Eddie DeBartolo Jr. is ‘hall’ pick

By Joe Scalzo

He will enter the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in a new achievement category.

File this one in the “Problems you’d love to have” file.

Not long ago, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. was told he’d been elected to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame — the organization’s first non-athlete or coach to be inducted, by the way — and he had to decide on his induction speaker.

His first choice, Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, passed away last July, and his list of possibilities included guys like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott.

As you might imagine, it was a tough decision. But, then, who among us hasn’t had this problem at some point?

“It was tough because you spend so much time together, at least I do, with my ex-players,” said DeBartolo, who spoke by phone earlier this week from his ranch in Montana. “I was sort of in between a rock and a hard place.”

So DeBartolo figured, “Why not invite all three?”

“I’m going to limit each to a minute,” he said, chuckling. “That’s probably all they can say anyway.”

DeBartolo will enter under the new “Distinguished Achievement” category, which includes off-field candidates who have made “an extraordinary impact on the sports history of the Bay Area.”

Joining DeBartolo in this year’s class are 49ers running back Roger Craig, who helped San Francisco win three Super Bowls while DeBartolo was the team’s owner, Raiders punter Ray Guy, University of San Francisco standout Burl Toler and record-breaking swimmer Rick DeMont. The banquet is Monday in San Francisco.

The inductees are chosen by a panel of 22 community leaders, past enshrinees, broadcasters and sports editors.

“I’m really honored,” DeBartolo said. “It means a lot.”

DeBartolo has been out of the NFL since 2000, but that doesn’t mean he’s left sports — or, more accurately, that sports have left him.

Two years ago, he founded DeBartolo Sports Entertainment, a full-service sports and entertainment agency. His offices are in Tampa and the company has been busy the past few months due to the upcoming NFL Draft.

Rice, a Hall of Fame receiver who was a key part of the 49ers dynasty, often works with DeBartolo clients to help them prepare for the draft and the NFL.

“A lot of the players [on the 49ers] are actively involved with our sports and entertainment company,” said DeBartolo, who was Rice’s induction speaker at last year’s BASHOF ceremony. “Throughout the 21 or 22 years I owned the team, I developed such deep ties with the Bay Area and the players on the team.

“We stay very, very close.”

The company’s clients include Boardman High graduate John Greco, who is projected as a mid-round draft pick out of Toledo, and former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens.

DeBartolo no longer has an office in the Youngstown area, but the Mooney High graduate still has close ties with his hometown. He’s a major contributor to Mooney and has stayed close with several famous Cardinals, including the Stoops brothers and Nebraska coach Bo Pelini.

“I have so many great memories and so many great friends there [in Youngstown],” said DeBartolo, a Cardinal Mooney High graduate. “It’s home.”

He also keeps in touch with Ohio State coach Jim Tressel — Lott, Montana and Rice will visit the school sometime in the next month to talk with the players, DeBartolo said — and Tressel has encouraged him to lend some assistance to YSU.

“Youngstown was an awful big part of the DeBartolo history,” said DeBartolo, who owned the 49ers for 22 years before ceding control of the team to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, after being implicated in a corruption case involving former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards. “From my father to my run with the 49ers to our corporation to what Denise is doing and what we’re doing now in Tampa ...

“Youngstown and the work ethic of the people of Youngstown played a major role in the success of the DeBartolo family.”

DeBartolo said he comes home to visit family when he can — “It’s not as often as I’d like,” he said — and splits time between Montana and Florida. He still follows Mooney football and is a big fan of Youngstown middleweight Kelly Pavlik. He missed the February fight in Las Vegas — his wife attended, however — and said he plans to attend Pavlik’s upcoming bout in Atlantic City.

He also plans on making a visit to Youngstown in the next month, but that doesn’t mean he’s avoided the winter weather. It was snowing in Montana Wednesday when he walked his dogs.

“It’s cold, and I’m mean cold,” he said. “I’d love to be in Florida. But the summers here are wonderful.”

There’s just one thing missing — an Italian restaurant.

“That’s the one thing we don’t have up here,” he said.

scalzo@vindy.com