Friday afternoon I was preparing and doing my homework for the Dawson-Boyd and YME football game later that evening in Granite Falls. 

I often check schools social media platforms for information that maybe I could use on the broadcast. As I was scrolling Facebook I came across a post from my Facebook friend Tammy McCosh from Granite Falls saying that Larry Cole was planning to be at the YME football game. I had to read it again to make sure I read it correctly. I suddenly got excited!!

Who’s Larry Cole, you might ask. If you’re my age or older and have lived in this area most of your life and you are a big football fan you might have heard the name of Larry Cole. Larry graduated from Granite Falls High School in 1964. Larry was a very good athlete for the Killowatts. He told me he was a better basketball player than a football player. He went on to play college football at the Air Force Academy,  University of Houston and ended up at the University of Hawaii. In 1968 he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He played on the defensive line for the Cowboys from 1968 to 1981. Larry played in 5 Super Bowls and has two championship rings. He had a great career and played with some of the biggest names in NFL history.

When I was in high school in the early 1970’s, I followed Larry Cole’s career closely. I was not a Cowboys fan at all, but when the Cowboys were on TV I cheered for Larry. It was so cool to see a local person playing in the NFL and doing great things. So, when I saw Tammy’s Facebook post that Larry was going to be at the YME and Dawson-Boyd football game Friday night I was making it my mission to meet him and ask him if he would like to be my halftime guest.

When I arrived in Granite Falls Friday night I headed for the press box and the first person I ran into was YME Activities Director Tim Knapper. I said “Tim, I heard Larry Cole is here tonight!” Tim confirmed it and I asked him if he could introduce me to him or ask him to come to the press box at halftime and be my guest. Tim said he definitely would. I set my radio equipment up and my broadcast partner Duane Hastad showed up and I explained to Duane that we might have Larry Cole as a halftime guest.

Just before we were going to go on the air, Larry showed up in our press box. I introduced myself and asked him if he would like to visit with us at halftime. He said it would be his pleasure to visit with us. I was super pumped! I was about to visit with a legend of the NFL. He played in 5 Super Bowls!! Not many NFL players can say that.

Halftime came and Larry, Duane and I just had a really nice visit on the air. I had nothing planned. We just talked like we were sitting in my living room. He talked about playing with the great Bob Lily, Roger Stauback, Ed Too Tall Jones, and what Coach Tom Landry was like. I could have listened to him for hours. The fifteen minutes went fast. But what a thrill for me. Larry was very kind and it was almost embarrassing at how many times I thanked him for taking the time to visit with me. Larry was home for his 60th class reunion and it was the 1st time he had been back to the high school football field since he graduated.  What a night!!

Listen to our halftime interview