Pastorini welcomes his ‘most rewarding award’
Backbone of memorable ‘Luv Ya Blue’ Oilers of 40 years ago never forgot special time here
He walked through the training room door looking like he just stepped off a Hollywood set or away from a magazine shoot.
Perfect long, floppy hair. Skintight 1970s pants. Leading-man good looks. Killer smile. A stride so confident, yet so easy. He owned the look. Owned the room, too.
Robert Brazile looked up. He had signed his rookie contract in 1975 and was ready to ease into the routine. He had no clue who the guy was, only, well, it was someone you need to know.
A few minutes later, that someone walked straight over to him. It was Dan Pastorini. “The look on his face, the way he carried himself, you knew he was someone important,” Brazile said. “He walked up, introduced himself to me and told me ‘Welcome to the Houston Oilers.’ He said if I needed anything, he was there for me and was there to support me. And said he’d heard nothing but good things about me.”’ He paused. “That’s how we became friends. And ever since then, he’s been a man of his word.”’
Pastorini did indeed own the locker room back then. He nurtured and led a team that had turned the corner from back-toback 1-13 seasons to an up-andcoming .500 team to the Bum Phillips era.
Just four years later, with Bum on the sideline and rookie Earl Campbell in the backfield, Pastorini and a hard-hitting, no-nonsense team known as the Luv Ya Blue Oilers would own the city.
“Football in this town is not a sport, it’s a religion,” Pastorini said. “And people identified. And it wasn’t just the football team — it was the city, it was the coaching, the players. Everybody was in this thing together. I’’s the most unified I’ve ever seen this city.”
Forty years later, Pastorini doesn’t go a day without someone coming up to shake his hand and thank him for those amazing two years when the Oilers captured Houston’s collective heart.
Starting with that iconic win over Miami on Monday Night Football in November 1978 and ending with a heartbreaking controversial loss to Pittsburgh in a second consecutive AFC title game, it was one long pop-up moment like no other — an amazing few years filled with a sea of Columbia Blue pompons, a cast of future Hall of Fame players, a down-home, one-of-a-kind coach and a passion that bonded Houston with its football team.
“It was everything,” Pastorini said. “It was the most special time of my life.”
‘Like a big brother’
Pastorini was the soul of that team — a leader who had been through the worst and saw something special happening inside the locker room; a front-man who left the cover-boy persona at the door; a tough-as-nails player who took care of those around him.
“He was the backbone of the team,” Brazile said. “I know Bum ran the team, but Dan was the one who kept us all together.” Still does. Every year the Luv Ya Blue cast rolls into town for Pastorini’s celebrity golf tournament and gala benefitting the Be An Angel. They wouldn’t miss it.
And Wednesday night, a number of players in that cast will be at the Hilton Americas as Pastorini enters the Houston Sports Hall Fame with Jackie Burke, A.J. Foyt and George Foreman.
“I’m so happy and so proud of him,’” Brazile said. “I hope he soaks it all in. I hope he enjoys the moment because it’s well deserved and long overdue.’’
A year ago, Pastorini took the same stage at the Houston Sports Awards to introduce Campbell as a member of the first class of the Houston hall. He had more than a little fun with Campbell, who never could remember the count when the offense lined up. Pastorini chuckled that he walked up under center with his arm behind him showing two fingers so Earl would know when the snap was coming.
A joke? Maybe so. But that was — and still is — Pastorini.
Campbell hated it when Pastorini called a pass to him. He almost had a fear of it. But when he did catch a few key passes one year against New England, Pastorini was the first one in front him on the sidelines pumping him up.
“I remember telling him that’s what I’ve been trying to do with you all along,” Pastorini said. “If you could catch the ball better, I could get you into the second layer and all you have is little safeties to run over instead of these big defensive linemen and linebackers.”
And when Bum had asked his team to get a couple first downs and run out the clock at the end of at Miami game in 1978 and, well, Campbell went 81 yards up the right side for a touchdown? It was Pastorini apologizing to Bum for not running out the clock.
Bum said that was OK. Seven points worked, too.
“He was like a big brother,” Brazile said. “He looked out for all of us. No one could ever say Dan was a selfish guy. He was a team-oriented quarterback and he took care of all of us, not just the players, but the coaches also. When he called you my brother, he meant you were his brother.”
Watched out for teammates
And he took care of his team — on the field and off of it.
“If someone was giving Dan a pair of boots, he had to give out another 150 pair of boots to every teammate and coach,” Brazile said. “If some car dealership was giving him a car to drive around, he made sure the team got the same deals he did.
“He had everything going for him, but he had time for each and every person in that organization.”
Over the years, Pastorini has been there as so many of those teammates went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — Brazile, Curley Culp, Elvin Bethea and Campbell. Now, it’s Pastorini’s turn.
“It’s the most rewarding award I’ve ever received,” Pastorini said. “Ever.”
Pastorini, who turns 70 later
Four for the Hall
Ffour athletes will be inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at the Hilton Americas. Inductees: Former Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini, pro golfer Jackie Burke, auto racing legend A.J. Foyt and former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman comprise this year’s Houston Sports Hall of Fame class. this year, looks back at those years and remembers the good times, not the trade that took him to Oakland in 1980 where he broke his leg five weeks into the season and sat while the Raiders went on to win the Super Bowl.
Today, Pastorini is still as handsome as ever and stands out in a crowd. But he’s softer, more easygoing and concentrating on his charitable work, friends and his spice company — Dan Pastorini Quality Foods.
“I’m certainly a lot more mature and a lot more thankful for the blessings I’ve had,” he said. “
“I just liked doing what I did. I liked being the quarterback in the greatest city in the world. I haven’t left here. When I left there was a lot of angst, misunderstanding toward me, but I gravitated back here because I just love the people here, I love the city.
“And now, it’s going to be special to have the Hall of Fame here to show that we were here and we did this here. It’s the greatest thing this city has ever seen.”