CURBSTONE Cowboys have Youngstown tie in Fitch's Guyan

His part-time job is preparing the NFL's equipment on game day.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- The NFL is such a big business that even members of a team's equipment staff have to be specialized and trained to meet the team's demands.
Bob Guyan of Youngstown, a part-time member of the Dallas Cowboys' equipment staff for the past four years, told the Curbstone Coaches Monday that he strives to maintain the high standards that are required of him.
"I [am] fortunate to be with a team that I grew up loving," said Guyan, an Austintown Fitch High graduate and former member of the Youngstown State football equipment staff, who was the Curbstone's guest speaker at its weekly luncheon session at the Lockwood House.
Guyan, a high school football official who also is involved with the Ohio Kiwanis and is a U.S. Army veteran, is part of the Cowboys' five-man equipment staff that includes three full-time employees. Guyan is one of two part-timers assigned to work games.
Guyan said the NFL demands order and perfection from the equipment staff in the logistics of running a team, just like in the military, and that the high-paid players expect royal treatment and get it.
Begins with equipment
His job all begins with equipment -- providing it, maintaining it and transporting it.
"We travel with 13,000 pounds of equipment, then add 2,000 pounds for outdoor gear if we are not playing indoors. Guyan said the team practices at Valley Ranch but plays its home games in Texas Stadium, and doesn't leave equipment there after a game.
He said the team carries players' equipment in lockers on trucks to where ever they are playing.
"We have 63 players lockers to check and make sure all equipment is packed," he said. "We have 14 different helmet styles with a shield or no shield. The players have five different kinds of socks, and you have to know what socks each player likes."
He said players wear a variety of special shoes, and that the staff has to have each player's shoes ready.
Cuts holes in shoes
But he said that many of these same shoes get cut up before the game starts.
"We have to cut a hole in new $80 shoes for some of the players to prevent them from getting turf-toe," said Guyan, who worked for equipment manager Carmine Cassese at YSU.
Then he became certified at a clinic sponsored by the American Society of Equipment Managers to help open the doors to an NFL career.
Footballs, of course, are a big part of his job.
Guyan said the home team in the NFL must supply 60 footballs for a home game, and when the team goes on the road, it must bring its own practice and warm-up balls.
He noted that balls used strictly for kicking come directly from the factory packed in a specially-marked boxes wrapped with red tape to prevent tampering, and cannot be opened prior to the game.
"We set up everything in the player's locker except for his jersey and helmet," said Guyan, who has multiple other duties, including weatherman.
"We go to the stadium to check the sun and wind and [satellite-controlled] weather dishes," he said, because that information could help the team in the game.
kovach@vindy.com