Longtime Baltimore Ravens fans probably remember the late Tony “Goose” Siragusa for helping lead the team to their first-ever Super Bowl in 2001, where they beat the New York Giants and were crowned the NFL champions for the 2000 season.
But much of Siragusa’s legacy came from his life off the field, including during his retirement from his active football career after the 2001 season. He served as a sideline reporter and analyst for NFL games, acted in programs like “The Sopranos,” and even started his own private jet company in 2014 called Titan Aviation.
That latter endeavor grew into something bigger when, a couple months before his passing in June 2022, Siragusa sought to create a foundation that would transport patients across the country for medical treatments.
The Goose Flights foundation officially launched in September 2022, with Tony’s daughter Sammi Siragusa at the helm. It provides non-emergency medical transportation via private jets – as well as commercial flights and ground transportation – to connect children, veterans, active duty military personnel, and other patients with the health care they need.
“He knew the issues that there were regarding transportation for individuals just within his own network and communicating with people he knew who are battling illnesses,” said Sammi Siragusa, president and co-founder of Goose Flights. “So he thought what better way to make an impact in the world, and in the country especially, than utilizing what he had already.”
Now, a limited-run beer from Baltimore’s Guilford Hall Brewery is raising money for the foundation.
Cheers to the Goose
John Coulson, managing partner of the Baltimore sports news website PressBox, worked on Siragusa’s radio show from 1999 through 2001.
“He was bigger than life,” Coulson said. “He loved to party. He had a big heart.”
Starting in 1990, Tony played as a defensive tackle for the Indiannapolis Colts (after their move away from Baltimore). Then, in 1997, he became a Baltimore Raven, playing with the team until his retirement at the end of the 2001 season.
Although he didn’t grow up here, he was a Baltimore guy through and through, Coulson said.
“When he played for the Ravens, he embodied kind of what the old Baltimore Colts were, and he single-handedly converted many, many people who said that ‘I’ll never be a Ravens fan.’ … Thousands of fans who just loved his work.”
After the Super Bowl champion passed away at the age of 55, PressBox paid tribute to him with a special issue, but they wanted to do more. That’s when they approached Goose Flights with the idea for an exclusive beer.
PressBox, Goose Flights, and Guilford Hall Brewery partnered to develop the Goose Flights Lager.
The handcrafted lager comes in a black, gold, and purple 12-ounce can, featuring a silhouette of Tony performing his iconic “Goose Dance,” which he would do when he sacked a quarterback.
At 4.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and 20 international bittering units (IBU), the lager has a light taste.
“For our first launch, we wanted something that didn’t have a drastic taste,” Sammi said. “So something that more so would appeal to a larger group of people. We felt that the lager would be a perfect start to the launch of this goose flight beer because it was light and delicious.”
Coulson added, “It’s sort of an every person’s beer. It doesn’t have a sharp taste or anything like that. It’s very well-reviewed.”
When customers buy a can of the beer, $1.98 will go to the Goose Flights foundation — the ’98’ being a tribute to Siragusa’s jersey number. Supporters can also donate directly to the foundation.
Currently, they plan to produce 5,000 cans of beer, which will be sold at Guilford Hall Brewery in Baltimore, all seven Glory Days Grill locations in Maryland, and Costas Inn in Dundalk. They have also received requests from bars in Tony’s hometown of Kenwood, New Jersey, as well as his adopted hometown of Boca Raton, Florida, though they are still working out the logistics, Coulson said.
They would also like to do additional Goose Flights beers in future years, Sammi said, maybe even a whole beer flight of them eventually.
Filling a great need
The Goose Flights foundation aims to relieve families of the expensive cost of medical transportation at a time when they are already bearing the weight of health issues.
While the foundation also helps patients with commercial flight tickets, many patients are immunocompromised and need private flights to remain safe.
“Some individuals who are undergoing serious treatment or have serious medical conditions, they can’t fly commercial because they have compromised immune systems, and there’s a massive risk to them hurting their progress or just hurting their immune system and their healing,” Sammi said.
In one case, Sammi said she was notified that a family on a cruise needed immediate transportation to a hospital after their nine-month-old baby had been diagnosed with a rare liver cancer and jaundice. Goose Flights worked with Titan Aviation to book a flight from Miami, Florida to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; arranged ground transportation to and from each airport; and provided the family with private rooms where they could rest.
The family was able to get their baby treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as a result of the transportation assistance from Goose Flights.
“The feedback that this family has given us, even in the midst of one of the most difficult times of their life, has been extremely positive,” Sammi said. “They have referred to us as a blessing in their lives, just making the process as seamless as possible. It was one less thing for them to worry about as they were frantically trying to get their baby the best help.”
Since launching in September 2022, the Goose Flights foundation has assisted 65 patients, including private and commercial flights, ground transportation, ride-share service reimbursements, and other needs.
Sammi said she wants people to remember her father for his athletic talent, sportsmanship, and compassion. Now, Goose Flight’s hopes to carry on that legacy of kindness.
“I’d like people to remember him as just an incredible football player, first of all, who really brought people together,” she said. “But also, I’d like for them to see a different side of him now through what we’re doing with this foundation and know that he had the biggest, most genuine heart. He loved touching people’s lives and giving back, and he did that throughout his entire 55 years of his life and in ways that people wouldn’t necessarily publicly know about because they weren’t done for attention. They were done out of the goodness of his heart in private.”
