From Citybizlist – As the son of Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins head coach, John Sandusky, Gerry Sandusky grew up in the sports world. He ultimately developed a sports career of his own becoming the legendary voice of the Ravens and the Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning broadcaster on the WBAL networks. We recently discussed his childhood with sports legends, his unique career path, his thoughts on the current Orioles and Ravens, and the lessons he has learned from his father and from a scandal involving his unrelated namesake, among other topics.
David Applefeld (DA): What are your favorite memories of the Colts?
Gerry Sandusky (GS) Saturdays when the coaches would take their sons to practice at Memorial Stadium. The team would practice on the field and the coaches’ sons would all play a touch football game on the side. After practice, we would all help out in the locker room, helping the equipment manager, running errands, picking up towels, picking up tape, cleaning up and hanging out. My brother, Joe, and I gravitated towards the late Bubba Smith, who was just this huge figure. We would get him sodas and sit by his locker and talk about our dad. Bubba would say, “Your dad’s killing me. You’ve got to get him to lighten up on me, he’s beating my butt.” But he loved my dad, and we also talked about school. Invariably, my Dad would be ready to go home and Bubba would say, “Don’t keep that man waiting: we can’t afford to make him mad.”
DA: Super Bowl III taught you that your heroes are human too.
GS: We’re all fallible and how you handle it is what matters. A couple days after we get back from Super Bowl III, I got into a fight at school because people were saying, “Your dad sucks,” and, “The Colts suck.” I was sad and embarrassed, and it’s the first time in my life dealing with this. So I did the only thing a kid could do: I punched someone. The next day, when my dad drove me and my brother and sister to school, they got out of the car and my dad gives me one of those, “Sit down next to me” signs, and said, “I understand there was a problem in school yesterday.” He went on to say, “You’re going to run into a lot of jerks, and you can’t fight them all. Stand tall, stand your ground, be a man about it, and it will pass. You can’t punch everybody who says something negative to you!”
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