GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mark Bavaro and Tucker Kraft had something in common: They had never heard of each other before.
And why would they have?
Bavaro is a 61-year-old Bostonian whose NFL career ended six years before Kraft was born.
Kraft is a 24-year-old native of Timber Lake, South Dakota (population 509), just trying to crack the inner circle of today's top NFL tight ends.
Enter Rich Bisaccia, the old-school assistant head coach/special teams coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. The 64-year-old Bisaccia never coached Bavaro, but as a New Yorker he watched -- and loved -- how Bavaro, a two-time first-team All-Pro, played tight end for the Giants in the 1980s.