Episode 259
Inside the Game: Conversations with Rino Monteforte and George Visger
Show Summary:
This episode features an enlightening discussion with Rino Monteforte, long snapper from Notre Dame, who shares insights from his journey from North Babylon and Kellenberg High School to the prestigious Fighting Irish. His narrative not only highlights his athletic accomplishments but also reflects on the challenges he faced, including overcoming doubts about his size and ability. Furthermore, the episode transitions into a profound dialogue with former NFL player George Visger, who delves into the critical subject of traumatic brain injury in football, drawing from his extensive personal experiences and his newly published book, *Facing Giants*. This episode serves as a poignant reminder of the physical and psychological impacts of football, emphasizing the importance of awareness and education surrounding these issues. We invite our audience to engage with these compelling stories that intertwine the realms of sports and personal resilience.
Show Details:
This week's show features an engaging dialogue between host Bill Donohue and two notable guests, Rino Monteforte and George Visger.
Monteforte, a long snapper for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, recounts his remarkable journey from North Babylon and Kellenberg High School to one of the most prestigious college football institutions in the nation. His story is marked by an unexpected recruitment that shifted his trajectory from a commitment to the University of Buffalo to Notre Dame, illustrating the unpredictable nature of athletic careers. Monteforte emphasizes the significance of self-belief and the support of family, particularly in moments of doubt about his physical capabilities as a player. His narrative serves as an encouraging message to young athletes, highlighting that persistence and confidence can lead to unexpected opportunities.
The latter part of the episode features George Visger, a former NFL player whose career was overshadowed by severe traumatic brain injuries. Visger discusses his recently published book, Facing Giants, which chronicles his extensive struggles with the consequences of concussions sustained during his time in the league. He articulates the challenges of navigating life post-football, including multiple surgeries and his ongoing battle with the NFL for proper medical care. Visger's candid account sheds light on the critical issue of player health in professional sports, advocating for a more responsible approach to athlete safety. The podcast serves as both an informative and sobering exploration of the costs associated with the sport, urging listeners to consider the long-term implications of brain injuries on players' lives.
Takeaways:
- Rino Monteforte reflects on his journey from North Babylon to becoming a long snapper for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, emphasizing hard work and belief in oneself.
- George Visger shares his harrowing experiences with traumatic brain injuries sustained during his NFL career, highlighting the lack of awareness surrounding such injuries in the sport.
- The discussion highlights the importance of mental health and wellness for athletes, particularly in the context of football, where injuries can have long-lasting effects.
- Monteforte's choice to attend Notre Dame was influenced by his Catholic upbringing and the opportunity to play at one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
- Visger's new book, 'Facing Giants', sheds light on the realities of living with brain injuries and the challenges he has faced in seeking justice and recognition for his struggles.
- Both guests underscore the significance of support systems, including family and friends, in navigating the challenges posed by sports injuries and personal adversities.
Transcript
The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.
Speaker A:Live from the WGPB studios in Merrick, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Good evening and hello again everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Sports Talk New York on WGBB here in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
Speaker B: th day of June,: Speaker B:Our engineer Brian Graves is with us as always and glad to have you aboard.
Speaker B:Tonight we are going to talk some football tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:We've got some great guests to do just that up front.
Speaker B:First, we'll welcome in a local guy who had a great year as the long snapper for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Speaker B:Reno Monteforte will be here in the second half.
Speaker B:We welcome in former NFL star George Visger.
Speaker B:He's written a book about his experience with traumatic brain injury.
Speaker B:It's called Facing Giants.
Speaker B:And that's an important topic these days.
Speaker B:So sit back, relax, enjoy the show.
Speaker B:Tonight we got some great sports talk up ahead for you.
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Speaker B:That's Donahue wgb.
Speaker B:All one word, D O N O H U E W G B B.
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Speaker B:you can go there anytime, catch up on whatever you missed and enjoy it on your own schedule.
Speaker B:Well, our first guest, he's a local guy.
Speaker B:Like I said, he's from North Babylon, went to Kellenberg High School and he went on to succeed as the long snapper for a great Notre Dame Fighting Irish team.
Speaker B:Anxious to welcome him and see what's down the road for this young man.
Speaker B:So I'll welcome to Sports Talk New York tonight, Reno Monteforte.
Speaker B:Reno, good evening.
Speaker C:Good evening, Bill.
Speaker D:How are you?
Speaker B:We're doing wonderful, Reno.
Speaker B:I'm glad to have you with us tonight.
Speaker B:Now growing up here on Long island, who were your favorite teams and your sports heroes?
Speaker D:For me it's Eli Manning.
Speaker D:It's got to be my whole entire life I grew up in my home in North Babylon with a life size fathead of Eli Manning right to the left of my bed.
Speaker D:So definitely Eli Manning is my number one sports hero.
Speaker D:Justin Tuck, who I actually got to meet back in November which Was pretty surreal.
Speaker D: All those guys on the: Speaker D:Die hard Mets fan.
Speaker D: That: Speaker D:Giant, Giants, Mets.
Speaker D:And we like, we love the Islanders too.
Speaker C:Good.
Speaker B:Sounds good.
Speaker B:Who's your favorite all time met?
Speaker D:Favorite all time met.
Speaker D:Man, that's got to be hard.
Speaker D:In my generation, I think it's David Wright and everything that he did.
Speaker B:I knew you were going to say that, Reno.
Speaker B:I had a feeling.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, that's a good choice.
Speaker D: again, I'm born at the end of: Speaker B:Right.
Speaker D: So in like the early: Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:David Wright was the captain.
Speaker D:He was the leader of that team.
Speaker D:And the way that even through some of those seasons where you knew that we just weren't going to be very good.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:He always carried himself with a special level of class and his play on the field reflected that of hard work every single day coming to work every single day.
Speaker D: the NL east like they were in: Speaker B:Great point, Reno.
Speaker B:That is exactly true.
Speaker B:Did you know that Pete Alonso passed David Wright just today on the all time Mets home run list?
Speaker D:That is awesome.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I'll be honest, I'm out in California now.
Speaker D:I did not seen that.
Speaker D:That's pretty cool.
Speaker B:Yeah, Pete moved ahead.
