The head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers can tell tales with the best of them, and will connect and weave his way into just about any biography you can imagine.
The latest?
How about his former teammate in touch football, whose life is about to play out on the silver screen?
Vince Papale is the inspiration behind the Walt Disney flick "Invincible," which opened nationwide over the weekend. Papale, an unknown who never played a down of college football, went on to make the Philadelphia Eagles as a wide receiver and special teams standout.
"We grew up playing on the same touch football team in the Delaware Valley, between Philly and Chester," said Ryan, a native of Philadelphia. "He (Papale) was on offense and I played defense. We used to kid the offensive guys that the REAL athletes were on the defensive side of the ball."
"Touch" football in this blue-collar city came off as an oxymoron.
"Yeah, it was touch, but it was rough," Ryan said. "Guys would have broken noses, separated shoulders. I mean, this was a league where they parked an ambulance in the end zone!"
The weekly gathering was a ritual, and included players from all walks of life in their 20s and 30s. Ryan was coaching junior and senior high school at the time, while Papale did some bartending on the side.
"These were tough guys," Ryan said. "But it was fun because you had guys get together, play some ball, and then maybe have a few beverages after the game. I remember Vince, he was tough, and had great hands too."
The film, starring Mark Wahlberg, picks up Papale’s life in 1976, the same year Ryan left Pennsylvania to become an assistant basketball coach under Bill Cofield with the Badgers. Now, 30 years later, Ryan is the man in charge in Madison, but wonders if he’ll get a mention in the movie.
"I was talking with a friend the other day, wondering why we never got a call," Ryan said. "I’ve always kept an eye on Vince, and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie."
I suggested that maybe when the DVD is released, they will include more of the back-story, tracing back to those days on the fields in the Delaware Valley. If that’s the case, then whom would the coach choose to portray a young defensive back, back in the day?
"Maybe Gary Fencik, the guy from the Chicago Bears. Or (former Badgers safety) Troy Vincent. One of those tough guys," he said.
If this game of three degrees isn’t eye-opening enough, Bo goes on to mention his association with baseball Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson.
"I was a defensive back in high school, and used to tackle Reggie all the time," Ryan said. "He was a running back on a rival team (Cheltenham) when I played for Chester. I went about 160 and played safety and had to tackle Reggie several times, and he was a load. That’s never a good sign when your safety is making that many tackles."
Impressive.
Now, does Bo know Bacon ...?
Bob currently does play-by-play at Time Warner Cable Sports 32, calling Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games in Appleton as well as the area high school football and basketball scene. During an earlier association with FS Wisconsin, his list of teams and duties have included the Packers, Bucks, Brewers and the WIAA State Championships.
During his life before cable, Bob spent seven seasons as a reporter and producer of "Preps Plus: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel High School Sports Show."
And the joke is, Bob has a golf shirt from all four Milwaukee television stations. Sad, but true: Bob has had sports and news anchor/reporter/producer stints at WTMJ, WISN, WDJT and WITI.
His first duty out of college (UW-Oshkosh) was radio and TV work in Eau Claire. Bob spent nearly a decade at WEAU-TV as a sports director and reporter.
You may have heard Bob's pipes around town as well. He has done play-by-play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Milwaukee Iron, and UW-Milwaukee men's and women's basketball. Bob was the public address announcer for five seasons for both the Marquette men and women's basketball squads. This season, you can catch the starting lineups of the UW-Milwaukee Panther men's games with Bob behind the mic.
A Brookfield Central graduate, Bob's love and passion for sports began at an early age, when paper football leagues, and Wiffle Ball All Star Games were all the rage in the neighborhood.
