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Youngstown still a big part of Eddie DeBartolo
Eddie DeBartolo no longer lives in Youngstown, but still loves his hometown
By Tom Williams
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. On Friday 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.
“All I can tell you is my daughter Nikki planned the party,” DeBartolo said. “She said to me, ‘You only do this once in your life so you might as well do it right.’”
DeBartolo takes great pride in his Youngstown roots.
“Anybody from Youngstown knows it’s the work ethic,” DeBartolo said. “It’s the never-say-die attitude of the people of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
“We lost our steel mills, everybody thought the town was just going to drop off the map, and it didn’t do that.”
During his NFL years, DeBartolo commuted to the West Coast.
“We raised our kids in Youngstown,” said DeBartolo of the three daughters (Lisa, Nicole and Tiffanie) he raised with his wife, Candy. “They went to school there. [It’s] a great place to raise kids.
“My daughters turned out great, they have great families and that has a lot to do with their upbringing in Youngstown.”
DeBartolo expects to see many familiar faces when he delivers his acceptance speech tonight at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, saying he knows of several buses that will be traveling from Youngstown to Canton.
“It’s going to be really exciting.”
DeBartolo is the only NFL owner who won five Super Bowls.
He admits he wasn’t perfect.
“The biggest mistake that I ever made as an owner was letting them trade [defensive lineman] Charles Haley to Dallas,” DeBartolo said. “Because if we don’t trade Charles Haley, I guarantee we [would have won] at least one more Super Bowl. I made my share of mistakes.”
In 1998, DeBartolo pleaded guilty to not reporting a felony. He turned the 49ers over to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, and her husband, John, in exchange for their share the DeBartolo Corporation’s business interests.
DeBartolo said rumors that he pondered a return to the NFL with another team were true.
“I’ve had opportunities over the last 16 years — some teams have been for sale,” DeBartolo said.
He has no interest in pursuing them.
“I wanted to spend time with my wife, I wanted to spend time with my kids,” DeBartolo, 69, said. “I have three grandsons now, I get to go to all their games. We travel, we spend time out west together.”
DeBartolo said giving up his NFL lifestyle was not easy.
“When I inducted Joe Montana [in 2000], I was still a little bit wary about being out of sports,” DeBartolo said. “I [asked] him, ‘How do you get that out of your system?’
“And he said, ‘Eddie, seriously, put it in your rearview mirror and get on with your life.”
DeBartolo praised his nephew, Jed York, the 49ers’ CEO.
“Denise and Jed and their family, they are going to do a great job,” DeBartolo said. “Things are going to get really good out there.”
The Niners’ new coach is Chip Kelly, who replaced Jim Tomsula after a 5-11 season in 2015.
The 49ers appeared in three straight NFC Championship games (2011-13) and won the conference after the 2012 season. In Super Bowl XLVII, the Niners lost, 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens.
“Jed has gone through some good times, obviously, and came close a couple of times to really having the brass ring,” DeBartolo said. “Jed is going to do fine. He’s had his knocks and they are starting all over with Chip Kelly. I think they are going to do just fine.”
DeBartolo hopes he’s not the last 49er to join the Hall. Among those he named was Carmen Policy, the Ursuline graduate who was a top 49ers executive during the glory years then was part-owner of the Cleveland Browns when they returned in 1999.
“Carmen Policy should be in for what he did for the league,” DeBartolo said.