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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it's just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

_ It's not all about memorizing and getting information, it's what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato for the Remember Them team with the leader of the Remember Them team, Jacqui Tricarico, our Executive Producer and co-anchor.

Jacqui, how we doing today?

- Doing great, Steve.

I know right up next we're talking about Tony Siragusa, the Goose, and now people don't know him are gonna learn a little bit more about him from his daughter.

Your interview that you did with his daughter, Sammi.

But the Goose was a really fantastic player in the NFL, won with the Baltimore Ravens, the Super Bowl.

- Hold on, whoa, whoa.

Why do you have to go to the Super Bowl?

He won against the Giants football game?

- It was a pivotal, really great- - Why is that the first place you go?

- Oh, that was just a pivotal time in his career and a real highlight for him I know, and his entire family, which Sammi talks about.

- Yeah, and Tony Siragusa, who passed way too young at the age of 55 years of age.

Sammi talks about not just what he was like as a great athlete, great football player from New Jersey.

- Yep, Kenilworth.

- But also, what, where?

- Kenilworth, Kenilworth.

- Kenilworth, New Jersey, yep.

- She talks about family, neighborhood, what's implied is the Italian American culture that some of us think we understand if you're from New Jersey and happen to be Italian American.

But the other thing she talks about is how her dad was undrafted in the NFL after a great career at the University of Pittsburgh.

- Pittsburgh.

- No one wanted him.

And instead of making himself a victim, or thinking of himself as a victim, Jacqui, like so many who succeed, he said, "I'll show you," and the rest is history.

Pick it up from there.

- Yeah, in that 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense said that he allowed the fewest total points in NFL regular season history, which is a testament to his dedication to the game, and who he was on the field, and as an NFL player.

And also you talk a little bit about it with Sammi, but there's two documentaries that he's in.

There's "Bullies of Baltimore: 30 for 30", which you can learn a lot more- - That's on ESPN?

- Yep, on ESPN.

Then you can learn a lot more about him and even the Ravens during that time when they won the Super Bowl, but- - Is "Hard Knocks" on HBO?

- Yeah, yep, I think so, yep.

That's too, and you know, it's funny too, 'cause it we're bringing it back to New Jersey after his career with the NFL, and then also like you talk about with Sammi, he was on ESPN quite a bit, but he also- - He was on Fox Sports.

He was on the sideline as a, he was an analyst, but he was a character.

Go ahead.

- Right, right.

He had a big personality on there.

But he also was a character on "The Sopranos" for a couple of episodes.

Look at that, coming back- - Was he Tony's driver?

- To New Jersey?

Yes, Frankie Cortese.

Cortese, Frankie Cortese.

- He was Frankie Cortese.

How'd you know that?

- Yup, yes.

- Are you and Rich going back watching it again?

- No, I'm not watching that.

I did start watching the "Goodfellas" again though.

Ah, that was epic.

- By the way, speaking of people give direction around here, Scarlyn just went like this, which means wrap it up.

This is me talking to more importantly, Sammi Siragusa about her dad, the Goose, Tony Siragusa.

Remember him?

- We're joined by Sammy Siragusa, daughter of the late great Tony Siragusa, Co-founder and President of Goose Flights, talking about her dad, the great Tony "the Goose" Siragusa.

Hey, Sammy, great to have you with us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- Tell folks, listen, I'll do a little biographical stuff and then you'll fill in the blanks.

Tony Siragusa played in the NFL for many years, played for the Colts, 1990-1996, the Ravens, 1997-2001.

We know the Giants lost to the Ravens in the Super Bowl.

Everybody gets that.

Tony Siragusa led that team.

He left Super Bowl...

Excuse me, he left football in 2001, became a great analyst.

Boy, on the field he was the best for Fox 2003 to 2015.

Three kids, it's Sammy, Anthony and Anna and June of 2022 at the age of 54, we lost.... Sammy's family lost more than anyone else their late great dad.

Sammy, fill in the blanks, what kind of dad was he?

- He was a dream dad.

He was the best dad.

He put his family first.

He loved us like no other.

He supported us, showed up for us.

He was a dream dad.

- By the way, I made a mistake.

His sister is Ava, not Anna.

My bad, I apologize.

Do this for us.

We'll talk about this book in a second, The Goose, the Outrageous Life and Times of an NFL Guy, also a Jersey guy, strong Jersey Connection.

Tell us exactly what Goose Flights is as we put the website up, because the mission is so important.

- Yes, Goose Flights was a charitable vision my dad had a couple months before his passing, and essentially he wanted to utilize his private jet charter company for good.

So his vision was to transport children, veterans, anyone battling a severe illness with jet charter transportation to better healthcare facilities, retreats, hospitals, to go home.

And so now I'm running that for him to continue on his legacy.

