Heading for home
From Seaver to Gifford, Richter to Rashad, many sports stars have built lives in town over the years
GREENWICH — One news event this week elated Mets fans. Another saddened them.
Both had a strong connection to Greenwich.
The long- and often-suffering backers of the team from Queens were heartened early in the week to learn Greenwich resident Steve Cohen was again in serious talks to buy the Mets. Thoughts of ownership by someone with the billionaire’s resources and evident enthusiasm had them dreaming of future glories.
But their revery was soon tinged with sorrow — and many suddenly bittersweet memories — when they learned Wednesday that Tom Seaver had died. In Greenwich, some felt the sadness deeply, for they had known the Mets great during the 25-plus years he had lived here.
The confluence of events threw into relief a fact that has become simply normal to Greenwich residents, but wouldn’t be most anywhere else: A remarkable number of professional athletes, including some of the biggest names in sports over the past half-century, have chosen to make their home within town’s 67 square miles.
For decades, pro athletes have moved to Greenwich during their careers. Many have remained after. They have raised families, built businesses, joined clubs, supported charities and sent their children to school in town.
A few who went on to play at the professional level were born and learned their sports in Greenwich.
Baseball, football, hockey, basketball, figure skating, tennis — athletes from across the spectrum shopped on Greenwich Avenue, visited Greenwich Point and ate in Old Greenwich restaurants.
Seaver, who moved to Greenwich in 1970, his house purchased with bonus money from the Mets’ recent World Series victory, was a relatively early arrival as sports stars go, and reportedly encouraged others to join him here.
“He brought me to play golf at Greenwich Country Club,” said Craig Swan, a Mets pitcher from 1973-84, who lived in town for 20 years starting in 1980. The business he started here, Greenwich Rolfing, is currently located at 296 Sound Beach Ave. in Old Greenwich and still run by his son.
“I think it was the first time I saw anywhere that had so many trees,” Swan said. “Tom and I played in all the different clubs in Greenwich.”
Swan is an avid sailor who enjoyed the waters of Long Island Sound. “Greenwich had great schools, too,” he said. “My son excelled there and went off and got his degree at Dartmouth.”
Over the years, Mets players including Joel Youngblood, Lee Mazzilli, George Foster, Billy Wagner, Tom Glavine, Carlos Delgado, David Cone, Pedro Martinez and Bobby Bonilla were Greenwich residents. Pittsburgh Pirates great and longtime Mets broadcaster Ralph Kiner lived here, too. Tim Teufel, who played for the Mets from 1986-91, was born and educated in town.
“A lot of athletes look for a very successful town to live in,” said Mark Pruner, a longtime resident and executive with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. “Greenwich also has some of the most beautiful homes in the New York metropolitan area, with a lot of land and good privacy.”
The latter has often been cited as a lure for the famous across all fields, not just sports.
“In Greenwich, it’s not considered a cool thing to run up to someone and ask for an autograph,” Pruner said. “The great thing about Greenwich for the athletes is that they are treated like regular folks, and they generally act like regular folks. I give them credit: They go out of their way to support the community.”
The Realtor sold former NFL star Ahmad Rashad’s Greenwich backcountry house and has dealt with several other athletes as well.
“Most of them come from areas where the prices aren’t as high, so if they’re not holding down huge salaries, they’re surprised at how expensive things are,” Pruner said. “But others get excited about all the different options and the opportunity for them to buy their dream house.”
Belle Haven, Andrews Farm Road, Conyers Farm, Harbor Point and Mead Point are some of the especially sought-after spots in town.
“The funny thing is, a lot of athletes or celebrities often come here by referral and they won’t necessarily tell you who they are,” said Pruner, who noted that August was the company’s second-highest month ever in sales. “If it’s a sport that you’re not familiar with, you won’t know who they are.”
While the Mets are probably the most-represented team among Greenwich residents, they certainly aren’t the only one. Some baseball players and coaches who lived here currently make their commute to the stadium in the Bronx. New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole purchased a home in Greenwich recently, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone is also a resident. Former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has lived in town for more than a decade.
Former NBA greats Gail Goodrich, Isiah Thomas and Allan Houston are among the basketball stars that have called Greenwich their home.
The town has drawn plenty of professional hockey players too, mostly New York Rangers, including Mike Richter, Mark Messier, Pat LaFontaine, Martin St. Louis, Alexei Kovalev, Dave Maloney and Brad Richards.
