Living just three miles from Yale University, Sparano fell in love with the football program. When he was 12, Sparano sought out ways to attend Yale home games, sometimes sneaking into the stadium with friends. He regularly spotted teenage boys, dressed in bright orange jackets with the word USHER printed across the back, helping patrons find their seats.
And then, an idea.
Sparano one day walked into the Yale football office and asked for a job as an usher – and the rest is history.
“That stadium held [more than 70,000] fans, and it was packed every week,” Sparano recalled, smiling at the memory more than 40 years later.