OWINGS MILLS, Md. — When John Harbaugh reflects on the life of Joe D’Alessandris, the stories that stand out are about a period of time long before he became an NFL offensive line coach.
“He was working in the steel mill, when he was 17 and 18 years old. … You know, the molten steel coming out of the big vats?” Harbaugh said Monday after practice. “Let’s bring back the steel mills, because guys like Joe D’Alessandris worked in the steel mills as a teenager. And he did mention that, what he was taught by the older guys working in the steel mill, that before you took the shift, you had a shot of whiskey. One shot of whiskey to get you ready for your tour of duty.”
Harbaugh spoke after practice Monday, the day after the Baltimore Ravens announced D’Alessandris’ death at age 70. D’Alessandris had stepped away recently from his duties as the offensive line coach on Harbaugh’s staff, with the team citing an unspecified illness. It’s another tragic loss for the franchise after former receiver Jacoby Jones died in July at age 40.
D’Alessandris spent more than four decades coaching offensive linemen, eventually working for four NFL teams. He joined Harbaugh and the Ravens in 2017.
“He was kind of an inspiration for all of us,” Harbaugh said. “We want to honor him for sure with this season, and we want to honor Jacoby Jones with this season. Those are two people that we’re going to dedicate our season to this year, and do everything we can to make them proud of us when they’re watching, from where they’re watching.”
D’Alessandris was also an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers. Prior to his NFL run, he coached at several colleges, as well as in the CFL and World League.
Although he played at Western Carolina, D’Alessandris was from Aliquippa, a town near Pittsburgh.
“He was telling me stories about growing up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which is a football hotbed. A small town, and all they do is play football,” Harbaugh said. “You had the Italian neighborhood, you had all the different enclaves. … They’d get together and play against each other and with each other.
“All growing up, from dawn until dusk, it was really football, it was a football town. Then they’d get to the high school and they were all on the same team, and they were a powerhouse, and those were some of his best friends to this day.”
Former Ravens offensive lineman Matt Skura offered one of several tributes to D’Alessandris on social media.
“There are a few special people that go beyond the call of ‘coach’ and impact your life the way Joe D did for me. Him and I quickly bonded over being born in Pittsburgh and our time at Duke,” Skura said. “He coached with the values he learned from working in the paper mills of toughness, hard work, grit, and brought an old school lunch pail mentality everyday. You knew you were going to get coached hard, but it came from a place of love and his desire to bring out your best.”
D’Alessandris’ impact went beyond his position group.
“He was so much more than an offensive line coach. He was family to everybody he ever encountered,” former Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III said on social media. “The way this man treated my family from day one when he met them showed me his true character. He was always driven to be more than the guy that told you what to do and how to do it. He showed you how to live, love and how to work through your passion so you never have to ever have a real job in your life.”
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