Speaker B:Now I just, I want to ask you without giving away your privacy or anything, whereabouts did you live in North Babylon.
Speaker B:What area?
Speaker D:On Wilshire Drive.
Speaker D:If you think if you're going down, get off the southern state and you're going down 231 going north.
Speaker D:I around like near like TD bank area.
Speaker D:What was TD Bank?
Speaker D:The cleaners, McDonald's on that side of town.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Because I grew up down south a little further just off Deer Park Avenue by Marion Vetter Elementary School.
Speaker B:Behind those stores there on Deer Park Avenue.
Speaker B:That's where I.
Speaker B:Oh, no way.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:My, my grand.
Speaker D:My grandpa lived.
Speaker D:They lived for like 25, 30 years on Dwight.
Speaker B:Ah, okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Similar.
Speaker B:Just wanted to find out what neck of the woods you were in now.
Speaker B:Your high school, your high school career at Kellenberg.
Speaker B:I know Bishop Kellenberg was the bishop when I was an altar boy back in school, he was the bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Center.
Speaker B:Walter Kellenberg, what was your high school career like playing football at Kellenberg?
Speaker D:Yeah, it was one that was really cool, really special, but a roller coaster again.
Speaker D:My freshman sophomore years came with highlights.
Speaker D:Playing on the.
Speaker D:On our JBA team at Kahlenberg and then playing on the varsity team that would go on to losing the double A1 championship to Chaminade.
Speaker D:And then year three came with a lot of uncertainty with COVID unfortunately, with a lot of different things going on and such.
Speaker D:Knowing if we're going to play in the fall, not know if we're going to play in the fall, would we even play at all.
Speaker D:And then when springtime came around January, we found out we were going to play in the spring.
Speaker D:Then next thing you know, I tore my ACL meniscus that January and it took.
Speaker D:Kept me out of that season.
Speaker D:So that was the first year, first time ever, I never missed a football game my whole entire life.
Speaker D:From North Babylon.
Speaker D:Bulldogs.
Speaker D:Bulldogs.
Speaker D: Peanut Blue in: Speaker D:I wouldn't be able to participate in.
Speaker D:And that killed me.
Speaker D:But it raised a different fire into.
Speaker D:Into me as a player and as a person to work even harder for my senior year, which I wanted to make sure we put our best foot forward.
Speaker D:And we ended up being the first kellenberg team in 20 years to qualify for the AAA playoffs.
Speaker D:And it was pretty surreal because our offensive coordinator at the time, who still is Jim McDermott, was the quarterback of the last Kellenberg team that brought them to the AAA playoffs.
Speaker D:So it was.
Speaker D:It was a special.
Speaker D:It was a special way to end up.
Speaker D:And I'm super grateful for everyone at Kellenberg, A lot of people there who have done a lot of really great things for me in my life, not.
Speaker C:Even just in football.
Speaker D:We're talking about as a man of faith, as a student and as a person.
Speaker D:So I.
Speaker D:One of the coolest experiences ever that I had there.
Speaker D:And I'm very grateful for everyone in that building on Glenn Curtis Boulevard.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In fact, Bishop Kellenberg confirmed me, so that's how far back I go.
Speaker B:I've heard you say, Reno, that Kellenberg is the number one Catholic high school on Long island, but I have to differ with you on that because I attended a little school down in west Isaac called St.
Speaker B:John the Baptist.
Speaker B:I have to say that that's the best Catholic high school on Long Island.
Speaker B:But there's another time, another incident where we kind of crossed paths there.
Speaker B:St.
Speaker B:John's not a perennial football power, but certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker B:We were speaking with Reno Monteforte tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Did anybody ever tell you back when you were playing, Reno, that you were just too small to play?
Speaker D:Always.
Speaker D:You hear it all the time.
Speaker D:But, you know, as we all play sports, there's always going to be people who doubt, people who don't believe in you, but the only person who needs to believe in you is yourself.
Speaker D:And that, in my opinion, is the most important thing.
Speaker D:Believing in yourself and having confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Speaker D:And fortunately, I'm blessed to have an incredible mom and an incredible grandma.
Speaker D:And the two of them are the greatest people in the world who.
Speaker D:They also believed in me as well.
Speaker D:And it didn't matter if I was 5 foot 7 or if I was 6 foot 7, I was still going to have confidence in my abilities wherever we ended up.
Speaker B:Wonderful answer, Reno.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Now Notre Dame, of course, I can't imagine any kid coming out of high school that would not choose to go to Notre Dame.
Speaker B:But what was behind your choice to go to South Bend?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So I tell everyone I never liked Notre Dame as a kid.
Speaker D:I was in.
Speaker D: National Championship game in: Speaker D:So I had never really like Notre Dame.
Speaker D:Notre Dame was never on my radar in high school.
Speaker D:I was committed to the University of Buffalo for majority of my senior year, figuring I was going to go there, but I had another year open in other places if other schools were willing to offer.
Speaker D:And on January 8th, my senior year, I get a call from coach Brian Mason, who was the special teams coordinator in Notre Dame at the time.
Speaker D:Sorry, especially in corner of Cincinnati.
Speaker D:And he had just been hired by Notre Dame, but nothing was official yet or anything.
Speaker D:And his Twitter actually still said special teams coordinator at Cincinnati.
Speaker D:He gives me a call, he DMs me on Twitter and says, hey, give me a call.
Speaker D:I give him a call.
Speaker D:He says, hey, would you be interested in going to Notre Dame?
Speaker D:I was like, yeah, I would definitely be interested in coming to Notre Dame again.
Speaker D:Like, I've gone to Catholic school my whole entire life.
Speaker D:And to be able to go to the number one Catholic school in America, for me, I mean, it was.
Speaker D:It's the opportunity of a lifetime that you can't pass up to go through my grades and everything and within two weeks, I was there on a visit.
Speaker D:And three days before signing day, I had to decommit from Buffalo in the parking lot in front of Chipotle, down the street on Eddy street in South Bend, and committed to play the.
Speaker D:To play the next few years for the Fighting Irish.
Speaker D:And it's one of the greatest decisions of my life.
Speaker D:And I am so, so, so grateful for everyone there in South Bend that made my experience so positive.
Speaker B:Yeah, no comparison, really, Reno, between Notre Dame and ub, that is for sure.
