Father's Daze

<v Speaker>[theme song plays] <v Speaker>Dad? <v Speaker>Yeah? <v Speaker>Sit down. <v Speaker>Okay. ?inaudible?

<v Speaker>I'll fix it. You sit down. <v Speaker>There you go. <v Speaker>?inaudible? <v Speaker>No, no, no, no, dad, you don't do that. <v Speaker>Sit down. <v Speaker>Sit down. <v Speaker>Daddy? <v Speaker>What? <v Speaker>Sit, give me your hand. Sit. <v Speaker>Sit down here. Sit down here. <v Speaker>OK? ?inaudible?. <v Speaker>Sit down. <v Speaker>Well, am I going to use my hand or what? <v Speaker>I don't know what we're going to do here now. <v Speaker>Sit down. <v Speaker>OK. <v Speaker>Sit right here. Sit down. <v Speaker>OK? <v Speaker>You need to go up over here.

<v Speaker>Yeah it's fine. It's fine. Sit down, Dad. <v Speaker>Dad, dad. <v Speaker>What? Why do you keep saying "dad" for? <v Speaker>Because that's you. Sit down, Bill. <v Speaker>About what? <v Speaker>Sit down. [music plays]. <v Speaker>Dad. <v Speaker>And number 36, the Iron Horse, Bill Pellington. <v Speaker>The hardest part, I think, is uh patience.

<v Speaker>You really need patience. I <v Speaker>get angry at him, and it isn't really fair, because he doesn't doesn't <v Speaker>know any better. It's like with a child, you're just lashing out at your own <v Speaker>frustrations. <v Speaker>[music plays] <v Speaker>Physically, they're physically there, but not there. <v Speaker>I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has made this day just the most memorable thing in my whole life. And I'd like to thank all the fans in Baltimore for <v Speaker>having me for all of these years and honoring me today. <v Speaker>Some days he's more alert than others.

<v Speaker>Some days he talks a lot more. <v Speaker>Some days he doesn't say hardly anything. [music plays] [screeching noises]. <v Speaker>You know. It-it never ends. You always have to uh care for them. <v Speaker>Give me a kiss. [kissing noises] Oh, thank you! Give me another kiss. Thank you! One more, one more. One more. One more. One more. Thank you. [music plays] <v Speaker>What a ?inaudible? of uh big ?inaudible?

<v Speaker>Well, it's got that first pass. <v Speaker>It's just the it's just the young boys that are just just getting started. <v Speaker>On, on the, the, the road, on the road, on the ?inaudible? <v Speaker>down there on the. And uh and <v Speaker>uh anyway, we get down, we got in there and we were riding along and all of a sudden. <v Speaker>It's unfair though, isn't it? Isn't it? <v Speaker>?inaudible? [music plays] <v Speaker>Many kids would try and wake them up, drag

<v Speaker>them to the beach. <v Speaker>?Bill? wasn't much of a beach person, he loved the water. <v Speaker>How about you, Bill? I guess I feel about the same, Chuck. <v Speaker>If he wants to be a football player or baseball player, fine. <v Speaker>If he doesn't, that's uh his decision. <v Speaker>Are there any problems in the neighborhood with the youngsters this age, with you fellows <v Speaker>being professional athletes? <v Speaker>No, not really. I don't believe uh except that the kids like to get out there and play <v Speaker>all the time. And of course, he he loves to do it. <v Speaker>So let him go at it. <v Speaker>You know what's happening, Dad? <v Speaker>What? <v Speaker>Do you know what's going on? Do you? Hm? You don't know, do you? <v Speaker>Huh? <v Speaker>And ?with? something that, you know, is you get a complete new-. <v Speaker>Yeah, let go of his fingers.

