THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130394
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Jerry Glanville didn't leave a ticket to the Norfolk Sports Club luncheon for Elvis.
Don't be disappointed. When it comes to Glanville dropping off passes for Presley, the real story is eclipsed by the legend.
``Only happened once,'' he said Monday. ``I was coaching the Houston Oilers then. We were playing the New England Patriots in an exhibition game in Memphis. They were having a halftime tribute to Elvis, so I thought I'd leave him a ticket in case he wanted to drop in and see it for himself.''
As Glanville spoke, he fingered a brightly colored tie. At the bottom was a picture of Elvis; near the top was a big question mark.
``The question is,'' Glanville said, ``is he alive or isn't he?''
As for this latest Glanville sighting, the coach turned TV commentator and NASCAR SuperTruck driver was decked out in classic Jerry wear - black from head to ostrich-skin cowboy boots. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Helping to hold up his jeans was a hubcap-sized Harley-Davidson belt buckle.
``Makes you bulletproof from the front,'' he said. ``But I've found out you can still be stabbed in the back.''
This is a reference, no doubt, to his troubles in Atlanta. He was fired by the Falcons after the 1993 season, only to resurface, not surprisingly, as an analyst for Fox.
``You gotta love the game when you get five Redskins games and five Saints games,'' he said, a wry smile creeping into one corner of his mouth.
Now that his two-year contract has run out, Glanville hopes to be rehired by Fox. His first two seasons in the booth met with mixed reviews, though no one could accuse him of being boring.
``I drive them nuts,'' he says of Fox executives. ``They call me the lightning rod. I do a game and they get a million calls. Fox has allowed me to be me. But they do tell me, `Don't say that again.' ''
Glanville says he might be willing to return to the NFL sidelines. But, as you might expect from someone who wears all black and who counts Johnny Cash as a personal friend, he isn't about to change his style.
``I'm not going to go to work for an owner who wants me to coach by committee,'' he said.
As for now, most of his energies and hopes, not to mention his money, are poured into Glanville Motorsports Inc. After all, says the Man in Black, football was but a ``31-year hiatus from racing.''
In 1957, as a teenager in Perrysburg, Ohio, Glanville climbed into a 1940 Ford and raced down a deserted airstrip. He was hooked.
``I was voted by my high school classmates most likely to be the first one to die,'' he recalled.
Today, when he leaves his home in Roswell, Ga., he usually can be seen driving another '40 Ford, a two-door coupe restored by his brother.
Other times, he's behind the wheel of a 1950 Mercury. Or astride one of his Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
``I rode to high school my sophomore year on a Harley and I've been riding them ever since,'' he said. ``Parked my Harley next to my locker in the gym. Pulled it right into the locker room. I'd put the kickstand down, put my football gear on and go to practice. My coach thought I was crazy. He might have been right.''
Glanville might never have tried coaching if not for an accident on a racetrack. He blew up the engine of his brother's '61 Ford in 1964. In need of money for repairs, he accepted a friend's offer to coach high school football in Lima, Ohio.
Racing his Ford F-150 pickup without the help of a fully committed sponsor, Glanville again feels the financial pinch, though on a much grander scale. After speaking to the lunchtime audience, he sat down in a corner of the room and reached into his wallet. He removed a check made out to him by the sports club.
``All my speaking money,'' he said, waving the piece of paper, ``goes to Glanville Motorsports. This check will buy me a new set of tires. If I had a full-time sponsor, I wouldn't do any speaking.''
He finished 18th overall in the SuperTruck series last year, despite missing five races because of TV commitments. He said he hopes to run in 24 truck races in 1996, as well as in 12 car races in the All-Pro and Busch series.
Of the truck races he said, ``Everybody drives like every lap is the last lap. That's what makes it so exciting.''
Perhaps one day, Glanville will feel the urge to leave another ticket for Elvis, this time at a track.
``Let me show you something,'' he said, turning over his tie and revealing a small white tag.
``Suspicious Minds,'' it read.
Said Glanville: ``That was his last No. 1 hit.''
So what do you think? he was asked. Is Elvis alive or isn't he?
Glanville removed his metallic shades. His blue eyes flashed.
``I don't think,'' he said, ``that there's any question.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The Virginian-Pilot
Jerry Glanville at the Norfok Sports Club
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW PROFILE by CNB