fanfest and asking for our autographs.
Tom:
Well we may have one thing in common, is there a lady there named Bea Mathis?
Bridget:
Bea Mathis? Well she did play but I don't think that she was here this weekend.
Tom:
Ok, because her and I are from the same hometown and we were both inducted into the Hall of Fame two weeks ago. And when she got up to speak, and they have pictures of her playing, I think the group was as impressed with her accomplishments as they were someone like myself. And I was impressed with her too. So my next question to you is, do you have role models in the sports before you? Whether they be male or female but are the people who you looked to who maybe helped mentor you?
Bridget:
When I was growing up, and I grew up in Highland Park and played youth softball in Deerfield, there were two girls ahead of me who ended up playing softball at Northwestern University and I thought that it was unbelievable that they were going to get scholarships. Those were the only two girls that I knew who were playing softball in college and I thought that was what I wanted to do. They were my local heroes and I wanted to emulate them. And as fate would have it, I went to Michigan and played against Northwestern and played against one of them who was about 3 years older than me. So hopefully by coming on a show like this and doing Fanfest, I can give another girl hope to dream because so many of my dreams have come true. There are things in my life that I never thought were even possible, I didn't even have them as dreams of mine because they seemed too good to be true. Because no one ever told me that I couldn't do something, I was blessed with very positive role models who supported me. So my messages to kids and adults alike is that you can do it, your dreams can come true.
Tom:
You know I think that everyone has nay-sayers in the background. When I was making my choice in college, I had people telling me that I wouldn't be able to handle it academically. And it was a struggle for me but I handled it. What do you think was your biggest challenge when you were being recruited?
Bridget:
I think that my biggest challenge during the recruitment process was not understanding the process. Not being educated on what it took as a student athlete to get that exposure and to promote myself to the college coaches. And as accomplished as I was as a student athlete, I was overlooked. I had some looks from DePaul and schools like Ball State but nothing that really felt like a match for me both academically and athletically. And even being the youngest of 5 children who all went to good colleges my parents didn't know how to go about the student athlete process. And my recruiting trip to Michigan did not occur until after I had graduated from high school. So I was extremely lucky, it was merely a phone call from a local coach in Joliet that opened that door for me. And so that's what I think is important for any student athlete who wants to go onto the collegiate level, to educate yourself and learn about the process. Those coaches go through the process a hundred times a year and most kids just go through it once.
Tom:
Well Bridget, that's why you are on our Profiles Of Success because of everything that you have accomplished. And another thing that we have in common is that I am also the youngest of 5 and you don't get a lot of self promotion from your own family so you need to go out and promote yourself. Because when you are the youngest, you're the runt of the litter and you need to let people know that you belong in your sport. Bridget Venturi-Venuma I truly appreciate you being on Profiles Of Success and you're the type of person why we run this segment to let kids know that there is an opportunity for them to succeed. If they go out and put forth the effort they can do anything. And here you are talking to us from the All-Star game.
John:
Great stuff from Tom. And we'll hear more on Profiles Of Success with Tom Thayer in the coming weeks.
Chris:
Bridget Venturi-Venuma, this woman was named one of the top 10 athletes of the decade by the Chicago Sun Times. And she didn't even get an offer from a major university until after her senior year of high school was over. So any kid going through this process should remember that it's never too late.