Skip to main content

Jay Gruden: Proud to Say We Knew Him When


Jay Gruden/courtesy CBS

My high school quarterback, Jay Gruden, was named head coach of the Washington Redskins today.
There’s something awfully cool seeing a childhood classmate make it big like this.

Our Tampa, Florida public high school was massive. Several of our classmates have emerged celebrities: actor Robert Gant, drummer/D.J. Ravi Jakhotia, Florida Representative Karen Castor, celebrity pharmacist Lauren Fallieras among them.

My Alma Mater in Tampa, Florida



                                                     (Lauren, you have always been a star!)

Yet there’s something about the enormity of and seemingly universal love for sport that makes Jay Gruden’s promotion extra special.

Jay’s made it to the top. He's not an accessory to his big brother. Jay is the head coach of his own NFL team. And perhaps we feel that somehow, he's taken a part of us high school hooligans with him. 
Way to go, Jay.
Your Chamberlain Chiefs are rooting you on!
High school-era Jay Gruden

Comments

  1. LaurieWKightJanuary 9, 2014 at 6:29 PM

    I fondly remember cheering for Jay from the stands. Great for him!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 10, 2014 at 4:20 AM

    I was in the flag corps 1985 we went to every friday night game. Go chiefs. Congradulations jay.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DjJanuary 10, 2014 at 4:57 AM

    Very happy for Jay - but that Fallieras gal is a STAR!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LeeFebruary 10, 2015 at 11:51 AM

    Aasif Mandvi Was also a Chief class of 1984 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541902/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Little Blonde Girl

The first week of my first tv anchor job, my milk came in ten minutes before the start of the early morning newscast. My newborn daughter was just three months old. I recall standing in my nursing bra and skirt in the tiny station bathroom, frantically blow-drying the massive wet spots from my periwinkle Casual Corner blazer. That little girl turns 25 this Friday. One of my most vivid memories of Nicole Elizabeth’s childhood-- of which there are millions-- was her first day of 7th grade in a massive middle school outside of Dallas, Texas. We had moved mid-year from Phoenix, and her dad, little brother and I were walking Nicole to her new classroom. Her future classmates were sitting on the floor outside, lined up against the hallway, waiting to leave for P.E.. As we approached, one little blonde girl shouted, “New girl, sit here!” Another joined in, “No. Sit here!” And another, “What’s your name, new girl?” I was stunned--flab
1 comment
Read more

That Time I Was Almost a Pop Star

Anri's Circuit of Rainbow music video (That's me on the right!) It was what I'd always imagined life would be like as a big-time singer. The massive, metallic stage opens like Moses parting the Red Sea...the recognizable guitar riff blaring throughout Tokyo's legendary Budokan arena. Five of us dancers on pedestals of varying heights, box-step and bounce...summoning the tens of thousands of screaming Japanese fans to get louder. Anticipation builds with every "Come on!" Let's go! Get it up!" we declare. Finally, the beloved Anri dances on to the stage...and the crowd goes wild... The year was 1988. I had dropped out of college for two semesters after a fighter-pilot-older-brother-of-my-high-school-friend told me he "saw Americans working" at Tokyo Disneyland . "You should go do that, Tracy!" he said, standing in my family's Tampa, Florida kitchen during Christmas break of my sophomore year. I called nearby D
5 comments
Read more

The REAL Botox Diaries with Gina & Tracy: Monday Motivations

From staying sane to to keeping slim, stylish and relatively wrinkle free-- this is the diary of two working TV moms. Here are most of the links we mention in this chat session: Jeff Jamison goes viral Gina Miller's blog Hermes Wallpaper Clothes Mentor.com Cashmere Eye Shadow
12 comments
Read more