- You know, as I was reading the book, I thought I knew about your dad just as a football fan and watching him as a great broadcaster But this is the thing I want you to share.

Tony Siragusa, great player out of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, defensive tackle, made himself into a great player, the NFL draft.

Paint the picture for us, what happens.

- He was undrafted.

I mean, they thought he was gonna be drafted, but he was undrafted and ended up becoming a free agent and had to find a way in and he did.

He never gave up.

He pushed through all the adversity that he faced and it was difficult because he had some coaches badmouthing him and talking about his injuries, his knees, how he wouldn't recover and he was not accepting that in his life and that's what happened.

He pushed and pushed and never gave up and that led to his career.

There were so many other great players on the team, but everyone gravitated to him.

He had the greatest stories.

He had the greatest sense of humor.

He had the strongest personality.

Ray Lewis was Ray Lewis, but there was in fact Tony Siragusa.

For you, at that time for you, how old were you?

- Oh, when he won the Super Bowl, I was around four years old.

- Any recollection of that time for you and your siblings?

- Yes, actually, surprisingly, I do have memory and I remember when he had won the Super Bowl and the first thing that he did was run over to the sidelines, found our family, grabbed me, brought me onto the field with him, and got my mom and brought her on the field with him as well and just hugged and kissed his mother and his family as well, but that was the first thing on his mind, his family right after the biggest achievement ever winning the Super Bowl.

- And in the book, in the autobiography, family's everything, isn't it?

- [Sammy] Yes, everything.

- But during the tough times when people doubted him, and again, you were so young when that was happening, but where did your dad's confidence in himself when others doubted him come from?

- You know what, I believe that his biggest motivator in his life was his father, who he also lost at a young age.

And he wanted to work hard for his dad, to make his dad proud from above and also to take care of his family.

Losing your father figure at a young age, it puts you in a very vulnerable situation, especially as a man.

I can't imagine what that feels like.

I know from being a woman, and he just wanted to make his dad proud and that was his motivation in his life and also being able to take care of his family.

- For you, I mean, your dad was only 54 years of age in June of 20... 55, I apologize.

Why did you and your siblings take on Goose Flights?

You didn't have to, you chose to, or maybe you did think you had to, I don't know.

Talk to us about that and the connection to your dad's legacy.

- Sure, so I never felt that I had to do this.

I was presented with the opportunity to do this, and it was in my heart to do it.

My dad was an incredible dad, as you can probably tell by just how I'm speaking about him, but an incredible dad.

He was an incredible family man.

And since his passing, I've heard thousands of stories from people everywhere, whether it's through email, whether it's random phone calls that I get about how he touched their lives and my dad's impact on people everywhere was so massive and I felt it in my heart that it was only right to continue on his legacy in this way and do it through Goose Flights.

- Before I let you go, your dad loved New Jersey, didn't he?

- He loved New Jersey, yes.

- Because?

- Because the food, oh my goodness.

He knew every restaurant in all of New Jersey.

He had his favorites in every county.

He knew where to where to get the best-- - He loved food.

- Loved food.

- He had restaurants as well, but in his hometown, tell folks about the hometown connection 'cause he still was connected to the guys in the people he grew up in his old neighborhood, right?

- Yes, oh, he never forgot where he came from.

Kenilworth, New Jersey, it had his heart.

A small town and he always went back there.

He always took care of the schools.

He took care of the guy who ran the deli around the corner.

He always went back to his hometown and just never forgot where he came from and took care of his people and showed his people so much love.

And it just shows you the type of man that he was.

He was humble, he was grounded, he never got lost in the aspect of being a celebrity.

He always knew who he was and where he came from and that shined throughout his entire life and that's why I believe he was able to impact so many people throughout his short 55 years of life.

- Sammy, it's one thing to watch your dad in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary or the Hard Knocks back in the day, and to see him as a great football player and personality, but what you just shared on Remember Them about your dad as a father, as a human being, as someone who cared about others, who was so down to earth in so many ways, it provides such an important perspective and to you and your family, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all of you and we thank you for being with us and sharing more about your dad.

Thanks so much, Sammy.

- Thank you, I appreciate you having me on and being able to talk about my dad, thank you.

- Our honor, stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

Jacqui and I now remember, and people use the word amazing, extraordinary too much, but in this case it's absolutely warranted.

So on "Remember Them," Jacqui, we try to look at people who have made a difference, people who we should remember because of their impact on society.

In this case, we look at Effa Manley.

Effa Manley was in fact an unbelievably important figure in baseball, in the Negro League, she was a co-owner with her husband, Abe, of the Newark Eagles, previously the Brooklyn Eagles.

She wasn't just the co-owner of that team at a critical time when African Americans, when Blacks were barred from playing in Major League Baseball, she led the team financially, administratively, taking care of the players, doing the marketing, the contracts, the business.

She was a business person at the highest level, and the only woman, Jacqui, inducted into?

