First, congratulations to all fellow inductees. I am very familiar with Will, Kyle and Ian’s accomplishments as they were classmates and good friends. I greatly admired their talents as well as their modest approach to success. Plus, I will always appreciate their strong support for the football team. We could rely on the other athletes to attend our games. My induction into the Hall of Fame is simply the greatest honor of my life. I’d like to thank the Varsity Club and the Selection Committee for inviting me to join this esteemed group and, more importantly, for surrounding me with an amazing community of gifted scholar-athletes. Harvard’s reputation and top-notch academic curriculum has afforded me countless opportunities since graduating. However, it’s the time spent with my college peers (particularly the athletes) that has shaped the person I am today. They are my closest friends and those with whom I still identify the most. This may be due to the fact that we are all a bit odd; or that even without the scholarships or national recognition, we trained and played as hard as the athletes from any other D-1 program. Overall, the common bond I have with... my teammates and friends at Harvard has been tremendously rewarding. I am blessed to know the people I’d like to recognize below.
The football team each year consisted of 100+ players, so any attempt to mention all these friends would be futile……but here it goes anyway: • My host during my Harvard recruiting trip – Wayne Ryan – who through a combination of pong at the DU Club, Pinocchios, and the Spaghetti club, fooled me into believing Harvard had a lively party scene. • My phenomenal classmates Messina, Paz, Dunc, Kent, Laurence, Junger, Labo, Brads, Sulls, Dooch, Kudze, Ricky, Lechner and Storch. 5-1 our freshmen year baby! My friend, Lopez, as an “honorary” teammate (even though he played Harvard lax) for also coming here to support me tonight. • My favorite players on the team and the number one reason I am being inducted tonight – the O-LINE – including Kent/Laurence/Junger/Dooch (again), Vereb, Riley, Toby, Kap, Hansen, Garcia, Shreve, Birk, DeBloom, Jumbo, Eitz, Garg, Gola and Ratcliffe. • Fellow RBs with whom I spent way too much of my collegiate life (through film sessions, practice drills, certain gut courses, etc.) – Menick, Reardon, Kweli, Cohen, Belz, Metak, Lampkin, TJones, and Cote. • Fullbacks who, along with the o-line, were also directly responsible for any yard that I ever gained – DeGo, Dlugos, Fleisz, Ack, Sprinkle, Ricky/Storch (again). • Vin Ferrara, the best QB in the Ivy League during my era and best QB I ever had the honor to play for (Harvard) and against (high school). He kept the defenses honest and the holes big. • Younger players I’ve met through the Harvard football circle – Smalling, Laborsky, Fitzgerald, Cheng Ho, Carl, etc. Wish I could’ve played on the field with each of these friends. Although, I did play with Carl, along with Wilford, Natale, Fagan, Sands and Messina, on a touch football team for several years, which was so completely unfair for the rest of the league…..6 Zogsports championships in a row…. • Other teammates/friends that I don’t get to see often enough – Clint, Isaiah, Fanikos, Drakos, Bobby P, Comp, Chups, Colby, Bibs, Kaup, Girardi brothers, Packard, Toomey, Rino, Pono, Borgy, Frantz, Clete, Donny, Kez, Jhugs, Layden, Snow, Babs, Kane, Glenn, Jake, Larkee, Mattson, Nard, etc. If not for Clint’s willingness to organize HF outings, we all would see each other even way less than we do now. • Massive appreciation and special thanks to all my buddies who came to support me tonight. Love you guys. Thanks to Brian Hehir and all the members of the Friends of Harvard Football. Brian cares more about Harvard football than anybody I know. His relentless efforts have resulted in this strong alumni network we now enjoy at the FoHF. In 2001, he reached out and invited me to join his table at the first official NYC Harvard Football dinner. I am honored that he’s now entrusted Laborsky, Bagdis and me to run this annual event. Thanks to Jerry Jordan and Bill Cleary. Along with Coach Murphy, their help and advice have been invaluably beneficial in my career path. Jerry has provided opportunities for tons of Harvard football alums and only asks that we someday do the same for others. My admiration for Jerry Jordan’s actions is the primary reason I will continuously find ways to give back to Harvard athletics. Thanks to my colleagues at The Jordan Company who made the tremendous effort to travel here and support me for the induction. Jay Jordan, our boss and founder of TJC, played football at Notre Dame and is hands down the greatest fan and supporter of all college sports. Brad Wilford is a former teammate at Harvard, one of my best friends and the only other person who knows every name mentioned in this speech. Erik Fagan played football and baseball at Williams, but seems to have just as many Harvard friends as I do through his Roxbury Latin days. Thanks to Coach Murphy – my greatest advocate during and even after college. I have always tried to express much gratitude to those who helped me over the years. However, no words can express the degree of appreciation I have for the help and support I’ve received from Coach Murphy. I consider him family and would do anything for him. Thanks to my parents, Ching and Kathy, and sister, Hwei-ann. My parents taught me the value of hard work; they forced me away from the TV screen and onto the football field; they watched every single game I played; and they scrapped for and saved every dollar earned to provide me a private high school and top-tier college education. I owe every good fortune in my life to my parents. Hwei-ann has always been my idol. She is the most kind and giving person I know. She is the brave older sister who protected me every day through her senior year (my freshmen year) in high school. Without her, a radically larger number of upperclassmen would have picked on my big ears. Thanks Hwei. My greatest thanks to my wife, Mia. I never believed any experience could be more painful than Harvard football pre-season training camp – not even the investment banking analyst program, or anything else in the real world – until I witnessed Mia giving birth and caring for our twin boys, Owen and Jacob. Despite graduating from Brown, Mia is an enormous fan of Harvard football and its alums. I wouldn’t be nearly as active with Harvard football if not for her approval and encouragement. Thanks for loving all of my “odd” Harvard friends, sweetheart.