Gridiron to golf
He won two Super Bowl rings and has been called the greatest tight end of all time.
But these days, family man and equity trader Mark Bavaro satisfies his competitive drive on the golf course
By Gary Larrabee
Mark Bavaro is arguably the greatest athlete ever to come out of the North Shore. He was a high jumping champion and hurdler at Danvers High, but created his biggest headlines as a tight end on the Falcons’ football team. He was recruited by virtually every top-ranked college football program in the country and opted for the most famous one of all – Notre Dame.
Bavaro was a two-year starter for the Irish and the Associated Press All-America tight end his senior year, but, surprisingly, was not selected in the NFL draft until the fourth round by the New York Giants. Lucky for the Giants.
He emerged as one of the most popular - and effective - players in Giants’ history while being named All-Pro twice and playing key roles on two Super Bowl-winning teams under Bill Parcells. Knee problems shortened the two-time Sports Illustrated cover boy’s career, but not until he had enjoyed six seasons with the Giants, one year with the Cleveland Browns and two with the Philadelphia Eagles.
North Shore Golf magazine’s Gary Larrabee, who covered Bavaro’s playing career from start to finish, caught up with the 41-year-old Bavaro while he was working on his swing in his Boxford backyard.
1. North Shore Golf: What have you been up to since retiring from the NFL?
Mark Bavaro: I retired after the 1994 season and spent a lot of time with my family over the next three years while we lived in Naples, Florida. When I was offered a job as an equity block trader with GGET, we moved back in the area, I got licensed and started working in Boston. My brother, David, and I still run our summer football camp at Austin Prep. Otherwise it’s work, family and golf for me these days.
2. NSG: When did you catch the golf bug?
MB: Pretty soon after we moved to Naples. I was getting invited to a lot of charity golf outings, so I figured I better learn how to hit a golf ball. So I went to the Paradise Golf Range in Middleton and Bob Baldassari taught me everything I know. He’s a great teacher. It took me a couple years, because I could barely make contact to start. But Bob made me a half-decent player. I’m indebted to him. As much as I like hitting good shots, I like even more the relaxation factor in the game; the quiet, the beauty of the surroundings. You really can’t beat it when you want to get away from everything.
3. NSG: How’s your game these days?
MB: Well, I’ve been playing seven, eight years. Bob got me down to an 18 handicap by the time we moved to Florida, then I was down to an eight three years later. I’m a 10 right now. My big problem is sand traps. I have an awful time getting out of ‘em. I try and work on that part of the game, but we all tend to work on driving and putting the most and I guess I’m no different. At least I’ve broken 80 a few times. My best round is a 76 at my old home club in Florida, The Hideout.
4. NSG: What are your favorite courses locally? Nationally?
MB: I’m a member at [The Georgetown Club]. It has a lot of good holes and all the challenge I need. But I like traveling around to other courses. For example, I played Winged Foot (a renowned U.S. Open venue in Mamoroneck, NY) [earlier this summer], Westchester CC (in New York) a while back too. Nantucket National was beautiful. Salem is fabulous every time out and I liked playing the Reese Jones course at Pinehills. But the prettiest course I’ve ever played is Fisher Island off Connecticut. Just unbelievable.
5. NSG: Has golf played a role in your successful transition from All-Pro tight end to equity block trader?
MB: There is no question golf fits into my work. I need to do some entertaining with my clients and golf is helpful. The game also has provided me with a nice outlet from the pressures of competition. It’s not commanding as much of my free time as it did in Florida, but enough time, that’s for certain.
6. NSG: Do you keep in touch with your old coach, Bill Parcells.?
MB: We talk occasionally, as I do with Bill Belichick and my other former Giants coaches now with the Patriots, like Romeo Crennell, Charlie Weiss and Pepper Johnson. Bill’s done a great job with the Cowboys. Of course, he’s the type of coach who’s happy when he’s miserable, but that helps make him a terrific coach. His record says it all.
7. NSG: How often do you catch up with your favorite quarterback, Phil Simms?
MB: I see him at a few golf outings every year, and if he happens to be covering a Patriots game in Foxboro, we might bump into each other, but that’s about it.
