Leeland C. Pete (November 14, 1924March 25, 2010) was an American sports-talk radio broadcaster. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Toledo Rockets The Toledo Rockets are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The ...

. He became a sports talk show host on

KDWN K268CS (101.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a Translator Radio broadcasting#Stations, radio station in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station pronounced its call sign, call letters as "K-Dawn". The station's stud ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. His ''Stardust Line'' show became the longest-running sports betting show in the history of radio.

Early life and football career

Pete was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, where he attended Libbey High School. After serving as an

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

pilot in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he enrolled at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

. Pete was the Rockets football team's quarterback. He helped lead them to three

Glass Bowl The Glass Bowl is a stadium in Toledo, Ohio. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the American football team of the University of Toledo Rockets. It is located on the school's Bancroft campus, just south of the b ...

victories, earning

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

honors in the 1948 contest after completing 22 of 27 passes for three

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He set a single-season school record with 1,201 yards of

total offense Total offense, also called total yards, is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a player or team. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage ...

in 11 games in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, which stood until

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, when it was broken by Dan Simrell with 1,616 yards. Pete also played for their baseball team as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He was inducted into the school's Varsity T Hall of Fame in 1986. Standing at and , Pete tried out unsuccessfully with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

in 1950. In 1963, he signed with the Toledo Tornadoes of the United Football League to be their offensive backfield coach.

Radio career

In 1954, Pete began his sports radio career at a small station in his hometown of

. After moving to

in 1970, he established a sports talk radio show on

in 1981. The 50,000-watt station had a night signal that was heard as far north as

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, south to Mexico, east to the Plains, and west to some islands in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The show reached about 10 U.S. states. Pete's ''Stardust Line'' show ran nightly from 10 until midnight. He originally bought airtime from the station for the weekends, and eventually sold enough advertising to expand the show to seven days a week. It became the longest-running sports betting show in the history of radio. The '' Daily Press'' wrote that one of his "most valuable talents is his ability to ask the 'stupid question'—the answer to which nobody knows, but which everyboy assumes is obvious". Pete also hosted a televised

sports handicapping Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

show, ''Proline'', on

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

that was viewed in over 30 million homes. He finished his career at KRLV, retiring in 2002.

Health

Pete was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2005. He died in Toledo on March 25, 2010. He was 85.

References

External links

University of Toledo Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pete, Lee 1924 births 2010 deaths American sports radio personalities People from Toledo, Ohio Toledo Rockets baseball players Toledo Rockets football players United Football League (1961–1964) coaches United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Deaths from motor neuron disease in the United States