Mike was not easy to get to know, but once you did he was a good man. I saw him a couple of years ago when he was a cop in McDonald, he pulled me over as a joke. May God take him into his loving arms.
A true gentle giant some of us knew as "Mount Olive". As Joe H. said, not easy to get to know Mike, but once you did, you could not help but like him and appreciate his dry sense of humor that came as such a surprise. Be at Peace.
Mike was a very soft spoken, giant of a man. Always compassionate off the field, but a competitor on the field. I remembering him lways providing encouragement to his fellow defensive tackle, John Baresi, during the game. He never raised his voice in frustration during those tense times when we were backed into the "red zone", he just provided a "rock" type of encouragement. There were those coaching moments of his, knowing that the opposing offensive would run away from his side, when he would encourage me to cheat over and help John because of the double teams on John, saying that he would "cover" my area in the middle. That he did! He was large enough to cover two positions. As a matter of fact, I believe that Charlie and Ellis would both confirm that when Mike was inside of their defensive end positions, that they were more able to make tackles.
In retorspect, I played successfully, because of Mike's on the field suggestions as well as his mere size. More often than not, I was unblocked and free to make a tackle because of his presence. He was truly a Division 1 college football athlete that could have played at ND, Ohio State, and Michigan if our school had more press in athletics ouside of Youngstown. But, I guess that the University of Texas was not that bad for Mike. He spent two years at Tyler Jounior College in Tyler, Texas and then went on to UT. I know that he and John baresi stayed in touch while John played at University of Oklahoma. They were in the same conference.
I always remember Mike's Dad at every UHS practice and at every game. He really supported Mike and his dreams.
Joseph Hayek
Mike was not easy to get to know, but once you did he was a good man. I saw him a couple of years ago when he was a cop in McDonald, he pulled me over as a joke. May God take him into his loving arms.Darnell Paul
A true gentle giant some of us knew as "Mount Olive". As Joe H. said, not easy to get to know Mike, but once you did, you could not help but like him and appreciate his dry sense of humor that came as such a surprise. Be at Peace.Andy Naples
Mike was a very soft spoken, giant of a man. Always compassionate off the field, but a competitor on the field. I remembering him lways providing encouragement to his fellow defensive tackle, John Baresi, during the game. He never raised his voice in frustration during those tense times when we were backed into the "red zone", he just provided a "rock" type of encouragement. There were those coaching moments of his, knowing that the opposing offensive would run away from his side, when he would encourage me to cheat over and help John because of the double teams on John, saying that he would "cover" my area in the middle. That he did! He was large enough to cover two positions. As a matter of fact, I believe that Charlie and Ellis would both confirm that when Mike was inside of their defensive end positions, that they were more able to make tackles.
In retorspect, I played successfully, because of Mike's on the field suggestions as well as his mere size. More often than not, I was unblocked and free to make a tackle because of his presence. He was truly a Division 1 college football athlete that could have played at ND, Ohio State, and Michigan if our school had more press in athletics ouside of Youngstown. But, I guess that the University of Texas was not that bad for Mike. He spent two years at Tyler Jounior College in Tyler, Texas and then went on to UT. I know that he and John baresi stayed in touch while John played at University of Oklahoma. They were in the same conference.
I always remember Mike's Dad at every UHS practice and at every game. He really supported Mike and his dreams.