Speaker B:Now, to play in that stadium, to put on that uniform and the gold helmet, walk through that tunnel, bang the sign, and you hear the first strains of the Notre Dame fight song.
Speaker B:What were your first feelings?
Speaker D: was when we lost Marshall in: Speaker D:And regardless, I'll never forget.
Speaker D:Just you dream and you work for so many different moments in your life as a football player.
Speaker D:And when I ran out of that tunnel, I felt at peace.
Speaker D:I felt at home.
Speaker D:I said to myself, wow, this is awesome.
Speaker D:This is such a special thing.
Speaker D:And when I graduated about two weeks, about three weeks ago, I was walking out of that tunnel one more time and I realized, man, like, I take the.
Speaker D:It's very easy to take this for granted sometimes.
Speaker D:It is so, so, so special that I got to walk out of this tunnel for 19 game days in Notre Dame Stadium and start seven of those and play in nine.
Speaker D:It's extremely special, Extremely special place that has some magic about it that you only, you know, you're not good.
Speaker D:You really can't explain.
Speaker B:Like Lou Holtz would say, that's like walking out Reno on the original Yankee Stadium for some kid doing that for the first time, like Derek Jeter coming and playing in the old Yankee Stadium.
Speaker B:But you got to play games at MetLife and you played at Yankee Stadium.
Speaker B:So that was pretty magical.
Speaker D:Pretty magical to say the least.
Speaker D:It's funny because the MetLife Stadium game's been scheduled for years now.
Speaker D:So when I committed there in 22, we knew we were going to play there in 24.
Speaker D:And as we thought, we ended up finding out about the Yankee Stadium game before it got announced.
Speaker D: Because when in: Speaker D: that we were playing there in: Speaker D:So I was able to tell every single family and friend that I knew that we were playing the Yankee Stadium.
Speaker D:And literally like my high school coach, Coach Joe Citrano, he can't.
Speaker D:He plays in the band and he can't.
Speaker D:He said no to playing a wedding that day because it basically it was a pretty big event for any all my family and friends and over 80 of my closest family, friends, teachers, coaches all came to that game.
Speaker D:And man was it so special.
Speaker D:What a special night.
Speaker B:Can't beat that Reno.
Speaker B:That is for sure.
Speaker B:Now long snapping why and how, how did you get into long snapping?
Speaker D:So when I was in the seventh grade I went to a camp called FDU Top Gun in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Speaker D:And at the time I was about 5 foot 5, 115 pounds and I realized I am not going.
Speaker D:I realized going ver as a defensive lineman, going verse playing players that were 6 foot 5 to 280 pounds in the seventh grade that I was not going to pan out to be that and have the opportunity to go play college football.
Speaker D:The goal has never been the NFL because NFL stands for not for long.
Speaker D:And the goal was to get an education through football.
Speaker D:And I said how can I do that?
Speaker D:So I literally looked up online what is with hard work?
Speaker D:What is the best path to go and play college football?
Speaker D:And I had, I thought about playing court, playing like quarterback, I thought about playing fullback, tight end, all these different things.
Speaker D:Finally I'll never forget it was a late August night.
Speaker D:It's like I had like practice in the morning or something.
Speaker D:I finally came across there's a video that titled how to long snap.
Speaker D:And it was by the snapper who's played for the Patriots for 10 years now, Joe Cordona, who played in Navy and he had a video just talking about the fundamentals of how to long snap.
Speaker D:And little do we know that video is the reason why I'm talking to you today, Bill.
Speaker D:And it changed my life and I self taught myself for a year, started going to camps and basically devoted my whole entire life to being the best long snapper I could possibly be.
Speaker D:And now I'm going into year 10 of being a long snapper.
Speaker D:And the journey has not been easy for sure.
Speaker D:But it's special that I am a that because of that one video that this guy made that he thought was never going to have an impact, but maybe he did, I don't know, but maybe he thought it would never have an impact on anybody.
Speaker D:Had a pretty large impact on my life, and it's the reason why I'm standing.
Speaker D:I get to talk to you today as Notre Dame graduate, now Cal football player.
Speaker B:You never know how something like that is going to impact the lives of other people.
Speaker B:And as you clearly point out, that video really had an effect on you.
Speaker B:Now we're talking Areno Monteforte tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Now, what do you say, Reno, to people who, who maybe disparage long snapping that say, oh, yeah, you're on the football team, but you're a long snap.
Speaker B:But you're a long snapper.
Speaker B:You know, what do you tell those people?
Speaker D:I tell everyone this.
Speaker D:When we went to the Sugar bowl, when we went to the Orange bowl and we went to the national championship, everybody get.
Speaker D:They give the players gifts and, like gift suites and everything, right?
Speaker D:And starting quarterback gets the same gifts that the starting long snapper gets.
Speaker D:Starting quarterback eats the same food that the starting long snapper gets, and the starting quarterback gets the same degree that the starting long snapper gets.
Speaker D:Again, nobody is going to recognize you until you mess up, which is the caveat of it all.
Speaker D:And you understand that going into games and seasons like, the goal for everyone, Long island listening right now should be that you hear me right now, you probably shouldn't hear my name for at least another year.
Speaker D:That's the goal.
Speaker D:Because that means I'm doing my job correctly.
Speaker D:And there's a lot of internal and external, even, you know, like negativity and pressure that sometimes creep in and such.
Speaker D:But at the end of the day, I don't need to prove anything to anyone because at the end of the day, I know the work that I put in and when I can help my team make field goals, make extra points and snap good punts, that is important to me.
Speaker D:And when those numbers are good and we're helping our team win games, I don't need any recognition.
Speaker D:I just get to be along for the ride.
Speaker D:It's pretty cool.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's a great lesson for you kids listening out there.
Speaker B:When Reno's name is mentioned, it's usually it could be because he hosed something up.
Speaker B:And that's the thing to remember.
Speaker B:Your name's not mentioned.
Speaker B:That's a good thing.
Speaker B:That means that you're playing well and you're doing your job.
Speaker B:Now who do you consider a guy who legitimized long snapping?
Speaker B:Maybe in college or in the NFL?
Speaker B:Reno?
Speaker D:I wouldn't say that there's one person I my idol would be Zach Piassi who did it for the Giants for so long and his dad did it as well, right?
