25th Anniversary of "Brian’s Song"
January 21, 1997

Its hard to believe that it has been 25 years since one of the most famous tearjerker movies was released - "Brian’s Song"-it is a timeless true story about a young Chicago Bear player Brian Piccolo who is an incredible competitor and human being and is diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Texas coach John Mackovic who played with Brian in college at Wake Forest told me that Brian could not accept being second in any sport. "Besides playing football we played intramural sports, together and Brian loved all sports and he had to always win." John said that Brian and he were the best of friends but interestingly enough Brian was the only person in his whole life that he had a fist fight with, and he said he can’t even remember what they fought over. "Brian was a person who touched so many lives, he was such a great supporter of me and always encouraged me" said the former Wake Forest quarterback.

Actor James Caan played Brian in the movie. John said that he couldn’t bring himself to see the movie for three years after it was released, but once he saw the film he was pleased with the way James portrayed Brian’s personality, charm and his love for people. Brian’s daughter, Traci Piccolo said that James spent a lot of time with her mother and with Brian’s friends to make sure he did a good job portraying Brian in the movie.

Another interesting aspect of the movie is that it shows the friendship between Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers(played by Billy Dee Williams) and Brian. Coincidentally, they were the first black and white roommates in the National Football League .

When people pass away we often wonder why did they have to die? And when you watch the tearjerker movie "Brian’s Song" and see what a great person Chicago Bear Brian Piccolo - who is diagnosed with cancer and consequently dies - was, you wonder why did someone like that have to die so young. Brian’s daughter, Traci Piccolo told me "You always look for a reason - less than 10% of people who were diagnosed with testicular cancer survived - now more than 95% of people diagnosed with testicular cancer survive - because of what we have accomplished with the 'Brian Piccolo Research Fund'".

Twenty-five years later this film still touches me, and I encourage you to rent the film.

A Little of This and a Little of That …

The buzz in Hollywood is the midseason comedy starring Arsenio Hall about a married sportscaster is going to replace the highly-rated television show "Ellen" which will be going off the air temporarily. This would be a nice time slot for the LA Laker fan and Magic Johnson fan Arsenio...

Former Chicago Bear and Hall of Famer Dick Butkus will play himself on NBC’s "Chicago Sons" on Wednesday, January 22 at 8:30 p.m. Butkus, who was a regular on the television series, "My Two Dads" from 1987 to 1989, has had several guest-starring roles on various television series as well as film. Butkus also appeared as himself in the classic football tearjerker, "Brian’s Song"…

Now, that "The Worm" has some time on his hands, Dennis Rodman can concentrate on "The Rodman World Tour" on MTV…

Speaking of MTV, former MTV Sports host Dan Cortese will guest-star in a minimum of six episodes o NBC’s comedy "The Single Guy" as Jonathon Eliot’s (series star Jonathon Silverman) neighbor, Dan Montgomery. Cortese will appear in his first episode Thursday, January 23rd at 8:30 p.m.