<v Speaker>And let him put it up at the top of there. <v Speaker>Yeah, let go of his-. <v Speaker>OK. ?On it? Anyway and give you the ?a dress?. <v Speaker>And uh I I know it's a ?inaudible? <v Speaker>and you come up at it. <v Speaker>I know it. It's come. Come away. <v Speaker>Hm. Okay, I'll put them on. <v Speaker>Is it for me? <v Speaker>Is it for me? <v Speaker>Let go of them, let go of his fingers. <v Speaker>Let go, let go, let go. <v Speaker>Dad? <v Speaker>What? Why do you keep saying "dad" for?. <v Speaker>Let, let go. <v Speaker>And I thought to myself, what the hell am I doing? <v Speaker>Why am ?I? picking up a road? <v Speaker>You know, you're married and you're not married.

<v Speaker>What do you mean? <v Speaker>I mean, well, ?I mean?, you know. <v Speaker>He's not dead. <v Speaker>Like, if you're married, like if you're a widow, you know, your husband's dead. <v Speaker>OK. But now he's really not. <v Speaker>He's not dead. But he's not alive. <v Speaker>I mean, he's alive, but he's not alive. <v Speaker>Do you understand what I mean? [music plays] <v Speaker>[recording plays] I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has made this day just the most memorable thing in my whole life. <v Speaker>[birds chirping]

<v Speaker>Yes. Yeah, I have a spirit. <v Speaker>Yep, yeah, I do. <v Speaker>After being cut by the Cleveland Browns in 1952, Bill <v Speaker>decided to have another crack at the Pros, so he hitchhiked to Westminster, Maryland. <v Speaker>And on April the 18th, 1953, a little 2 inch newspaper column announced the signing <v Speaker>of Baltimore's 31st candidate, a 215 pound offensive <v Speaker>guard, Bill Pellington. <v Speaker>In 1953, into training camp came a rough, rugged individual <v Speaker>from Rutgers University. And that would be Bill Pellington.

<v Speaker>Signed on as a free agent. <v Speaker>And then this story, one of success. <v Speaker>[music plays]. <v Speaker>You happy today? Bill? Are you happy? Are you happy today? <v Speaker>Oh, I'm ?nervous? talking to that one. I was talking about this suit here, this bathing <v Speaker>suit. <v Speaker>What kind of suit was it? Hm? What kind of suit was it?

<v Speaker>Soup? <v Speaker>Suit. What kind of suit was it? What were they wearing? What <v Speaker>color? <v Speaker>What color was it? <v Speaker>Uh, the pan, pants selo. <v Speaker>Pants, yellow pants? <v Speaker>Yeah. <v Speaker>Yellow pants? <v Speaker>Yeah, well, they're kind of. They get uh so much recognition <v Speaker>from from everybody. And the people that that I've seen here and everything <v Speaker>else. You want to you want to do this. <v Speaker>You want to do that. You want to do this. <v Speaker>And uh now I I think it would be I think it would <v Speaker>be great if we could if we could get some ?inaudible?. <v Speaker>What are ?inaudible? Those ?phones??

<v Speaker>What are ?inaudible?, Dad? <v Speaker>[laughing]. <v Speaker>Hm? What are they? Hm? Tired? [music playing]. <v Speaker>[crowd cheering] <v Speaker>[marching band plays] <v Speaker>Dad?

<v Speaker>I'll see him just sitting there. <v Speaker>You know, just kind of with his head down. And it <v Speaker>makes me sad. <v Speaker>And I'll see him, you know, and he'll laugh and his eyes will sparkle, or he'll <v Speaker>he'll say something even in gibberish, but with that with <v Speaker>the same um feeling that he did <v Speaker>when he was well. <v Speaker>How you doing? [laughing] [music plays] <v Speaker>[music distorts]. <v Speaker>Dad? <v Speaker>What? <v Speaker>Wake up, Dad. <v Speaker>Hey, Bill? I'm your son, Mark. Did you know that? Right here, I'm Mark Pellington.

<v Speaker>Do you remember me? Do you remember me, Dad? You do? Is <v Speaker>that a nod of the head? <v Speaker>Is that a nod of the head? <v Speaker>Bill? Bill? <v Speaker>What? <v Speaker>I'm your son, Mark. Do you remember me? Do you? Do you, Bill? <v Speaker>Do you <v Speaker>want to say anything to me? Bill?