Greetings Faithful! It’s Mavo, and I’ve been Faithful since 1959 when I saw my first Niners game at Kezar Stadium when I was 7 years old. From time to time, I will be taking you back with me in my time machine to relive important 49ers milestones and glorious moments of triumph. During our journey through time, I will relate my personal remembrances as a member of the Faithful for over 60 years. I’ve set the target date to sometime in 1983 with me in Mississippi.
In 1983, I was on a business trip to Jackson, Mississippi for Levi Strauss & Co. While I was there, a friend at work mentioned a great new barbeque restaurant called Gridley’s had opened right across I-55 from my hotel. My friend also mentioned that a former 49ers player owned the restaurant, though he couldn’t recall his name. Jackson isn’t known for its barbeque. However, my buddy told me this new place was a franchise out of Memphis, which certainly was noted for excellent barbeque.
Three of my team members, who were also from the San Francisco home office, decided to join me at the barbeque place. As soon as we got out of my rental car, the sweet pungent scent of pit barbeque overwhelmed us!
The hostess seated us at a nice table and the other customers sure looked satisfied. A few of us, including yours truly, ordered the huge combo platter that featured baby back ribs, brisket and sausage for the meats.
A server told us that a Doug Cunningham owned the restaurant. “In fact, he’s here,” she added. “Would you like me to ask him to come out so you boys can meet him?
“I hear you boys are from Frisco!”, Doug Cunningham said when he came to the table.
After shaking all our hands firmly, Doug hung around for a lively chat with all of us. He was a great guy! I told him I was a huge 49ers fan that loved John Brodie, the 49ers quarterback during Cunningham’s time. After hearing my boast of being a huge Niners fan he challenged me to a trivia battle.
“Alright, ‘huge 49ers fan,’ if you can answer these two questions, dinner for you boys is on the house,” Cunningham said. “You have to answer both questions right to get the free dinners. What was my number when I played for the 49ers?”
“Ronnie Lott’s number 42!” I snapped.
“Alright, for the free dinners, what was my nickname among my teammates on the 49ers?” Cunningham followed up.
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