Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} By a Nose by Fred Smerlas By a Nose by Fred Smerlas. Kevin Nestor was a typically developing child until age fifteen months at which point his development stalled and then began to regress. At age two (2) Kevin was diagnosed with autism. At age 3 1/2 Kevin's parents were told he would never lead an independent life, would require constant supervision and a lifetime of specialized care. In addition to Kevin's primary autism diagnosis, he suffers from mental retardation, global developmental delays, apraxia of speech and recently has developed a compulsive movement disorder. Kevin attends a day school dedicated to children with severe special needs, primarily autism. In addition to his full day, full year schooling Kevin's weekly programs consist of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, In-Home Behavior Therapy and a Life Skills Group. Kevin's daily challenges are many but greatly complicated because he is non-verbal and relies on an augmentative communication device. In a short time Kevin's eligibility for his current services will cease. Funding for his programs and care will solely be the responsibility of his family. His intensive services are critical to promote further skill acquisition and to prevent regression of the skills he has worked so hard to achieve. Fred Smerlas. Frederic Charles Smerlas (born April 8, 1957) is a former American football defensive lineman who was a 5-time NFL Pro Bowl selection during 14-year career as a nose tackle with the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and New England Patriots. Smerlas, of Greek-American descent, graduated from Waltham High School in 1975, where he was a star football player and wrestler. He became a defensive lineman for Boston College before embarking on an NFL career. His 1990 autobiography, By a Nose , recounts his eleven years with the Buffalo Bills and their climb from cellar-dwellers to Super Bowl contenders. Smerlas currently resides in Sudbury, Massachusetts and is a part-time co-host during football season on Sportsradio WEEI with Glenn Ordway & Michael Holley on the Big Show, as well as a contributor to western New York radio stations WGR in Buffalo and WHAM in Rochester. Smerlas is an avid motorcyclist, who often rides to support various Boston based charitable organizations. Contents. All Pro Productions. Smerlas's company All Pro Productions is the leading telemarketer contractor and fundraiser for police, firefighter, and similar agencies in Massachusetts. Fred & Steve's Steakhouse. Smerlas, along with friend and colleague Steve DeOssie, opened an award winning steakhouse at Twin River's casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island in March 2007 called Fred & Steve's Steakhouse. [ 1 ] Political career. A Boston Herald article [ 2 ] announced on April 6, 2007 that Fred considered seeking the Massachusetts 5th US Congressional seat being vacated by Martin T. Meehan as a Republican candidate. He dropped out of the race on April 26 after supporting candidate James Ogonowski, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and brother of John Ogonowski, who piloted American Airlines Flight 11. "No one tells me what to do, I have faith in Jim. I believe in this guy.", Smerlas reported in an April 27 Boston Globe article. [ 3 ] In 2010, Smerlas expressed an interest in relocating to Western New York to challenge Brian Higgins or Louise Slaughter, believing that they have not adequately represented Western New York or the upstate region as a whole. He indicated that his son was considering attending the University at Buffalo anyway, and if he were to relocate, he may run either in 2010 or 2012, [ 4 ] later ruling out a 2010 run. He said that his first priority "would be to take a big saw and cut New York City off." [ 5 ] A LOOK AT TWO OF THE NEXT RAM, RAIDER OPPONENTS : IT’S A TOUGH LINE OF WORK : Nose Tackle Fred Smerlas Has Toiled for 9 Years in Buffalo, but He’s Not Complaining. Bo Jackson has become richer and more famous after only five games in the National Football League than some guys who have played 126. Such as Frederick C. Smerlas of the Buffalo Bills. Nobody ever said life was fair in the NFL, though, and Smerlas certainly needs nobody to remind him of that. He has played in Buffalo for nine years, experiencing the thick and the thin from a particularly humbling vantage point--nose tackle. He will be there Sunday at the Coliseum, where he will get an opportunity to study the Raiders’ Jackson close up. It used to be said that wanted criminals could hide out