NYPD Finest's tribute to longest player

Valley Stream's Dennis McGowan joined the NYPD's Finest football team in its first season -- 1973 -- and played until 1993.

Of the more than 1,000 players in the team's history, no one has played longer: McGowan spent 21 years on the team; the player average is three years, and only two others have reached the 20-year mark.

McGowan was a defensive lineman, and each season he would drive to Erasmus Field in Brooklyn three times a week for three-hour practice sessions.

Teammate Paul Suarez, 45, of Brooklyn, says he will never forget when he met McGowan, in 1988.

"I was a rookie on the Finest football team. The first day I walked into the locker room I was feeling uneasy, unsure of myself. There was an old guy sitting on a stool. I figured he must be one of the coaches. I was surprised when he started to put the pads on. This old-timer was a player? The old-timer stuck out his hand and said, 'Welcome to the Finest, rook.' "

Suarez would learn that McGowan was starting his 16th year as a player.

"Dennis took me under his wing and helped me become part of that great team. He taught a lot of guys about the traditions, history and sense of family that had made the team the powerhouse it had become. I will never forget that," says Suarez, now a coach with the team.

McGowan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis shortly after he left the team. He lived another 17 years, until his death last November at age 63.

His teammates are intent on keeping his memory alive. In February, Suarez honored him in a very special way: "I saw that the New York MS Society was having a fundraiser. A race up the stairs to the 'Top of the Rock' at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. What a great way to remember Dennis and raise money for a good cause."

Suarez got word out to the Finest alumni about his plans, and they got behind the effort.

Arrangements were made for him to wear McGowan's old Finest jersey on race day. In a strange twist, he found that the race would climb 66 floors; McGowan had worn No. 66. Along that theme, several team alumni made $66 donations in Suarez's name. The effort generated more than $1,600 for MS support and research.

Suarez said he experienced a strange feeling as he donned his old friend's jersey:

"I had been thinking about the effort I would have to put in to get to the top. When I put the jersey on, I realized the hardships that Dennis and all those who live with MS have to go through every day of their lives. How fortunate I was, to be in good health and able to do this race.

"I was thinking of Dennis as I climbed -- how he was always willing to help a teammate, his crazy sense of humor, his ever-present smile.

"I'm a coach with the Finest now, and I frequently talk to the new guys on the team about Dennis -- how he fought on the field for 21 years, but also how he lived the last years of his life. Still fighting, never losing that sense of humor, never feeling sorry for himself. You would call or visit Dennis, who was confined to his bed, and he would tell you a joke, ask about your kids and always want to know the latest news about the team. Despite having that horrible disease, he never, ever felt sorry for himself."

Rich Kancler, 65, of Huntington, a former linebacker, played with McGowan from 1975 to 1981. When the illness forced McGowan into a long-term-care facility for the last eight years of his life, Kancler was a constant visitor.

"I would go over, sometimes bring my dog, Duke, a German shepherd, and spend an hour or two with Dennis. In the early days we would watch a Mets or Jets game, take a few calls from old teammates, read the papers. As his condition worsened, he was having trouble talking, so I would read to him or just tell him what was going on with the Finest. He always wanted to know how his team was doing."

On Nov. 16, Kancler was with McGowan when he died.

The team decided to establish the Dennis McGowan Teammate of the Year award to recognize the player who most exemplifies the spirit and sense of brotherhood that McGowan displayed -- not the Most Valuable Player but the plugger, the grinder who goes all out to make the team better.

In December, at a Christmas party at a Queens pub attended by about 40 Finest alumni, the first award was announced.

"Starting next year the team will vote for the winner," said alumni vice president John Comer of West Islip. But for the first award, "we wanted to set the bar very high.

"Tonight we are presenting the first Dennis McGowan award to a man who showed us all the true meaning of the word teammate -- Rich Kancler!"

Kancler, the tough linebacker, stood to accept the honor, tears in his eyes.

Later, talking about the time he spent with McGowan, he explained that he was retired and had the time.

"It was no big deal," he said. After all, McGowan was a teammate.