“I knew the area from when I played for the Rangers,” said Richter, who flourished as a goalie for the Rangers for 15 seasons. “Our practice facilities were in Rye, N.Y., back then, so some of my teammates lived in the area and I loved it.”
Richter lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during his Rangers career, but after his third child was born, he and his family decided to settle down in an area outside the city.
“Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, all of them loved it,” Richter said of their Greenwich experience. “It’s big enough to feel like a big town and small enough to navigate through pretty easily.”
The president of the Armonk, N.Y.-based company Brightcore, Richter enjoys the benefit of having a short commute home to Greenwich each day. His oldest son attended Brunswick School, as does his youngest, Beanie, a forward on the Bruins’ hockey team. His middle son goes to Eagle Hill School.
“I’m very impressed with the schools in Greenwich,” said Richter, whose sons attended Cos Cob, Riverside and Whitby schools as youngsters. “The schools in the area provide great opportunities for kids.”
The hockey community is also an asset, Richter said.
“There are a lot of Rangers fans; there has always been a huge Ranger following,” he said. “The town has been tremendously supportive to the sport, with easy access to ice. There are a lot of surfaces within 10, 15 minutes of each other. My boys grew up skating at the Greenwich Boys & Girls Club and there are places like the Greenwich Skating Club, Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink and Chelsea Piers Connecticut, which is close, that are great.”
Monica Collins, a real estate agent at Greenwichbased Anderson Associates, has helped plenty of pro athletes find their Greenwich home.
“It’s a great place to raise your children,” Collins said. “Greenwich is close to all the practice facilities and arenas and it’s also close to Westchester Airport.”
Collins has seen plenty of athletes become part of the fabric of the town.
“They volunteer in schools, both public and private, and they really become part of the community,” she said. “I can’t stress enough that once they move here, even if they’re transferred to some other areas, a lot of times they keep their roots here. Even if life takes them someplace else, they seem to keep their home here.”
Among those who got their starts here, all Greenwich natives, are NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young, Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona, Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Dorothy Hamill, NBA star Donovan Mitchell, former NFL center John Sullivan, NHL players Cam Atkinson and Kevin Shattenkirk and former Team USA Olympic hockey player Helen Resor.
Young is not the only person inducted into Canton who also has lived in Greenwich. Other NFL Hall of Famers who have lived here include the late Frank Gifford and Nick Buoniconti.
Gifford, an NFL Hall of Famer who played for the New York Giants for 12 seasons, lived near Greenwich Point in Old Greenwich for more than 30 years with his wife, TV host Kathie Lee Gifford, and their two children.
Steve Thurlow was Giants teammate of Gifford’s for one season and played with the squad for three others, before competing for Washington. Employed in the Financial District in Manhattan, Thurlow and his wife lived in Old Greenwich for 43 years.
“We moved there because the school system was very good,” said Thurlow. “Greenwich has a very good public school system and the private schools are also great.”
His wife, Christopher, enjoyed the opportunities Greenwich featured.
“She was very active in the garden club and she was a registrar of voters,” Thurlow said. “She became the vice chair of Nathaniel Witherell and was very up-to-date on what was going on around town.”
Thurlow’s kids grew up playing sports at the Old Greenwich-Riverside Civic Center and were collegiate athletes. His daughter, Katie Johnson, coaches lacrosse at Greenwich Academy, a team on which her daughter, Ellie, competes. One of Thurlow’s grandsons, Charlie, is a lacrosse and football standout at Brunswick School.
Though Thurlow lives in Vero Beach, Florida, he and his wife travel up to Connecticut to see their grandchildren play sports.
“We have so many good friends here,” said Thurlow, who was president of the Connecticut chapter of the NFL Alumni Association for 12 years. “We’re still members at Innis Arden and we’ve always felt so comfortable up in Connecticut. We loved living on the water in Old Greenwich; it was the best place to be. I never worried for a second about the safety of my family.”
Robin Kencel is a founding real estate agent at Compass Greenwich, and also an athlete — having won six national ballroom dancing titles in 17 years.
“Being a competitive athlete myself, I can appreciate and understand the needs and often unique requirements of a professional athlete,” said Kencel, a real estate broker at Compass. “The most obvious draw to Greenwich is its proximity to a training facility, particular coach, or team.”
Kencel said many of the athletes and celebrities whom she’s worked with have been referred by others.
“I find that this clientele appreciates that Greenwich is not unfamiliar with wellknown figures and that they can enjoy a meal on Greenwich Avenue or head into Richards without drawing attention.”