Steve Gregory gives stirring speech

[Orangeyes]

Former Curtis HS football coach Fred Olivieri is joined at his Hall of Fame induction by two of his former players who made the NFL -- Vernon Turner, left, and Steven Gregory.

"New England Patriots defensive back Steve Gregory presented his ex-coach for induction with a stirring speech.

"He's (Olivieri) a friend, a role model and one of the best football coaches ever on Staten Island," said Gregory, who spent six seasons with the San Diego Chargers before joining New England.

"He always strived to make a difference in young peoples' lives. He was a motivator ... he always had a way of bringing the best out of a player."

Gregory brought some humor to the festivities when he recalled how players would get a charge out of reading Olivieri's quotes in Staten Island Advance stories following Curtis victories.

"He'd start talking about the game and practically be foaming at the mouth, and that was after wins," said Gregory. "He just brought so much passion to what he was doing and he wanted us to play our best no matter the score."
http://www.silive.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/03/staten_island_hall_of_fame.html

When the Patriots lined up Devin McCourty (5-foot-10, 195) next to Steve Gregory (5-11, 200) at safety in 2012, it was one of the NFL’s most undersized duos. Because of this, opposing receivers didn’t often have reason to fear going over the middle.
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[AAM62]

The Cuse alumn in me wants to be happy for Gregory but I played HS balll on S.I and his name was like a curse in our program. He single handily beat my former HS in the NYC championship but that was before my time.