indefinitely in the offensive line, but Smerlas begs to differ. If a guy really wanted to go underground--literally--he’d play in the middle of the defensive line where Smerlas plays. In Buffalo. It’s not only that nose tackles function in anonymity. “How many guys see Buffalo?” he pleads. But he offered a viewing tip on how to tell when the nose tackle is doing his job. “When the linebackers are making all the tackles, and (the opponents) are not running up the middle, that’s the nose tackle,” Smerlas said. Smerlas plays alongside Sean McNanie, who shares in this selfless contribution to the Bills’ 6-5 season. “Sean and I have only three sacks between us, but we must have 50 pressures,” Smerlas said. “We come flying up the middle, and the quarterback says, ‘Here come those two crazy guys again,’ and rolls out, and the end or outside linebacker makes the sack, right? Fancy that.” But Smerlas isn’t unappreciated. A few people know that until the strike he had started in 110 consecutive games, the longest streak of any lineman in the league. Also: “The coaches give us little awards--'Raging Buffaloes'--for an unrecognized pass rush. I must have a million of ‘em. And one sack. They see me coming.” He also has achieved peer recognition. His fellow players have voted him into the Pro Bowl four times. Things like that can carry a guy through the hard times. Smerlas has enjoyed only three winning seasons with the Bills, including this one, which remains marginal. “The last couple years, I read things about myself and other guys, that we couldn’t play anymore and were washed up. But as soon as we start winning, all these guys are revived and playing great. “Regardless of how you play as a team, it’s amazing what a difference two or three points a game can make. I think we lost six or eight games (actually seven) last year by six points or less. “And when you start winning, it brings a different attitude. Everyone gets closer. Everyone’s happy, patting each other on the back. When you lose, everyone’s looking around.” Times were tough under Hank Bullough, who coached the Bills for portions of the 1985 (2-14) and ’86 (4-12) seasons, preceding current Coach Marv Levy. “Hank Bullough and I didn’t get along too well,” Smerlas said. “If I ever screwed up at all--I mean, took the wrong step--he’d be all over me. “When someone’s trying to put you out of the league, it makes you realize what you have to lose. That really woke me up. “We had a revolving door here. You’d come into the locker room and see who’d parachute out to practice today. We had so many guys coming in, they didn’t fly ‘em in. They’d parachute ‘em in.” Smerlas studied himself on film and concluded that his critics were wrong. “They’d say, ‘This (other) guy is an All-Pro,’ and I’d watch the film and I’d be playing better than them all, and I’d say, ‘Gee, I wonder where they get their information.’ ” Smerlas liked Chuck Knox, who took the Bills to the playoffs twice, and Levy seems popular now. “He gets wild,” Smerlas said. “You look at Marv and you’d think he’d be kind of a passive guy. He’s a very articulate fellow . been to Harvard, you know. But he gets a little wired if he drinks a lot of coffee before the games.” The misconceptions about talent continue, however, if not on the coaching staff, in the area of publicity. Ask anyone to name two Buffalo defensive players this year and it would probably be rookie linebackers Shane Conlan and Cornelius Bennett. Bennett, especially, has drawn raves since arriving a month ago as part of the Eric Dickerson deal. “He’s playing very well, but there’s a guy named Darryl Talley (right outside linebacker) who’s playing the best out of all of ‘em,” Smerlas said. “You don’t even know his name, do you? They run away from him. He was one of the boys Hank tried to get rid of. “Everyone says these young guys come in and mesh the team together, but they forget some of the older guys.” Smerlas, 30, looks at Bennett, 21, and realizes his football mortality. Smerlas is one of only five Bills older than 30. “The time catches up with you,” he said. “It’s amazing how fast it goes.” Smerlas and offensive tackle Joe Devlin, 33, are captains. They took charge during the strike, running practices and serving as spokesmen. “We weren’t particularly enthused about going on strike, but we tried to keep the family together,” Smerlas said. “We took the brunt of it. Everything was, ‘Smerlas and Devlin are union activists and disruptive forces.’ Shoot, all we were doing was trying to keep things together so we could come out of it with some semblance of a winning season.