1984, the Year of the Bull
By Joe Lafferty,
Author of Justin Time, A memoir of Faith and Fight for Life.
When you get cancer as a kid everybody looks at you differently. I was only eight years old but I knew pity in other’s faces. They didn’t mean it but childhood cancer in the early 80’s, even in Pittsburgh, was rare. It was non Hodgkin’s lymphoma and it came with a 70% chance of survival. Great odds if you’re betting $5 bills at the Rivers Casino but when it’s the life and death of your kid, those odds suck.
In the late summer of 1984 I was allowed to join the Pitt Panthers as they kicked off fall training camp on the campus of Edinboro University. My battle with cancer had earned me a Courage Award from the Pittsburgh Leukemia Society given every May at the Foge Fazio Leukemia Golf Open. Foge wanted me around his team to inspire others. I was 11, what did I know about inspiring football players?
Those two weeks at camp, living in a dorm, and going to three practices a day catalogued vivd memories I cherish. With the recent passing of one of my “big brothers” back then I felt inspired to share.
I sent this email a couple of months ago to Bill Fralic.
Bull:
I hope it doesn’t offend you to use that nickname, of course we never played together. I was just a kid hanging around the Pitt team thanks to the kindness of Foge.
See, I was beating cancer when he invited me around you guys. Even through chemo I had a national ranking in swimming but gave it up to do what I saw you guys doing, playing football.
One of my fondest memories of Pitt was from Edinboro during the 1984 summer Olympics. It was after midnight when I was sent to wake you, as Dennis Atiyeh’s brother Joey, was set to wrestle for the gold medal. Joe(Atiyeh) lost in a 61 second fall to the American before you could don your trademark cutoff camo shorts and we could take the elevator to the lobby in that residence hall. You were the size of the incredible hulk and I was a fearless 11 year old kid only because I was beating cancer. Still waking you was a very tense moment I remember fondly.
Years later at one of Armand’s Italian Stag Night cookouts Foge tapped me on the shoulder. I was standing amidst some friends and they were very impressed when Foge asked to speak to me privately. He told me he had cancer and could we get together to talk. Few people outside his family knew and two years later he passed. We met a few times for lunch and I never told anyone.
I heard from another friend I’ve kept from those Pitt days, Brian Shields, and today he told me about you.
You likely don’t know this about me but my childhood cancer was not the least of my lifetime medical issues. I’ve lost an eye, had a pulmonary embolism, suffered organ failure, had two heart valves replaced, a kidney and pancreas transplant, and 10 years ago last week I died for seven minutes in UPMC Presbyterian.
I share that to say this. I learned toughness from my cancer and further confidence seeing big football players like you be kind to kids like me. I gained confidence and played football despite my lack of talent into college at Mercyhurst in Erie. I know you’re tough because I’ve seen it firsthand. Not athletic or genetically gifted in the ways of football and wrestling but tough. Tough to be kind and be strong in yourself. Tough that inspired kids to want to be like you and pancake(cuz it’s a verb) challenges that come along in life. Thank you.
I wanted you to know you inspired me. And my memories are vivid and thanks for that too. I’m blessed and I know it’s nothing I did. But I work to earn it every day.
I pray for you the best and i hope we can chat again.
Keep being tough,
Joey
A couple of weeks later I received this reply.
Joey
I have been in Houston this week dealing with treatment and just getting back to people. I was brought to tears by your letter. I do remember you. I will reach out to you this week.
Thank you Joe.
I didn’t hear from Bill again. 1984 was a lifetime ago. Bill Fralic was the “biggest” star in college football and he was one of my big brothers. I call those guys from the Pitt Football team big brothers because they treated me like a little brother. Some guys were short with us kids because they had to edit their language around us. Some guys liked to lovingly embarrass us as we claimed we had girlfriends. And others like Atiyeh and Buck and Brian were guys who put their arm around you and made sure you were on the right path.
But Bull was cool. He was larger than life and knew how to handle it with grace. He literally looked like the incredible Hulk with a Hollywood smile. At 11, most kids would want to be like Bill Fralic. It was the year of the Bull.
