Nice athletes and coaches

[93Devil]

OK, we get a lot of milage out of piling on Cutler and other athletes that might not be so nice. I wonder how far a nicest athlete or coach thread will go?

Please mention athletes and coaches that we might have actually heard of before. I'm sure that DIII assistant tennis coach is a hell of a guy, but... You know what I mean.

I will start it off with an athlete that I got to know when I ran a basketball program in Upstate New York - Walt Frazier.

Pure class and patient as a saint with any kid with any problem and any question.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Frank Beamer
Mark Buerhle

 

[Buck]

Mike Leach?
Mike Keenan?

 

[Point of Order]

Antonio McDyess is the nicest athlete I've ever interviewed. Bart Starr is a close second.

 

[holy bull]

This is a bit of a violation of 93Devil's rules (re: obscurity), but if you've been on the NFL thread since Sunday, you've heard of this guy, by mistake:

Derek Stingley

Total class act when I covered his AFL exploits, a clear reflection of his father.

He sheepishly admitted he'd never had a drop of alcohol in his life until he had a little taste of champagne after his team won the Arena Bowl. Just a good kid.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

They're all great guys!

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Matt Hasselbeck

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Michael Finley

 

[BYH]

The tennis coach at my community college...oh wait.

Tony Clark
Mike Lowell
Robin Ventura
Todd Zeile
Orel Hershiser

 

[Precious Roy]

Always super nice and always overly helpful to me but is a total mean ass to his players...

Micheal Ray Richardson

 

[Buck]

Chad Pennington

 

[imjustagirl]

Jeff Burton
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Tony Stewart is a nice guy, but horrible to the press. Gives a LOT of money to a LOT of people and doesn't send out releases about it.
Joey Logano is a great kid. I hope he doesn't change.

and 98 percent of the Nationwide Series drivers.

 

[JC]

Jake Delhomme is pretty nice to defenses

 

[MTM]

The most surprisingly nice player I've ever interviewed was Rocket Ismael.

I expected him to be an arrogant jerk, but he was everything but.

He even offered his hand for a shake after a post-game lockerroom interview.

 

[Cosmo]

Tony Skinn.

 

[Seahawk]

Sean Morey - Not sure if he violates the obscurity rule, but he did make the Pro Bowl a couple times as a special teams player.

Christian Fauria

Troy Brown

Roman Phifer

Ken Dryden

 

[Lugnuts]

I'd rather have 'respectful' and 'professional' than nice because nice doesn't always translate into good quotes or material. Nice athletes?

Jesse Tuggle
Matt Franco

Not necessarily 'nice,' but consummate pros with the media:

Joe Torre
Jason Varitek
Tom Glavine

 

[Brian]

Nicest I've interviewed are NHRA driver Ron Capps, pitcher Paul Byrd and Jimmie Johnson...the NASCAR one (although I'm sure helmet hair might be nice, as well.)

I was doing an interview I expected to last for 10 minutes with Byrd and he ended up talking to me for about an hour by his own choosing, which was pretty gracious considering how low on the totem pole I am.

 

[outofplace]

The most surprisingly nice player I've ever interviewed was Rocket Ismael.

I expected him to be an arrogant jerk, but he was everything but.

He even offered his hand for a shake after a post-game lockerroom interview.

If my experience and that of a former co-worker of mine were any indication, he was just making up for Qadry being suck a prick.

I'm shocked 93Devil didn't start this one with Jerome Bettis. I know some people really got sick of him during his final season, but there is a reason the guy was so well-liked by his teammates and the media. He was great every time I dealt with him.

Is Marc Bulger too obscure for this?

 

[93Devil]

I'd rather have 'respectful' and 'professional' than nice because nice doesn't always translate into good quotes or material. Nice athletes?

Jesse Tuggle
Matt Franco

Not necessarily 'nice,' but consummate pros with the media:

Joe Torre
Jason Varitek
Tom Glavine

I was thinking of a person who would hold a door open for a little old lady or help a lost kid find their mother.

Nothing to do with quotes or stories, but nice people.