(No caption)
The late Gordie Howe was known for his sense of humor as well as his toughness on the ice.
Twenty years ago, Howe made a humorous commercial with ESPN's Keith Olbermann for the network's program, “This Is SportsCenter." During the commercial, Howe knocked around Olbermann, who writes Wednesday in Sports Illustrated:
I was 37 and he was 68 and they promised he’d pull his punches so it would almost be a fair fight and my arms and hands would only be numb for about an hour after he left and most importantly: He’d be happy to take photos with me.
So I got beaten up by Gordie Howe. And between takes of the commercial he let me wear his gloves, and I became part of what is, for all I know, a majority of North America’s population: people who had their photos taken with him.
He never stopped taking photos with fans nor signing autographs for them. And let’s be clear, he wasn’t a saint about this: he made a nice living off being Gordie Howe and under the strategic brilliance of his wife Colleen (who might have been a tougher businesswoman than he was a tough player) they got trademarks not just for the nickname “Mr. Hockey” but on “Mrs. Hockey” as well.