Speaker D:He is one of my favorites.
Speaker D:You know, I joke with everyone since Eli Manning stopped playing for the Giants, the only jersey I'll wear around is a Zach Diassi jersey.
Speaker D:But I love him and the way he went about his work.
Speaker D:Patrick Manley is another one who played for the Chicago Bears for many years.
Speaker D:The college Long Snapper of the Year award.
Speaker D:So you think about the Heisman for long snappers.
Speaker D:It's called the Patrick Manley Award.
Speaker D:He's definitely someone who's legitimate legitimatized long snapping over the years.
Speaker D:And again, it's really all these NFL coaches that they a roster spot on a 53 man roster, right.
Speaker D:Of 32 teams, however many spots that is, there's one, there's 32 jobs in the NFL and be a long snapper.
Speaker D:And that's why it's so hard to make it to the NFL as a long snapper.
Speaker D:Because when you're a quarterback coming out right, every team is back quarterback, every team has a third string quarterback.
Speaker D:Some teams even have a fourth quarterback.
Speaker D:Whereas you're only there's you.
Speaker D:When I leave college there's 32 jobs that are taken up by 32 people.
Speaker D:Unless someone retires or they're willing to or someone gets hurt or whatever.
Speaker D:Like you have to go and take a job from somebody.
Speaker D:And it's very hard to just be given a job the way a quarterback or a lineman or something of those sorts is given.
Speaker D:So again, I'd say the fact that you get there's a full roster spot on NFL team, it's really thanks to, you know, the many NFL special teams coaches that will not go to a position player or a long snapper because there's a whole community that so much bigger than people realize of long snappers out there that is that works their butts off year in, year out for those opportunities.
Speaker D:And it's truly awesome to see it all.
Speaker B:Another great lesson for you kids out there, if you may not have the size, if you're not 6, 5, 300 pounds, there is a spot for you.
Speaker B:There's something for you to do on a football field and Reno is the perfect example of that.
Speaker B:Now Reno, you're probably going to be remembered by a lot of people for the snap on Jeter's field goal that sent the Fighting Irish to the championship game in the Orange Pole against Penn State.
Speaker B:What was going through your mind before you got rid of that ball?
Speaker D:So just to take you back a couple hours before, I had the flu miserably for that game and I was beyond sick.
Speaker D:Where I didn't practice on Monday, Tuesday, I had to climb up my Motrin properly so I could practice and go on the plane without shivering from fever, chills and practice Tuesday, barely, literally, I was quarantined in a sick room away from everybody else.
Speaker D:Then was up at 4am throwing up the morning of the game.
Speaker D:And I was super, super, super nervous just because I had to go.
Speaker D:I have the same routine for every game for the last three years.
Speaker D:And this is the first time that I went out of routine because I had to, because I physically wasn't able to.
Speaker D:But at that same time, how many other times are you physically going to be able to have the opportunity to play in the Orange bowl in the playoff semifinal for the opportunity to go play for a national championship?
Speaker D:Not many.
Speaker D:If not that was, that would probably be my only opportunity.
Speaker D:And it was just a combination of the team doctors putting the right meds into me, me pacing myself a different way than I won a game day, making sure that like even though it was In Miami, Florida, 60 degrees in January, still wearing a hand warmer because my fever was going up and up and up as the game got longer, longer, longer, and as we got ready for that snap, dogging onto the field.
Speaker D:And I felt, you felt the moment.
Speaker D:You felt that this is something that's going to be remembered forever.
Speaker D:And I remember looking back at my holder and I said to myself, I'm built for this.
Speaker D:And I think back to the little kid who was staying up late at night past when he probably should have been on his phone night before school at practice or whatever, and watch that video about how to long snap, about long snapping and has made it his life for the last nine years.
Speaker D:And all the different things I had to go through, injuries, doubters, people telling me that I wasn't good enough, wasn't big enough, wasn't strong enough, all these different things was all that, that I went through was for that moment right then and there.
Speaker D:And after that I blacked out completely.
Speaker D:I don't, I couldn't tell you what I felt on the ball.
Speaker D:I can't tell you what the ball, what the ball looked like.
Speaker D:I just know that a minute after the fact, one of our offensive GA's, Harrison Biven jumped on top of me and gave me a hug and I woke up from like this blackout sleep, I guess, and I realized, wow, we're going to the national championship.
Speaker D:And it's one of the coolest moments of my football career and I'm never going to forget that.
Speaker D:And again, for everyone who, for the 500 some thousands of people that tweeted about Mick Jeter's perfect kicks, my hundred text messages were just as gratifying, saying.
Speaker B:That I had a good snap, guts and determination to step up in that situation.
Speaker B: S Olympic hockey team back in: Speaker B:You were born for this, the exact theme of his speech.
Speaker B:And that's what you just told us.
Speaker D:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker B:Now, you went through recently what's called the transfer portal.
Speaker B:Tell the folks that may not be initiated with that terminology exactly what that is.
Speaker B:Reno.
Speaker D:Yeah, so again, people enter the transfer portal for a variety of reasons.
Speaker D:And I was a walk on to Notre Dame.
Speaker D:And even though I was a recruited walk on and they got me into school and everything, I was still paying for school.
Speaker D:And my dad passed away when I was seven years old.
Speaker D:And my mom's a single parent and she does an incredible job raising my brother and I.
Speaker D:And I wanted to be able to get my school paid for for my master's degree because I worked really, really, really hard at my time in the classroom in Notre Dame.
Speaker D:And I graduated with my bachelor's degree in three years there in sports, media and theology.
Speaker D:And after spring, you know, like they were not even have a scholarship.
Speaker D:There's nothing against them.
Speaker D:So I decided to enter the transfer portal and I decided to go in search of an opportunity to go to school for free.
Speaker D:And fortunately, there were many different opportunities, many great schools that offered me opportunities to go and play on scholarship.
Speaker D:But none, in my opinion, was greater than the one that I received here at Cal Berkeley, here in the AC out in Berkeley, California.
Speaker D:And it was such quick, incredible, crazy process.
Speaker D:I almost think about Jerry Maguire, where there's that scene where he goes, show me the money.
Speaker D:And he's like, I'll show you the money.
