Joe Pagliei has long been renowned for this ability to tell a story.
As a running back and punter he completed the trifecta of playing in the National Football League, American Football League and Canadian Football League. For the past 60 years he has been a fixture around the racetracks, casinos and golf courses from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. Along the way he met all of the colorful characters.
His new book is filled with memories of growing up downstairs from a gambling parlor in a Western PA steel town during The Depression, playing for the ’59-’60 Philadelphia Eagles, being a member of the 1960 New York Titans during the wild first year of the AFL, repping jockeys and hanging with Runyonesque yardbirds at the old Garden State Racetrack, and working for Donald Trump during the Golden Era of the Atlantic City casino scene. Joe was Trump’s chief gaming consultant and provides an up close and inside look at how the future President got into the gaming business, engineered a split from Harrah’s and continued on his own.
Along the way Joe became close friend and confidante to a number of A-list celebrities from sports and entertainment. Joe reveals the two topics that were never to be brought up in the presence of his good buddy, Joe Dimaggio. When an angry Leroy Neiman wanted to check out his casino suite because he found it substandard, Joe convinced him to stay and converted him into a dedicated return guest. Joe stepped in when New York Yankees manager Billy Martin gets into a fistfight within minutes of entering the casino floor. He breaks up a party in the suite of Larry Holmes when guests are abusing the heavyweight champions comp privileges.
Read about Joe Pagliei and his Zelig-like life as he enjoys the good fortune to appear at momentous time in the presence of leading figures from sports, entertainment and the future President of the United States.