Who is Dick Mahoney?
The short answer is that Mahoney was the enigmatic star of a Philadelphia-based recreation softball team, a quiet slugger with prowess rarely seen on the diamond. As legend has it, Mahoney -- who wore a Dodgers cap and jheri-curl hairstyle -- homered seven times in his first two games for The Bishop's Collar tavern.
A member of the team emailed the Philly sports blog Crossing Broad detailing the mystery that was Dick Mahoney.
The woman who organizes our softball team asked (redacted) what Mahoney's email was so he could be added to our thread. "Doesn't have one," (redacted) said. When (redacted) witnessed Mahoney park his Porsche Cayenne next to the field, he sort of put (redacted) on the spot about Mahoney's background, (Redacted) just said, "You're going to have to find out for yourself what Mahoney does for a living. I can't tell you." Conspiracy theories started to spread that Mahoney was a drug dealer or was in porn (he missed a few games because he was flying back and forth from L.A., apparently.)
Mahoney eventually left the team to purse a filmmaking career in Los Angeles. It was only then that members of the softball team learned Mahoney's true identity. Dick Mahoney was actually Walter Thurmond, the recently retiredEagles safety.
An Instagram post by a woman believed to be Thurmond's girlfriend acted as a smoking gun.
When this story started getting passed around the NFL Media newsroom, colleague Chris Wesseling sent out a tweet that was quickly retweeted by Thurmond. More proof? Yep, I count this as more proof!
And now an open invitation to Dick Mahoney: Please join our NFL Media softball team, The Shield, this Thursday night. We will provide you with refreshments (read: beer), companionship and a stage for your greatness. DM me, Dick.