Speaker D:Show me the money.
Speaker D:That's what it was.
Speaker D:And me and my mom are sitting in my room at Notre Dame and coach, ask Coach, text call, FaceTime, all these different things we're trying to figure.
Speaker C:Out, what are we going to do?
Speaker D:Well, Cal made it pretty easy for us.
Speaker D: Cal called me at: Speaker D:By 4:30, they offered me a scholarship.
Speaker D:By 10pm they booked me, my mom, my girlfriend's flights from out here to Berkeley the very next day.
Speaker D:This was on Holy Thursday.
Speaker D:We came up here, got in at midnight, visited the whole next day on Friday and committed to Coach Wilcox here on campus.
Speaker D:And then they flew us home Saturday just so we could be home for Easter Sunday.
Speaker D:So it was a whirlwind of a process and definitely crazy, for sure.
Speaker D:But as I sit here in my two week old apartment here in Berkeley, I'm very grateful and I'm very blessed to be in this position, to not only play football at such a high level still, but to be a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, the number one Catholic school in America, and now have the opportunity to earn a master's degree from the number one public school in America.
Speaker B:Now in the final couple of minutes, we have Reno.
Speaker B:What an experience.
Speaker B:Let's just say a whirlwind to get you out to Berkeley.
Speaker B:What are your plans from here on in?
Speaker D:Yeah, the plan is, you know, play out these last few years.
Speaker D:I'm going to get a Master's in education here at Berkeley in the Berkeley School of Education.
Speaker D:Going to then use my second year to get a graduate certificate in Business Administration here through the Haas Business School, which is one of the top five business schools in America, and then kind of take life from there.
Speaker D:Again, I'm.
Speaker D:Again, if the NFL is an option, the NFL is an option.
Speaker D:If it's not really not worried.
Speaker D:That's why I chose two incredible, you know, universities and alumni networks that could help me change my life for the better.
Speaker D:And then I'm focused on whether that, then I'm either going to take one of two routes, either to go work in sports media, right, using the various connections through NBC that I was able to build through Notre Dame, or then use my master's in education and my theology degree and my business degree to eventually become an administrator at a high school.
Speaker D:The dream job for me is to be the head coach, coach at Kellenberg.
Speaker D:That would be my dream job, to go back and pour into that program.
Speaker D:But whether that's going, whether that's teaching at Kellenberg or coaching at Kellenberg or going to work in sports media, something back home in New York, because it's been way too long since I've gone to spend an extended amount of period of time back in our great state on the best in the best city.
Speaker B:In the world that's true.
Speaker D:Reno.
Speaker B:Yeah, it sounds like you got everything mapped out and you got, you got a good plan for the future.
Speaker B:And I tell you, it's been a pleasure speaking with you.
Speaker B:The folks are going to love hearing Franklin, I'm sure.
Speaker B:Thanks for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us here at Sports Talk New York on the island.
Speaker B:Just the very best to you in the future, Reno.
Speaker C:Thank you, Bill.
Speaker D:You have a great night, sir.
Speaker B:You, too.
Speaker B:That is the great Reno Monteforte, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker B:Up next on Sports Talk New York, we will talk to George Visger about his new book on traumatic brain injury in football.
Speaker B:So stick around, folks.
Speaker A:You're listening to Sports Talk New York.
Speaker A: FM at: Speaker A:And now back to the show.
Speaker B:All right, folks, welcome back.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Sports Talk New York here on WGPD AM FM radio live.
Speaker B:We are live from beautiful downtown Merrick, Long island in New York.
Speaker B:As Reno before had had spoken about the great state of New York.
Speaker B:And as we said in the open, we're talking some football tonight on Sports Talk New York just happens to be topical right now as our guy, Reno Monteforte, graduates from Notre Dame, commits to Berkeley.
Speaker B:Just a wonderful young man who's got his future mapped out pretty well.
Speaker B:And we know, we know he's going to succeed our friend George Visger.
Speaker B:He has penned a new book about traumatic brain injury in football.
Speaker B:We will recount his personal story.
Speaker B:So all those people Jones and on football, we will satiate you a bit tonight.
Speaker B:And we'll be back with baseball soon enough, I'm sure.
Speaker B:We're waiting to get in touch with George.
Speaker B:We have him.
Speaker B:Okay, George.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Our next guest is an author, speaker and brain injury awareness and education ambassador and advocate.
Speaker B: ers in: Speaker B:And he's written a new book titled facing giants my 38 year battle.
Speaker B:I welcome to the show tonight, George Visger.
Speaker B:George, good evening.
Speaker C:Good evening.
Speaker B:Great to have you with us, George.
Speaker B:Now tell us about growing up in Stockton, California, and playing on your Pop Warner team.
Speaker C:Well, it's hot down There, that's for sure.
Speaker C:I started playing in seventh grade.
Speaker C:I was 11 years old.
Speaker C:I played on the very first peewee Pop Warner team Stockton ever had.
Speaker C:The West Stockton Bear, Cuba.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C: of us signed NFL contracts in: Speaker C:And our safety was Yvonne Hayes, who went on to Major League Baseball all star career.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:29 potential professional athletes on it.
Speaker B:Yeah, there you go, folks.
Speaker B:Von Hayes, who played for the dreaded Phillies during his major league career, played with George in high school.
Speaker B:And what a wonderful experience that must have been to play with all these gifted athletes.
Speaker B:Now you were an all American in high school, George?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, I was a good student too.
Speaker C:I got it done in the classroom, not on the field.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:And you went to Colorado.
Speaker B:You played in the 77 Orange Bowl.
Speaker B:You were a three year starter at defensive tackle and honorable mention all Big Eight.
Speaker C:Yeah, they chew me a little bone there.
Speaker C:I had a decent season my sophomore junior years.
Speaker C:I got ganged up a little bit, nothing serious, but missed a couple games here and there.
Speaker C:But yeah, I had a decent, decent last year.
Speaker C:And then unfortunately, team wise, we had a criminal season.
Speaker B:Gotcha.
Speaker B: pick by the New York jets in: Speaker B:You were cut by the jets, which is not surprising that they let somebody talented go because that's been their M.O.
Speaker B:over the years, George.
