Today’s Craig “Ironhead” Heyward’s funeral. I wish I had some story to share or remembering him on the field, but I got to Pitt the year after he turned pro.
Assistant Athletic Director E.J. Borghetti writes about some of the memories of Ironhead including his appearance at the final game at Pitt Stadium.
One final Ironhead memory: The year following his initial tumor diagnosis, Heyward made his way back to Pittsburgh for the final game at Pitt Stadium on November 13, 1999.
He visited the locker room before kickoff and was moving from player to player, banging their shoulder pads, yelling “Come on! Let’s go!”
Some three-plus hours later, as the Panthers were putting the final touches on their 37-27 victory over Notre Dame, there was Ironhead again, this time revving up the student section with high fives.
For a very good rememberance of Ironhead, read all of this piece from Len Pasquarelli of ESPN (hat tip to Allen). Pasquarelli is a Pittsburgh native and covered Ironhead in the 90s as a beat reporter for the Falcons.
On his final visit to his old friend, [Bobby] Hebert and Heyward were talking about their oldest sons, both of whom are exceptional football players and are being recruited by big-time college programs. Heyward told Hebert of a call he had received from University of Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, attempting to recruit his son Cameron, who just completed his junior season at suburban Peachtree Ridge High School.
Wannstedt had helped direct Heyward to Pitt, his alma mater, and in 1993 was his head coach with the Chicago Bears. That year, Wannstedt fined Heyward a total of nearly $200,000, because the fullback’s weight had ballooned to an all-time worst 328 pounds. So when Wannstedt phoned recently to see if he might engage Heyward in helping convince Cameron that Pitt was the place for him, Craig Heyward recalled the hefty fines from 1993.
“He said, ‘Coach, remember all that money you find me back in ’93? Well, you return that $200,000 and I’ll send Cameron up there to play for you.’ Can you imagine?” said Hebert. “Even as bad off as he was at the time, and this was just a few weeks ago, he was still sharp enough and funny enough to come up with that comeback to Wannstedt. I mean, that was vintage Ironhead, right?”
Rest in peace.
