PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – As a senior at Freedom High School, Jimbo Covert could have played college football anywhere. If not for the dogged recruiting of a young Pitt assistant, who knows what would have happened to Covert.
"The guy who recruited me is Jimmy Johnson, a little bit of a homecoming," Covert said about them being in the same Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
Yes, that Jimmy Johnson who ended up winning a national championship at Miami and Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
"I watched Jimbo and those wrestling matches so much," Johnson said of recruiting Covert after the football season. "I was so tired of sitting in that gym. I would sit up there next to Danny Ford from Clemson recruiting Jimbo."
"I spent a lot of time in Freedom."
Even with a late push by Penn State and calls from head coach Joe Paterno, Covert stayed home.
"Could have went anywhere," Covert said. "Pitt just won a national championship in '76, my senior year was '77. I just felt when I got there and visited it was like home."
"I was attracted to the guys and the winning tradition and Coach Sherrill. I didn't go to Pitt for any other reason than the guys that I had a chance to meet and ultimately ended up playing with and I'm glad that I did."
Covert was a two-time All-American, consensus in his senior season not giving up one sack and going 31-5 in his college career. Chicago then picked the 6'4", 277-pounder and he quickly became a captain and helped Aliquippa native Mike Ditka win 10 or more games in a season six times along with the Bears only Super Bowl title.
Twice named the best offensive lineman in the league blocking for the legendary Walter Payton, Covert played only eight seasons, battling numerous injuries.
What helped his adjustment to the Bears is his feeling that Chicago was a bigger version of Pittsburgh. The fans really related to him as an offensive lineman.
"You got a lot of neighborhoods, different types of people that all live together and they all love the Bears," Covert said. "You think about the Bulls winning six championships, yet it's still a Bears town."
Saying the love for football is just like Pittsburgh, where it all started. Profiting from being a part of a hard working family.
"The work ethic I had growing up," Covert said. "My dad worked at ARMCO Steel for 34 years. My grandfather worked there for 44 years. Every male member of my family did."
"My dad would work shift work. When he worked night turn, he would come home in the morning. He would take a shower and go back out in the Sears and Roebuck moving truck for another eight hours."
"My mother worked at JCPenney part-time to get a little extra money. We didn't like it that much because every stitch of clothing was from JCPenney."
"You just saw how hard your parents worked to create a better life for their children. You want to copy that and say I want to do the same thing because if you do that, good things will happen."
It took a while to get the call from the Hall of Fame, but good things finally did happen to the boy from Conway.
