Fun Faculty Fact Friday: Mr. Short was a ball boy for the Steelers

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Mr. Short in his role as the ball boy assists Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Cowher.

Mr. Short is a math teacher at BPHS, and he had a past career with the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. Starting in the spring of 1994, he became a ball boy for the Steelers.

He got this position because his mom worked with the equipment manager, and she hires the ball boys.

The schedule for this job was very busy. During team camp, he would stay at St. Vincent through the summer for five weeks, and it would start at 7 a.m. and end at 6 p.m.. He was at every home game four hours before and two hours after the game.

When asked if he met any players he said, “Yes, and my two favorite were Dermontti Dawson and Mike Tomczak.”

He had to say his goodbyes as a ball boy at the age of 18. The age cap for this job is 18, and he made $1,400 during the season, and made a little money on the side. When we asked what he meant by that he said, “I did the players’ laundry sometimes and they would pay me a little side money.”

Mr. Short talked about his favorite memory and he said, “My favorite memory is when Coach Cowher and I caught football in front of about 1000 people. Also, when I was on the field when the Steelers beat the Colts in 1996 for the AFC Championship.”

If you’d like to find out more about Mr. Short’s days as a ball boy or if you want to find out how you too can serve in this role, see Mr. Short in Room 240.