Category: Athlete News

  • Dorothy Hamill Now A Popular Speaker Remains Olympic Icon

    Each Olympics seems to produce a handful of stars that will remain popular for years to come, one of whom is almost certainly Dorothy Hamill,  the Olympic gold medalist in figure skating. However, few Olympians have enjoyed the enduring popularity of Dorothy Hamill.

    Dorothy Hamill, Olympic Gold medalist and breast cancer survivor,  is a popular  speaker today.

    As a 19-year old, Hamill won the Gold Medal at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. In so doing, she joined other figure skaters such as Peggy Fleming and Kristi Yamaguchi as American icons.

    After the Olympics, Hamill turned professional. She skated with many productions, including eight years with Ice Capades. She had four ABC television prime time specials produced in her honor and produced and starred in her own touring productions of “Cinderella – Frozen In Time”, “Hansel, Gretel, the Witch and the Cat”, and “Nutcracker On Ice”. She won an Emmy for her starring role in “Romeo and Juliet.” (more…)

  • Is Picabo Street The Greatest American Skier Of All-Time?

    In part one of my Winter Olympics blog, I profiled Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 U.S. “Miracle On Ice” Hockey Team. In this blog you’ll learn about Picabo Street, one of the greatest American skiers of all-time. The next blog will feature figure skater Dorothy Hamill.

    A three-time Olympian, Street joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1989 and earned a silver medal at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in ­the downhill. She made her mark at Olympic history at Negano in 1998 by taking gold in the super G by a mere hundredth of a second. (more…)

  • Is Mike Eruzione The Most Popular U.S. Winter Olympian?

    I know the Winter Olympics aren’t far off when I start receiving inquiries about Olympic speakers. They seem to be especially popular this year because the Olympics will take place in nearby Vancouver, British Columbia. So who are the most popular Winter Olympians? Over the next couple blogs I’ll profile a couple of them – Mike Eruzione, Picabo Street and Dorothy Hamill. First up is Eruzione.

    A graduate of Boston University, Eruzione captained the hockey team his senior year and is among the school’s all-time leading scorers.  Little did he know that what lied ahead would change his life forever. (more…)

  • Why Goose Gossage Is The Perfect Golf Partner

    Since I spend so much time around athletes, people often ask me about my most memorable experiences. And while I’ve had my share of memories, both good and bad, one that always sticks out involved New York Yankees Hall of Famer Goose Gossage. If you haven’t met Goose, he’s a great guy who loves to have a good time. He’s full of laughs and great stories.

    I was playing in a pro-am scramble golf event with Goose in Copper Mountain, Colorado in the late 90’s. The other members in our group were big Yankee fans from New Jersey. One of the members of our fivesome had just purchased a new putter and unfortunately waited until the tournament to try it out. To say this guy was bad is a major understatement. He was the worst putter I’ve ever seen. He just couldn’t figure out how to use it. If he had a 10 foot putt, he would hit it 20 feet past the hole. As the day went on, Goose gave the guy some good-natured ribbing, which everyone was enjoying. (more…)

  • Are Mike Ditka & Dan Hampton The Two Most Popular 1985-86 Bears?

    The 1985-86 Chicago Bears are remembered as one of the greatest and most flamboyant NFL teams in history. Who can forget the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’? It’s cast of characters included quarterback Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, ‘Refrigerator’ Perry and Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, Walter Payton and Dan Hampton.

    Mike Ditka & Dan Hampton are two of PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent’s  most popular  speakers.

    PFP Sports & Celebrity Talent Agency books many of the ’85 Bears for speaking engagements, personal appearances and endorsements, but works most closely with Mike Ditka and Dan Hampton. (more…)

  • Jim Abbott is a Highly Sought After Motivational Speaker

    Jim Abbott, a baseball Icon, is a popular inspirational  &  motivational speaker. He was the underdog growing up. He was born with only one hand but had aspirations of reaching the Major Leagues.

    As a youngster, he would spend hours bouncing the ball off a wall to practice fielding and throwing. He showed enough promise in high school to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays but chose instead to attend the University of Michigan. He led the Wolverines to Big Ten titles in his freshmen and junior years and had a career record of 26-8. He went on to win the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, presented annually to the outstanding college baseball player in the United States. (more…)

  • Drew Pearson A Top NFL Speaker Practices What He Preaches

    When companies and organizations contact me about booking football speakers but have a limited budget, there are any number of people I can recommend, including Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Dan Hampton and Roger Craig. Another person at the top of the list is former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson. I always tell my clients that Drew delivers a lot of bang for the buck. Not only is he polished and well-spoken, he’s also a very successful businessman who practices what he preaches. He is a top motivational sports speaker who delivers.

    Pearson, signed by the Cowboys as a free agent out of Tulsa in 1973, became one of the most dominating wide receivers of his era and, along with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl appearances and a victory in Super Bowl XII in 1978. He was a three-time All Pro, All-NFL in 1975 and second team All-NFC in 1978. Pearson led the NFC in pass receptions with 58 in 1976 and was the Cowboys’ offensive captain in 1977, 1978, 1982 and 1983. For his achievements, he was named one of the Top 20 All-Time Wide Receivers and was selected to the NFL 1970’s All-Decade Team. (more…)

  • Tiger Woods Earns $1B Tops Michael Jordan As Highest Paid Athlete

    Tiger Woods earns $1B becoming highest paid athlete

    Forbes reported last week that Tiger Woods became the first athlete to earn $1 billion in career earnings from endorsements, prize winnings, golf course design and appearance fees. Woods reportedly earns $30 million a year from Nike and receives $10 million per project for his golf design work. He also just won $10 million last week for winning the FedEx Cup title.

    The crazy part is that Woods in only 33 years old and has many years of competitive golf, endorsements and golf course design ahead of him. It’s not a stretch to say that he’ll likely make well in excess of $2 billion by the time his career ends. It’s estimated that he has now earned more than NBA great Michael Jordan ($800 million) and retired Formula One driver Michael Shumacher ($700 million). (more…)

  • Wayne Gretzky Retires As Coach of Phoenix Coyotes

    Wayne Gretzky announced Thursday he would be stepping down due to the financial turmoil surrounding the team.

    As the bankruptcy court battle between Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie and the NHL over the sale of the financially troubled team continues, Gretzky announced on his web site that he was leaving.

    “This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” Gretzky said. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected. (more…)

  • Is Tedy Bruschi Patriots Most Popular Player Ever?

    There aren’t many things that make Bill Belichick cry. But when Tedy Bruschi recently announced his retirement, the robot-like coach was forced to choke back tears.

    Ex New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi may be Patriots most popular player.

    Said Belichick, “I’ve had the privilege of coaching a lot of great players and leaders in the National Football League, and I’ll just put Tedy up there with all of them and above all of them. There’s no player that I think epitomizes more of what I believe a player should be on the field, off the field, really, in every situation.” (more…)