Speaker B:Now you got picked up for the 49ers and you sustained a concussion in your first play.
Speaker C:Yeah, we played.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So with the jets they had, they had a pretty stacked defensive line with, with Cleco Gastro, you know, but yeah, so the Niners picked me up for about the fifth game this season.
Speaker C:We were playing Dallas and came in on a Tuesday for workout and we practiced Wednesday, Thursday, Friday flew to Dallas and it was a short week.
Speaker C:We were playing on Saturday if I remember correctly.
Speaker C:So I had a really short time to prepare little playbook and first play I'm in, I get year hold on a Dallas tight end, trap on a goal line and basically don't remember that game nor the next week playing the Rams week and a half later, the doctors and trainers laughingly telling me I went through 15 or 20 Snelling calls during the Dallas game to keep me on the field.
Speaker C:And it was a joke back then, you know, they called it getting the bell rung.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, never missed the play, never missed the practice.
Speaker C:And then a few months later I developed hydrocephalus, water on the brain and ended up having three brain surgeries in eight months and nine in that 12 years and still battling it.
Speaker B:And George, as you say, they just laughed and told you you had your bell rung, that they had no idea of the serious diagnosis.
Speaker C:Well, they did have an idea.
Speaker C:I don't buy that.
Speaker C: Because if I was a boxer in: Speaker C:They played this stupid game that they didn't know any better.
Speaker C:And everyone already knew the repercussions for, you know, return of the play with concussions, maybe not as much as they do now, but they act like it was total shock to them.
Speaker C:So I don't buy that.
Speaker C:They just wanted to keep you on the field as long as they could, and then once you're used up, they just replace you.
Speaker C:That's their model.
Speaker B:That was the modus operandi in the NFL at that time.
Speaker B:Now, you had three emergency brain surgeries in eight months, and they even gave you last rights during the third one.
Speaker B:That's pretty serious.
Speaker C:Yeah, that one was bad.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:My first one was during September during the 81 Super bowl season.
Speaker C:I remember it was September because I turned 23 in intensive care.
Speaker C:I remember that.
Speaker C:And then between September and May, four months after the Super Bowl, I had.
Speaker C:I got arrested three different times.
Speaker C:I've never been arrested in my life.
Speaker C:And all of a sudden, I started hearing stories.
Speaker C:I'd go and have a couple beers.
Speaker C:The next thing I know, I'm and in jail hours later, no memory how I got there.
Speaker C:I go back and see the neurosurgeon at Stanford in May, four months after the Super Bowl.
Speaker C:I tell him about what's going on.
Speaker C:He tells me this month of my surgery.
Speaker C:I said, well, I've never had problems having a few beer.
Speaker C:So they do a CAT scan on my brain.
Speaker C:I told him, I'm leaving from Mexico tomorrow to go fishing with my brother.
Speaker C:He says, I do a CAT scan.
Speaker C:He said, you look fine.
Speaker C:No problem.
Speaker C:Leave the country.
Speaker C:We got drinking.
Speaker C:No problem.
Speaker C:We fly down there that night.
Speaker C:I have one margarita at dinner, and I started getting pounding headaches.
Speaker C:I went back to the room I was sharing with my brother, and his wife was down there with us.
Speaker C:And they stayed out a couple hours, and they come back in a couple hours later.
Speaker C:I'm going into a coma.
Speaker C:My last memory was pounding headache.
Speaker C:I had a bald light in front of each eye.
Speaker C:My hearing was coming and going with a speed of my heart.
Speaker C:My head was ready to pop.
Speaker C:And by the time my brother Mel gets in the room I'm in what they call a walking coma.
Speaker C:I'm like a zombie walking around, puking all over, man, can't see, eyes dilated.
Speaker C:That started the beginning of a freaking 38 year legal, physical, cognitive nightmare.
Speaker B:That's exactly what it sounds like.
Speaker B:George.
Speaker B:George Visger with us tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Now, the hospital bills, they really mounted for you.
Speaker C:Yeah, so Mel got me home from Mexico and I had another brain surgery.
Speaker C:And 10 hours later that shunt went out and they rushed me back in giving me a third brain surgery.
Speaker C:That's when they brought in the precision last night of 23.
Speaker C:And I come out of that.
Speaker C:And to this day, I still have no memory of the next 16, 18 months of my life.
Speaker C:My first recollection was hospital bills.
Speaker C:And I would write on please build campus for 49.
Speaker C:I was so out of it, just that I didn't even think of going back to the 49ers.
Speaker C:Just one minute I'm on the scene, the next thing I know it's a year and a half, two years later and I'm living in Sacramento.
Speaker C:No memory of that year and a half.
Speaker C:I never went back.
Speaker C:So anyway, when my memory did come back, my first recollection was hospital bills.
Speaker C:And I write on them, please build San Francisco 49ers.
Speaker C:I wrote their address so many times, I still remember it to this day.
Speaker C:711 Nevada Street, Redwood City.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:And a week or so later I'd get the bill back from the miners and all they'd write was due out this amount.
Speaker C:I can't remember what it was, but it was more than I made include my few years in the NFL, I'll tell you that much.
Speaker C:So that started, that was an 82.
Speaker C:That started for 84.
Speaker C:And that same year I'd have two more surgeries on my knees repairing what the orthopedic surgeon screwed up that same season in 81, from battling cutters, cutters on me, that potential lawsuit fighting for my work comp.
Speaker C:I finally won that in 86.
Speaker C:And they offered me 35,000.
Speaker C:And I told them very politely where to put it right.
Speaker C:I want what every injured employee has earned.
Speaker C:I want my past medical paid.
Speaker C:I want my future medical left open.
Speaker C:And thank you God, I did.
Speaker C:Because I've had time, six more brain surgeries since then.
Speaker C:And I said, and because I can no longer function in my capacity as an employee of the 49ers, I don't call myself a player.
Speaker C:I was an employee.
Speaker C:They are obliged by law to retrain me in A field of work where I make, quote, unquote, a comparable amount of money.
Speaker C:This is called vocational rehab.
Speaker C:And so we went through a big back and forth and they finally agreed.
Speaker C:I went back and forth to school.
Speaker C:I'm living in Sacramento all the time.
Speaker C:I went back to school at Sacramento State to finish my biology degree.