- The Baseball Hall of Fame, - The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

So that's who we talk about in this segment.

This is Effa Manley, and going all the way back, she was very involved in the careers of Larry Doby, who we've talked about here, the first African American to play in the American Baseball League.

She knew Jackie Robinson very well.

And there's an interesting story where we talk about Jackie Robinson, who was with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Branch Rickey, who was the owner of the Dodgers, who gets credited for bringing Jackie Robinson to the major leagues and breaking the color barrier.

Let's just say that Effa Manley didn't get along with the owner of the Dodgers, correct?

- Right, right, and there's a connection between Larry Doby, obviously Monte Irvin, and both Newark Eagles, and both people that we've remembered on this series as well.

And Effa Manley was so many things to so many people, especially to all those folks on, all those baseball players on the Newark Eagles.

But she, you know, off the field was a civil rights advocate too, and that was such an important part of her history, her legacy, and who she was.

- Effa Manley, many folks may not know, or folks may not know who she was, but boy does she matter, and we need to remember Effa Manley.

- We remember Effa Manley.

How do we do that?

By talking to a scholar, an expert, an author who knows Effa Manley and why she matters so much.

Andrea Williams, journalist and author of the book, "Baseball's Leading Lady: Effa Manley on the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues.

Andrea, so good to have you with us.

- I'm so glad to be here.

Thanks for having me.

- We're gonna show some pictures, not just of the book itself, but of Effa Manley.

Who was Effa Manley and why does she still matter today more than ever?

- Yeah, like a lot of women.

Effa was a lot of things.

Effa was a business owner.

She was an expert marketer.

She was an activist.

She was an advocate.

She was a woman who put her community on her back in a lot of ways and fought for them when in Major League Baseball, we get to this point where integration becomes imminent and people are pushing for progress and she wanted to make sure that everyone benefited equally.

- Now let's bring it back to Newark, if you will.

Effa was a co-owner of the Brooklyn Eagles in 1935 and the Newark Eagles, 1936 to 1948.

She worked together with her husband, Abe, what was the division of labor, if you will, Andrea, between the two of them, because it looks like she did an awful lot?

- Yeah, she did, really.

I tell people Effa kind of fell into this position as a team owner, what we would know now as a general manager.

She married a guy who loved baseball.

He previously owned a team and it didn't fare well.

It folded around the time of the Great Depression, and he chose to get back in it once he'd married her.

And I think probably understood that, all right, I've got a partner now, and she can kind of take over these front office duties.

So that very first season when they bought the team, he hopped on the road to go to spring training with the players and left her and said, figure it out.

And she figured it out.

So she was responsible for responsible everything from promotions, as I mentioned, to player contracts and negotiations.

She did scheduling.

As part of the Negro National League, she also took on a leadership role without the title for the league overall, Abe was named the treasurer, but Effa handled most of those duties as well.

- You know, one of the things that fascinates me about this whole subject of the Negro Leagues, and by the way, check out our interview with Bob Kendrick, who joined us, who is one of the leaders at the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

We did something on, not just, Jackie Robinson is always part of the conversation, but Larry Doby, New Jersey, Paterson and also Monte Irvin.

Check out our Remember Them about the two of those folks who had New Jersey connections.

We need to remember them.

What's interesting and curious to me is what about when Major League Baseball, including Branch Rickey with the Dodgers at the time, Brooklyn Dodgers, goes and gets Jackie Robinson and other great players in the Negro League are pulled into the major leagues.

Did that in many ways, kill the Negro Leagues?

- Yeah, it absolutely killed the Negro Leagues.

It started certainly with the fact that Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, who played for Effa, these players, their teams were not compensated for these players and their contracts, which would be unheard of today.

So that definitely started the ball rolling.

But the final death knell, if you will, was the fact that, you know, we are at a place in society, this is before Brown versus Board, this is before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

We're coming out of World War II where you have a lot of Black men and women participating in the war and understanding that we're fighting for rights and liberties of others overseas, and we don't have them at home.

And there is this constant push in society for some win somewhere.

If we get a win, and even if it's in baseball, hopefully that will spread out throughout society and we'll start to pick up wins in the workplace and in schools and things like that.

And so everybody was excited for Jackie.

Everybody was excited because they really believed that this one man who went to play for the Dodgers would open up the floodgates.

Nobody could have foreseen at the time that it would take 12 years to get at least one Black player on every single major league baseball team.

- 12 years.

- 12 years, 12 years.

Pumpsie Green was the last, 1959 Boston Red Sox.

That was the very last.

Ironically enough, Jackie Robinson, before he signed with the Dodgers, had a tryout at Fenway with the Boston Red Sox in '45 and nothing came of it.

But, so nobody knew that, right?

People, I think including Jackie, really overestimated the willingness of Major League Baseball to shift things in the right direction and for society to follow suit.

