Dave Jennings died early in the morning on Wednesday and then roughly 12 hours later James Gandolfini from the Sopranos died in Italy. Although the two probably never met they led very separate and different lives they will be forever connected by one man: Jimmy Hoffa.
Dave Jennings played for the New York Giants from 1974-84. He holds the franchise records for punts and yards. He was also selected to play in the Pro Bowl in 1978, ’79, ’80 and ’82. He went onto be the radio voice of the team from 1988-2001. He left the radio booth in 2001 as the symptoms of his Parkinson’s disease increased. Jennings was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1996.
James Gandolfini became a house hold name as famous mobster Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos.” Gandolfini held the starting role as Tony Soprano from 1997 to 2007; the entire length of the series. The Soprano series featured the greater NYC metro area in the majority of their episodes. The Soprano crime family is thought to be loosely based on the DeCavalcante Crime Family from New Jersey. Where in New Jersey you may ask…well Elizabeth is the home to the majority of the family operations.
How does the FBI fit into all of this? Well it is simple: On Monday of this week the FBI began to dig up a field in the suburbs of Michigan looking for the body of Jimmy Hoffa. The same Jimmy Hoffa who was buried (at least some believe) under the turf at the “old” Giants Stadium. The same field that Dave Jennings punted from thousands of times. The same field that “Tony Soprano” talked about in various episodes. It is very interesting that as the FBI starts to look for Jimmy Hoffa these two legends leave the earth for their forever resting places. God bless them both. Just a thought for all of you to consider…