Speaker C:I have had four years of biology in Colorado, but I got drafted by the jets before I completed my degree.
Speaker C:So I go back to school, four more semesters of chemistry and one 10 month period.
Speaker C:86, 87, 10 months.
Speaker C:I had five more emergency brain surgery, several grandma fever, developed dyslexia, major short term memory disease.
Speaker C:Took me five more years to graduate.
Speaker C:32.
Speaker C:Methodology.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:I started work as a wildlife biologist.
Speaker C:That was my second dream.
Speaker C: That was in: Speaker C:In 93 that shut, blew out.
Speaker C:I had my diaglass surgery and I went back to work as a biologist, got married and then got married.
Speaker C:We got married in 95 and I taught high school for CDN.
Speaker B:Tell us, George, a little bit about your career in biological conservation as a wildlife biologist.
Speaker B:Give us a little rundown on what you did then.
Speaker C:Oh, I say I love being a biologist.
Speaker C:So I, I got paid.
Speaker C:I worked for a company, Jones Sacramento, and they're now icf, Jones and Stokes, a big, big company.
Speaker C:So I was a wildlife biologist and I was the only person in the company that was labeled permanent part time.
Speaker C:I had no set hours, but I had full benefits and all I did was field work.
Speaker C:So I would work 10 days on, four days off, and I would be doing Anything from Chronicle 30 Cent Surveys to Electroshock screen surveys to radio telemetry, deer studies to oxy, you name it.
Speaker C:I worked with all kinds of critters and loved it up and down the state.
Speaker C:Did a lot of owl studies and what happened?
Speaker C:So I did that for years.
Speaker C:It just didn't happen.
Speaker C:Doing my thing I didn't care about.
Speaker B:We're talking to George Visger tonight on Sports Talk New York about traumatic brain injury, a serious topic that's arisen in the NFL during the last several years and some actions finally being taken on it.
Speaker B: h, you had a ninth surgery in: Speaker C:Yeah, I went in that brain surgery.
Speaker C:That one was like, I think had surgery like on Saturday and I left the hospital Sunday, I'm looking in my old diary notes.
Speaker C:And the next day, Monday, I'm out duck hunting.
Speaker C:I had a nice double on mallards, I wrote.
Speaker C:So I jumped right back.
Speaker C:And sometimes if they went smooth, I got right back in the saddle.
Speaker C:In fact, you know, so I went back to work as a biologist and then taught, like I said, high school for two and a half years after I got married.
Speaker C: o work back as a biologist in: Speaker C:We were the first privately owned for profit mitigation banking company in the nation.
Speaker C:So we would build by property and we store native wetlands habitats, thermal pools, oak woodlands, and then sell credits to developers that needed to offset their impacts on the development.
Speaker C:So I was the land manager at Wildlands for a few years and then I went off and started my own environmental consulting business in 03 Vista & Associates.
Speaker C: And then in about: Speaker C:That's.
Speaker B:I wanted to ask you, George, what's the situation during this time when you're forming your own environmental consulting company, teaching high school?
Speaker B:What are the 49ers doing about your bills and what do they have to say about everything?
Speaker C:They have nothing to say about it.
Speaker C:I never got a freaking so much as a sorry to hear you back in the hospital card on any of my brain surgeries.
Speaker C:What I would get from them is bills on a change.
Speaker C:And all of a sudden, and after winning what comp cases claim, everything would go fine.
Speaker C:And every few years, all of a sudden I'd go to get my anti seizure med filed and I start to get charged and suddenly the travelers aren't paying for this and da, da, da, get back into court.
Speaker C:It just went on for decades, battle after battle after battle.
Speaker C: Literally from: Speaker C:For doctor prescribed treatment, it was just a constant.
Speaker C:I was 23, 22 in Ms.
Speaker C:Brain surgery.
Speaker C:I was 61 when I finally settled my work computer.
Speaker B:Ugly.
Speaker B:Ah, what.
Speaker B:What a situation, George.
Speaker B:What a life.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And the 49ers are doing nothing, folks.
Speaker B:Throughout this whole, this whole period, as George said, till he's 60 years old, things finally get settled.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B: with frontal lobe dementia in: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And what did that cost you?
Speaker B:That cost you a lot.
Speaker C:Well, things were going downhill.
Speaker C:My memory was just.
Speaker C:I live out of notebook.
Speaker C:Even those won't work anymore.
Speaker C: In: Speaker C:And I asked him, I said, what are you talking about?
Speaker C:I have three small kids, I'm trying to run a business.
Speaker C:He said, well, you're never even getting better.
Speaker C: You have dementia: Speaker C:And we ended up going down to Dr.
Speaker C:Amen's clinic for three days neurocog evaluation seven hours a day.
Speaker C:They evaluated three days and came up with a game plan.
Speaker C:I was already starting to work with Dr.
Speaker C:Various years.
Speaker C:He came to me out of the blue and was sending me some of his med will health omega 3 fish oils which are tremendous for brain injury recovery.
Speaker C:And Dr.
Speaker C:Berry, did Dr.
Speaker C:Engelman recommend hyperbaric oxygen treatments?
Speaker C:Among many other things.
Speaker C:I started on hyperbarics.
Speaker C:I was doing high dose omega 3 fish oils, natural antioxidants to reduce inflammation in my brain.
Speaker C:Things like cranberry juices, blueberry juices.
Speaker C:I was doing memory games and puzzles.
Speaker C:I was working my brain like a muscle.
Speaker C:And after every 40 hyperbaric treatments I would go back down to Amen clinic and undergo a seven hour neurocog evaluation.
Speaker C:After my hundred in 60th treatment, my neurocog memory scores had improved 14.3% and I quit all my dementia meds and I was in like my mid to late 50s.
Speaker C:And I'm improving and I'm near decades after the digital never improve.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I continued.
Speaker C:I've had probably 260 some odd hyperbaric treatments now I'm 67 years old I believe and still rolling.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we're fortunate that you are.
Speaker B:We're with George Visger tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:He's written a book called Facing Giants about traumatic brain injuries and just his ordeal that he experienced for much of his life trying to fight the NFL and trying to get really cause for justification here for all he's been through.
Speaker B:Now one good thing that came of it, George, is you met Jennifer.
