"We grew up next door to one another," DiCesare said. Where Vaccaro's at is not a bad spot at all: He spent a career in sports marketing with Nike, Adidas and Reebok, founded the ABCD Camp, which ran from 1984-2007 and showcased pre-NBA phenoms like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, and founded the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic with fellow Trafford and legendary Pittsburgh concert promoter Pat DiCesare. "As I follow my life to today, if she hadn't said that to me, I don't know if I'd be where I'm at," he said. Giglio said Vaccaro should consider furthering his education. I really love the speeches you give at the pep rallies.' " "She said, 'You have a gift for speaking. Vaccaro was a star athlete in high school and thought he might be able to make it onto a minor-league baseball team, "but she said something that honestly changed my life," he said. Giglio came up and asked me if I ever thought about going to college." "I was the football captain in '57 and '58, so I always spoke at the pep rallies," said Vaccaro, 83, from his home in Palm Springs. In fact, Vaccaro said the most important person in the world to him turned out to be right there at the high school: his guidance counselor, Alice Giglio. A duo once more, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon come up for 'Air' He certainly wasn't thinking that, someday, a Hollywood film might get made about his efforts to sign the world's most famous basketball player to a shoe contract that would change the face of athlete-endorsed footwear. Mostly he was thinking about what he'd say at the Friday pep rally before his Trafford High School football team took the field. ![]() ![]() In 1958, John Paul Vincent Vaccaro wasn't thinking much about shoes, and certainly not about Michael Jordan. Vaccaro has had quite a journey, from growing up near the banks of Turtle Creek in Trafford to helping Nike become a billion-dollar corporate titan to becoming the subject of a major motion picture. "He took his own notes, and I love to talk, so it was great," Vaccaro said. But he said it was still quite something to be on a Zoom call with Matt Damon. Over the years, Vaccaro has rubbed elbows with future and current NBA superstars all over the world.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |