DeBartolo remembers growing up in Youngstown

CANTON — You can take a guy out of Youngstown, but you can’t take the Youngstown out of the guy.

During Friday’s media session for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016, Eddie DeBartolo shared some of his favorite things about his hometown.

“Youngstown still has, without question because we haven’t found it in San Francisco, Tampa or anyplace else ... the best pizza in the world.”

Asked if he orders chicken parm when he visits the MVR, the Cardinal Mooney High School graduate laughed.

“I didn’t go to the MVR that much — most of the Ursuline guys used to go [there],” said the owner of the San Francisco 49ers from 1977-2000.

Many of the places he favored (Colonial House, The Mansion) are gone.

“I like Uptown Pizza, personally,” DeBartolo said. “That was my choice.”

DeBartolo remembered how then Vindicator sports editor Chuck Perazich played a big role in his life.

“He brought me and two or three of my friends here to the Hall of Fame,” DeBartolo said of his first visit to the museum in the mid-60s. “I think I was about 16 and the Hall [had been open] only for a year or two.

“Even with two rooms, I was just awed.”

It’s been a busy weekend for DeBartolo in Stark County, Last night, he threw a party for hundreds of guests at the Glenmoor Country Club. He declined to confirm a rumor that the celebration tab cost $1 million.

Visit Vindy.com later and read Saturday's Vindicator sports section for complete details.