Saturday, April 17, 2010

Autograph Tales:Dan Goich

One of the strangest in-person autographs I ever got involved one of my sister's teachers. It happened completely by accident, too! One day, when I was about 12 or so, I was sorting through my shoebox of football cards. I came across a card which I found funny and decided to show my sister Jean. I am not even sure why, since I didn't often show her any of my cards. Jean was a student at St. Francis de Sales High School at the time. She immediately recognized the player as a teacher at school. Okay, what are the odds?
The player on the card and the teacher at her school was Dan Goich, former Defensive Tackle for the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints and New York Giants. Goich played for 5 years in the NFL and had actually retired by the time his 1974 card was printed.
Of course, Jean would never bring my card to school to ask Goich to sign it. I can't blame her for that. I did take matters into my own hands at the next school event. I went up to Goich and asked him myself. He seemed surprised that anyone would have his card. This was funny, because it was only a few years after he retired.
I should have gotten my picture taken with him, but for some reason I didn't. It was a rare miscue on my part in the celeb photo-op department. Oh well. I later learned that Goich is a native Chicagoan. Also, he attended Mt. Carmel High School, my alma mater, about the time I was born.
I am not sure what Goich is doing now. If I find out, I will certainly do an update. Either way, he will always stand out as one of the oddest stories I have about autographs.
Dan Goich's 1974 Topps football card.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what Dan Goich is doing now. He was my government teacher in 1998, Rancho High school Las Vegas, NV and still is. I see him often around town driving his old beat up 1970s cadillac. I remember him mentioning in class once that he was an ex football player. Hes a tough teacher but firm and I learned alot from him. Good ol Goich.

Johngy said...

Thanks for the update. Maybe some day he will read this and contact me, too.

Tom said...

I saw Dan today working out at 24 hour fitness. He is retired as of the 31st of this month after 23 years teaching at Rancho High School here in Las Vegas and 10 years at a previous school out of state. We are colleagues and though not bosom buddies are friends.

Johngy said...

Tom,
I'd love to do an update on him, if he is ever interested. If you ever get the chance and are willing, I'd appreciate you passing this on to him.

Tom said...

I'll mention it next time I see him. Having names might help.

Johngy said...

Tom,
You, Dan or anyone else can email me at Johngy1@aol.com.
I know he won't remember me or my sister (John and Jean Wroblewski), but he was my first solo in-person autograph way back when. I'd love to ask him a few questions via phone or email for an update here.
Thanks for stopping by and if you ever have any celeb encounters and care to share them, send them along. I love getting new people/stories here.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

If anyone knows how to get in touch with Dan Goich via e-mail I would appreciate it.
My interest in him is Ancestry research and it would help a lot. Thank you.

Luka

dmluka@yahoo.com

Johngy said...

Luka,
I posted your comment hoping you get a response. If you ever do get in touch with him, please pass along my contact info, too. I'd love to talk to him. Good luck.

Gabe Rodriguez said...

I remember him back in my high school days at rancho h.s.
he was a good government teacher. Class of 2002!

Ana Cuadras said...

Mr.Goich was an awesome teacher! I remember everytime he had to sign something he always said "one day this will be worth something". Man he was my favorite teacher. Too bad he retired from teaching. And I remember his beat up car he would drive to school. haa Im glad I took pictures with him. Good ol' Goich. I would love to bump into him just one more time!

Johngy said...

Ana-
If you are willing to share that picture on my site, I would love to run it with whatever memories you have of Goich. Hit my up by email at Johngy1@aol.com if you are willing or have any questions.

Anonymous said...

Johmgy,
Dan and I were team mates at Coalonga Jr. College, Coalinga California. Now West Hills College, Coalings; in 1963-1965. During the 1964 Season we were 11-1. We lost the first game 6-8 to Oceanside Community College and then went on to win the next 10 games including a 44-14 win over Santa Barbra City College in the inagural Lions Bowl game. Dan was an all conference and Defensive MVP,of the bowl Went on to Cal and the rest is history.

I last saw Dan in October 2015 at a reunion and Hall of fame inductin at Coalinga,and spoke tohim in December 2015, my annual Christmas phone call with him. He is doing well and spends part of his time in Las Vegas and part in Chicago.
Dan is a great friend. I will not share Dan's email or phone numbers so please do not ask.

Thanks
Jim Davis



Johngy said...

Jim-
Thanks for reading and sharing your story. I would never expect you to give out his info. If you happen to remember though, let him know about this story.