But again, you have the Black community that's been waiting for something like this.

And so as soon as you get Jackie there, everybody follows, media follows, Black media follows, Black fans follow.

And so now you have these teams that were wholly reliant upon ticket sales that don't have TV deals to fall back on, that don't have merchandise sales to fall back on.

Once the tickets fall out, that's really it.

And I tell people also, all of these teams were operating really on a shoestring.

The World War II era is sort of the golden age of the Negro Leagues, primarily because teams were making more money because Black people, their core audience, was making more money because of the war effort.

They were getting jobs in defense that they hadn't been able to get before.

So you have new money coming into the community that they could then use to buy tickets, but they still had to pay to rent out stadiums.

Most of these owners did not own their own stadiums.

They had to pay, if you rent a stadium, you're paying for the lights and the security and somebody to run the concession stands.

A lot of times you're paying a booking agent as a middleman to introduce you to the stadium owner so that you can rent the stadium.

So profit margins are very, very thin.

And again, once you get Jackie with the Dodgers and the fans follow suit, it's not very long before the bottom falls out.

- How hard is it, Andrea, to explain and connect with younger boys and girls who happen to be Black to help them understand who Effa Manley was and why she still matters so much today.

- Yeah.

- Is that like another world to folks?

- Yeah, I mean, it's challenging.

I think writing for adults is challenging.

I do that as well.

But first of all, I wanna be clear that this is not just a book for Black kids.

I think we're at a place in society, and I think people understand that.

Where we're trying to have a lot of conversations, trying to catch people up, trying to explain how we got here.

And these conversations, this part of history is relevant for everybody.

You live in this country, you're a part of this society, you need to understand this.

You know, talking about Effa's career, we're primarily talking about the thirties and forties.

I do give a sweeping overview of Black baseball history starting in the 1800s through '48 when Effa and Abe sold their team.

And for the most part, kids don't get stories like this, right?

If we're talking about Black people in history, unfortunately we're in shackles and enslaved, or we are being hosed down and chased by dogs during the Civil rights movement.

So yeah, what are Black people doing in the thirties and forties?

Oh, by the way, we own teams and have entire leagues for professional sports.

So that was really important.

- Not to mention, Effa Manley is the only woman, our team is putting this in the chat, but I remember reading it the only one woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

- Correct.

Correct.

And I don't think, the Hall has had its issues for sure.

- Yeah, I think so.

(laughing) - I was at the museum when they tried to kind of, you know, cross some more T's and dot some I's in 2006, the year Effa was elected and they took this big sweeping look at all of baseball history, Negro League's history in particular, to see, okay, is there anybody else that we missed?

Right?

Remembering that it took Ted Williams to stand up when he was inducted to say this is great guys, but also Satchel Paige should be here.

Right?

- Satchel Paige, listen, we need to talk about Satchel Paige.

- Yes.

- Potentially the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball.

How about this, Satchel Paige is the GOAT in baseball, but he doesn't play in the major leagues until he's what?

And lied about his age because he needs.

- Exactly.

- Forties, 50.

- Exactly.

So if we're talking about longevity of athletes, we should a hundred percent, If we're gonna talk about TB 12, and I talk about TB 12 in my house all the time.

I tell my kid, "Hey, don't eat that, it's inflammatory, right?"

We gotta talk about Satch at the same time.

So, but yeah, so it took all of these efforts to start to move the needle for Black people and their induction into the Hall.

But I was going to say, I think again, speaking to the significance of the Negro Leagues and Effa even at having the opportunity to do what she does, right?

She can be the same savvy, she can be the same intelligent, she can be the same resourceful woman that she was.

If she does not have the Negro Leagues to provide the platform for her to exhibit it on a daily basis, she doesn't get into the Hall either because she doesn't get to do the work.

And so I think we have seen and continue to see, again, with Kim Ng being the only one in a general manager position, that women are not even getting the opportunity to build Hall of Fame worthy resumes.

That's the issue.

- Andrea, will you come back with us and talk more about these issues, not just about Effa, mainly about the larger societal, economic, political, social, cultural issues connected to sports.

Andrea Williams, journalist and author of the compelling book, "Baseball's Leading Lady: Effa Manley on the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues.

You honor us by joining us on Remember Them.

Thank you, Andrea.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- You got it.

For my colleague, Jacqui Tricarico, I'm Steve Adubato, thanks for joining us.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by Holy Name.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Newark Board of Education.

The North Ward Center.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

And by Seton Hall University.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

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Since joining the NJEDA, I've been struck by the incredible assets and resources that New Jersey has to offer.

The NJEDA is working every day to grow New Jersey's economy in a way that maximizes the values of those assets to benefit every single New Jersey resident.

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Visit njeda.com to learn more about how NJEDA is building a stronger and fairer New Jersey economy.