Category: All Articles

First off, what have you been up to since your time in the NFL?

I’m working for a title company now. I was the Director of Player Development for the Browns then with regime change after regime change we were out. My father in law got me into this now and I’m doing this here in Ohio.

My oldest daughter is playing volleyball on scholarship at North Carolina and my younger daughter is in Florida. My son – we’re just trying to figure out where he’s going to go to high school!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Browns Tight End Aaron Shea”

First off – you started off as a music and film writer – why sports, and sports history?

I grew up a sports nerd – I had a Sports Illustrated subscription when I was seven. I dreamed of being the starting quarterback for the Chiefs but by 11 or 12 I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I was a Journalism major at Creighton. My last two years I had a job on the sports desk at the World Herald which was a very influential newspaper then. I noticed then that a lot of the people that covered sports got bitter and lost their love of sports. I didn’t want to do that. I was a sports junkie but I decided instead to cover movies and music – I didn’t want to cover Chiefs games.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Author Michael MacCambridge (Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work; More than a Game: The Glorious Present and Uncertain Future of the NFL and more)”

First off, what are you up to now?

I’m on tour in September – I’m playing in the Northeast and in Canada. I’m playing in Ohio, New York, Chicago….

I know you had an early start to playing by learning from guys like Hendrix – correct?

My best friend in my teenage years was Velvert Turner – he was a Black kid that knew Jimmy and took lessons from him. He’d come to my house since I lived close to Jimmy’s apartment. He would show me what Jimmy taught him. It’s hard to describe that to someone else – it’s about the vibration and electricity. John Lee Hooker one told me that the secret of learning how to play the electric guitar was to learn one string first. Play it up and down the neck and shake the guitar. He actually said to take all of the other strings off but I couldn’t afford to do that so I just played the one strong. I learned verticality.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh’s Own, Guitarist and Founding Member of Television, Richard Lloyd”

What are the latest works/efforts you want people to know about?

I finished my most recent book Dragstripping at the end of 2024 – that was my eighth book. I’m working on a new book of poems but I don’t have a name for it yet. I write about the same things as many writers do. In this case I’m writing more about the West. I was out there and love the mountains almost as much as I love steel mills. So I’m doing something to join those two.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Award-Winning Poet Jan Beatty”

First off, what have you been up to since your playing days?

Right now I’m helping train guys for the combine and pro days. I have a buddy who runs the House of Athletes and I’m working with him when they need me. I’m also supporting my kids in their athletic pursuits as well.

Was the post-NFL transition difficult? 

At first it was difficult – you play for 11 years and have the same routine and then you are out of that routine. You feel lost at first and have to re-find your way. But I adapted. You come to the conclusion that you were blessed to play for so long.  I didn’t think growing up that I would ever play in the NFL. But once you tell yourself it’s over you can then start to find your way again.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers/Ravens/Browns Defensive Back Corey Ivy”

First, tell us a bit about you – your writing career, etc?

I’m a retired school teacher – originally from Mississippi. I taught in Georgia and North Carolina and grew up a Steelers fan.I stuck with them throughout my life. I read all I could on the team at an early age – that’s how I got going early on in my research.

Once I was done with my career I could spend more time on writing.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Author Steve Massey: Revolution: The Transformation of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL”

Are there projects you want to talk about that you are working on  now? 

For the last few years I have been working with oil painting – pictures of  events and people that I have personally had the experience of getting to  know a little about their lives.

My work can be seen here: https://www.raysokolowski.com.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh Artist Ray Sokolowski”