Speaker C:I tell you, there's a lot of good things that have come.
Speaker C:I've been blessed this whole journey.
Speaker C:Another great thing if it wasn't for my brain injury.
Speaker C:So way back in 93 after I'd had just, you know, I've already had eight, I've already eight brain surgeries don't mind going to my knife and I was just so frustrated.
Speaker C:I was just always on the verge of, I told the doctor said man, I'm on the verge of just going off on someone.
Speaker C:And so they recommended, they said, you need to Join the gym.
Speaker C:So I joined the gym and there lo and behold, I met Christy Kessler and little Stephanie Kessler.
Speaker C:Steph was two and ended up marrying both of them four years.
Speaker C:Two years later.
Speaker C:So because of and then Christy and I, we were married for 17 years and we had two more beautiful kids.
Speaker C:Amanda who just graduated from Sac State a couple years ago and gave the commencement speech.
Speaker C:My son Jack who just graduated two weeks ago and was already hired full time with an environmental technology firm.
Speaker C:And I've got my little stuff who I fell in love with her when she was 2 and married her and her mom because of my brain injury.
Speaker C:I have this beautiful family.
Speaker C: And then Fast forward to: Speaker C:After numerous work caught hearings and battles and skills, while I'm living there getting treatment, I joined a gym and I meet the love of my life, Jennifer, who we got married three years ago, moved out here to Idaho.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker C:Literally because of my injury.
Speaker C:And Jennifer and Christy are amazing.
Speaker C:They love each other.
Speaker C:They're so thankful for each other because of my injury.
Speaker C:I have the most amazing family.
Speaker C:I love the death.
Speaker C:I'm proud of.
Speaker C:I wouldn't have any of them had I not been injured.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker B:I was going to say, George, you would probably not trade anything that happened to you during your life for your family, would you?
Speaker C:No, I wouldn't.
Speaker D:Not at all.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:I can see that.
Speaker B:George Visger with us tonight again on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Facing Giants is the book.
Speaker B: ed Giants two out of three on: Speaker B:What happened with those guys?
Speaker C: year or two prior to that, in: Speaker C:Jason Lukashevich, an attorney back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called me right after the GT magazine on Dr.
Speaker C:Mallow.
Speaker C:The magazine article was called Game Brain, the NFL Cover Up Brain.
Speaker C:So Jason Lusevich worked for a firm back out in, in Pittsburgh, Kirsty White.
Speaker C:And anyway, so he called me up and said he's looking into a potential class action.
Speaker C:I said well find your boy to talk to.
Speaker C:So Jason was the one that instigated this the entire he started that whole what ended up being a billion dollar plus lawsuit that the NFL law.
Speaker C:And Jason, like I said, there's a lot of other big firms that stepped in and took claims.
Speaker C:Jason was the one that filed the very first suit.
Speaker C:There were 55 of us on the first suit on the 22nd main plaintiff.
Speaker C:And I was one of seven guys who flew back to Trust Club in Washington, D.C.
Speaker C:that he unveiled the suit.
Speaker C:So that suit came out then.
Speaker C:That was one.
Speaker C: ep track, but probably, like,: Speaker C:But I was gonna get, like, 20% of what I qualified for.
Speaker C:I was gonna get a little chunk or something.
Speaker C:But I was homeless.
Speaker C:I'd been homeless for years.
Speaker C:I slept on the floor to have a dirt clinic for two and a half years.
Speaker C:I slept in my brother's trailer for a year.
Speaker C:I slept wherever I could.
Speaker C:And so I'm going to get this settlement.
Speaker C:And I'm thinking, okay, great.
Speaker C:And my kids, they slept on couches and airbeds at Grandma, commuted an hour each way to school.
Speaker C:You know, my family went through hell.
Speaker C:Well, here is.
Speaker C:I'm going to get this little settlement, and I'm going to get my family back in a home.
Speaker C:And within a week of me being approved for the NFL settlement, the Travelers filed a $615,000 lien on my NFL settlement, which was even more than I was even going to get.
Speaker C:So, in 19, we finally come to court.
Speaker C:We go to a mediation hearing.
Speaker C:We're going to try to remove the lien from the NFL drain pursuit and then settle my.
Speaker C:My work comp.
Speaker C:Me and work comp.
Speaker C:Drain pursuit once and for all.
Speaker B:Outstanding.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Oh, the problem was so 19 when I beat them.
Speaker C:The NFL grossed 19 billion, and the travelers grossed $26.3 billion.
Speaker B:Not too bad.
Speaker C:They're, like, 50% bigger than the NFL.
Speaker C:Yeah, they're freaking monstrous.
Speaker B:Well, George, I'll tell you, you're not the first guy we've had on the show about traumatic brain injuries, God rest his soul.
Speaker B:Conrad Dobler has been with us.
Speaker B:Joe de lamalore is a Hall of Famer, and these guys have been through similar.
Speaker B:I can't say as serious as you, but again, folks, it is a tough subject, but George, as he said, has been blessed beyond his wildest imagination.
Speaker B:Everyone is back together.
Speaker B:Everyone's healthy.
Speaker B:George, the folks can get the book@georgevisker.com correct?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Now, that's the.
Speaker C:The limited edition person signed hardcover copies.
Speaker C:They were only going to make 200, but I think they've already sold more than that right now.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker C:They may be out before.
Speaker C:They may be making more, but if not, the paperback version could be at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and various bookstores coming up.
Speaker C:Wonderful.
Speaker B:All right, George, outstanding.
Speaker B:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker B:Thank you for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us.
Speaker B:Here at Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:George.
Speaker B:Don't forget, folks, the great book is called facing giants my 38 year battle.
Speaker B:George Visger, thanks again.
Speaker C:Hey, thanks for having me on, bud.
Speaker C:Take care.
Speaker B:That's George Visger, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker B:That'll do it for me tonight on Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:I'd like to thank my great guest, Rino Monteforte.
Speaker B:And George, George Bisker, my engineer, Brian Graves, and of course, you guys for joining us.
Speaker B:We'll see you on Sunday, June 22, for more sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Till then, be safe, be well.
Speaker B:Bill Donahue, wishing you a good evening, folks.
Speaker A:The views expressed in the previous program did not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgb.
