If there was a pro athletes getting some trim league, Pastorini would be a first ballot HOFer.
My father used to tell this story ... he had an early Monday morning meeting at one of the large firms downtown around that time - 1972 or 1973, somewhere in there - and he noticed an upside-down Jeep CJ-7 in the plaza out in front of the firm's building. It had obviously been there since the night before.
On his way into the building, my dad asked the doorman about it, and the muttered reply he got was, "Pastorini." The guy figuresd that was all he had to say, by way of explanation.
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My uncle was a priest in Houston then, and somehow got himself appointed team chaplain, or whatever it was called. The Oilers were really terrible at the time - this was the Bill Petersen-early Sid Gillman era.
Anyway, the players my uncle was closest to were Pastorini and Fred Willis and a couple of others, which seemed odd to me. Three or four of the team's wildest off-field guys, hanging around with a priest. Then again, knowing my uncle, maybe not so odd ...
Anyway, I was 12 or 13 at the time. Very impressionable. We got to go to the team pre-game breakfasts, which was cool. I remember the morning Pastorini walked in with June Wilkinson on his arm. Jesus! I was a big pro football fan then, knew all the players and their stats, etc. I don't know what my impression of Pastorini was up until then. Probably about the same as the one you posted here above. But after seeing his girlfriend, I decided he should be in somebody's hall of fame, for that alone.
That woman was
impressive looking, up close.