Unknown said...

dan is a good friend of mine, here in vegas

Johngy said...

Sir Ned-Thanks for commenting. Please tell Dan about this. I get to Vegas about once a year and would love to meet him again.

Unknown said...

This is amazing!! I always wondered about him after I graduated..

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Coalinga, CA where Dan went to Coalinga Jr. College. Dan was a part time librarian at the local public library as well as the college library. A friend and I loved to "poke the lion" , pun intended as he later played for the Detroit Lions, by agitating him to the point of him getting up and acting like he was going to rip us apart. You could kinda tell he enjoyed the distraction as much as we did, but we never stuck around to find out. We were 5th or 6th graders at the time and one time he snuck around behind us and we were caught! I was about to crap my pants, but he took us inside, sat us down and had a talk with us. What a nice guy he turned out to be! I ended up being good friends with one of his CJC teammates named Dave from Tennessee and am proud to say Dan, Dave, and I are now in the West Hills College (formerly CJC) Hall or Fame together. Larry

NamelessGhuleh said...

I too was a student of Dan Goich back in 200-2001 at Rancho High School! He was my Government teacher my senior year. He and I used to argue in class every day. LoL He was hard on female students but looking back I now see that he did this to encourage us female students to not back down when we are challenged based on gender and not our intellect. I'm a huge Saints fan myself and he used to brag a lot in class that he played for my team. I never believed him, just being a teenager of course, and back then we didn't have cell phones where we could Google and verify things instantly. But I never forgot him and low and behold about a year after I graduated I looked it up and to my surprise, he was telling the truth. I kinda brag about it now being a Saints fan that my teacher played for my team. It's pretty cool.

Johngy said...

NamelessGhuleh-
Thanks for stopping y and the memories. Really cool story.

Unknown said...

JIM DAVIS, I would appreciate if you would give The Gooch my email please. I have news to share with him about one of friends. Thank you. Sal Semola spsemola@gmail.com

J nazy said...

I remember Dan from St. Francis DeSales high school he was a coach and teacher in the mid-1970s he spoke at our grammar school banquet or I played football Saint Francis grammar school

Anonymous said...

Mr. goich, My government teacher when I was a senior back in 2006. I remember him walking into the weigh training room and warming up to my max. 225 on bench press. Lol

Amanda said...

Like many commenters here Mr. Goich was my government teacher at Rancho HS in Las Vegas. Class of 2004. He was an ok teacher.

Johngy said...

Thanks to all for commenting. Much appreciated. Someday, I hope Mr. Goich sees this.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately I believe he passed away just this month

Johngy said...

Very sorry to hear this. Thank you for informing me.

Anonymous said...

Yes he passed away peacefully at his home

Johngy said...

Thsnk you for the info, sad as it is. RIP Dan Goich

Honest Abe from ✋ said...

Yes. He did pass away as I just received all of his huge collection of football cards to get rid of for the person that inherited them from him. He didnt have ANY family that I know. Nice to read all these comments. RIP Dan Goich

Yinzvester said...

Honest Abe,

There is a rumor that he hoarded his own football card. That's why it was so expensive compared to other common cards of the day.

Is there any truth to that rumor? Did he have thousands of 1974 Topps #102 Dan Goich cards at his house?

Linda Pfeifer Rolle said...

I’m sorry to hear about Dan’s passing. We dated here in Las Vegas for 7 years. I have nothing but good things to say about Dan. I met him at Eiferman’s gym back in 1986 or so. He was the celebrity on Norwegian Cruise Ships for a number of years and I was delighted to accompany him on six of those cruises. He would host a meet and greet and answer all kinds of questions about football. He also participated in different games and events on the ship. I was honored to be his guest. He was hardworking and had high expectations for everyone including himself. He had many stories about living with the priests for some time in his young adulthood and was a strong Catholic. He was honest to a fault and a loyal friend once you became part of his inner circle. He was also president of the NFL Players Association and led the strike way back when which led to him leaving the NFL earlier than he would have liked. I don’t see much information online about Dan and the Players Association, but that was a big part of his life and I believe he supported that organization as well as many others. He was generous and humble. Rest in Peace Dan Goich.

Johngy said...

Linda,
Thanks for sharing your story. I barely knew him, but I've heard nothing but great things about him.

Anonymous said...

I wish he could have seen these comments about him. Thank you for starting and continuing this blog about Dan.
Linda