8. NSG: If you could turn the clock back 15 years, would you rather catch passes from Tom Brady or Simms?
MB: Phil Simms was the best and Jeff Hostetler was great in our second Super Bowl win, but Tom’s a special quarterback, too, charismatic, a fine leader, smart, knows how to throw all kinds of passes, handles the pressure like it doesn’t exist. Sure, I’d love to be his tight end. I’m sure Tom could make me look good like Phil and Jeff did. Bottom line, Tom’s a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who is still improving. That’s a nice position for the Patriots to be in as they head into a new season.
9. NSG: What are your impressions of the Patriots’ run the last three years?
MB: I didn’t watch them the previous two years, but what they did last year was spectacular. Knowing Belichick, I wasn’t all that surprised. He knows how to make great teams out of good players, hard-working players, tough guys; guys with character and personality; guys that don’t necessarily have the most talent. Put them with a good staff and you saw where it’s taken them two of the last three years.
10. NSG: Have you paid close attention to the Patriots’ tight end corps?
MB: Daniel Graham may be the best blocking tight end I’ve ever seen and he’s an underrated receiver. Christian Fauria is a great athlete, a super possession receiver. The tight end they drafted, Ben Watson, is a good runner and receiver. That’s a nice tight end group, believe me.
11. NSG: Can they make it three Super Bowls in four years?
MB: With the guys they drafted, the acquisition of (running back) Corey Dillon, and a healthy Roosevelt Colvin, they’re a better team on paper than last year. So the pieces are in place. But will they stay healthy? Will they enjoy as much good fortune as last year? They should make the playoffs, but with so much parity, there’s no guarantee they’ll even make the post-season.
12. NSG: Besides your one-week football camp, how are you keeping your hand in the game that made you famous – a legend in New York?
MB: Mostly as a spectator, a fan; hopefully as the father of a Masconomet player. But I didn’t even watch football, since I retired, until last season. I just had no interest. But getting back up here and knowing some of the coaches got me interested in the Patriots and I loved hitching up to their bandwagon. They were a blast to follow. I’ll do the same this season.
13. NSG: Any interest in becoming a football coach some day?
MB:For the time being, no. I’d never say never to anything, but I’m happy with my job and everything else right now. Besides, I haven’t been approached by anyone (even though he has attended Patriots mini-camps strictly as “an observer”, as he says). Two, three years from now, who knows?
14. NSG: How much do you miss your glory days in the NFL?
MB: A lot. The money, the fans, the wins, the titles. I miss not being able to do the physical part (after having reconstructive knee surgery and confounding the medical experts and playing three more years). I’m 41. Sure I miss my younger playing days. Every athlete does. I miss the friendships, but I’ve got those with my new job (working with Giant teammate Phil McConkey at Greenwich, Conn.-based GGET). But I have trouble walking up a flight of stairs. You get the picture?
15. NSG: What’s your brother David, the former Syracuse captain and Patriots’ linebacker, up to?
MB: He was in banking for a while but now is a physical education/health teacher at Malden Catholic and helps with the sports programs. He keeps a pretty low profile.
16. NSG: It’s obvious that you were brought up to be a family man. How strong an influence was your late dad, Tony?
MB: He was everything to me and my siblings. We all admired him. He set great examples for us as a man, a father, a teacher, coach, husband to my mom Christine, as a member of the community. We all wanted to emulate him. What more can you say about your father? All of the Bavaro kids are grateful he was able to see us grow up and make something of ourselves that made him and my mom proud.
17. NSG: Do we have a new generation of Bavaro athletes on the horizon?
MB: They’re coming along. Grace (16-years-old) plays basketball and softball, Dominic (14) plays Babe Ruth League baseball, basketball all the time and he’ll go out for the Masconomet [High School] freshman team this fall, and Lucas (9) is just learning about all the games he can play. They’re all beginning to develop.
18. NSG: For our last question, let’s get back to golf. What goals have you laid out for yourself in the game?
MB: To play as mistake-free a round as possible; make no big numbers, no big mistakes. I’d like to get my handicap in single numbers and be able to break 80, even on a bad day. I’d like to develop a consistently good game, where my swing doesn’t change all the time, like it does now. These days I hit one drive with a draw and the next with a fade. I guess they call that control. But most important, I hope to be playing with my kids when I’m an old man. That would be a great feeling.
