July 23, 2017 by Philip Lewenstein

Who Is Pernell McPhee? Talk to the Passenger Next to You and Find Out

Who is Pernell McPhee?

My sister, Joan, reported in an email that she had sat next to Pernell McPhee last Saturday night on her flight from Palm Beach, Florida, to Chicago.

I know the names of many athletes, politicians, and entertainers. But I had never heard of Pernell McPhee. I’m not sure she had, either.

Joan’s message rekindled an issue that has long perplexed me: Should you talk to a stranger sitting next to you on an airplane—or train or bus or even at a swimming pool? I often initiate conversations with strangers, much to the chagrin of my family members.

The dilemma of whether to engage in conversation often arises on plane trips with my wife. She always sits by the window, and I sit next to her in the middle seat, leaving the aisle seat to a stranger. If it appears that I will start talking to the stranger, she gives me “the look” or shakes her head.

Nevertheless, in my daydreams, I contemplate what I would say if a celebrity sat next to me.

Would I dare ask LeBron James about his difficulties in finding an effective free-throw shooting style? Would I ask our US senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, what they really really think of Donald Trump? Would I dare tell Bobby Dylan that my mother knew his mother in Duluth many years ago?

Who is Pernell McPhee?

Once, I did sit next to a celebrity on a plane trip. In 1969, as a college newspaper sports reporter, I was traveling with the Minnesota Gopher baseball team on its spring trip to Texas. I started a conversation with the man sitting next to me, Jerry Mays, all-star defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mays was a fifth round selection of the American Football League’s Dallas Texans in 1961 and continued with the team when it relocated to Kansas City in 1963. He was also drafted in the 11^th round by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) but preferred to play near his home in Dallas. Mays was a six-time AFL all-star. He played in 126 straight games for the AFL Texans and Chiefs and contributed to the Chiefs’ strong defense in defeating the Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV. Mays retired after the 1970 season. He died of malignant melanoma cancer in 1994.

I don’t recall details of the conversation but remember Mays being especially friendly. When our plane landed, the Gopher players surrounded me, anxious to learn the identity of my seatmate and what he had said.

Who is Pernell McPhee?

I had to look up Pernell McPhee to discover that he is an outside linebacker for the Chicago Bears. I was embarrassed that I had not heard of him because my 98-year-old mother says I know everything about sports. Further, the rival Bears play the Vikings twice a year.

McPhee was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft out of Mississippi State. He helped the Ravens defeat the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII after playoff victories over the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots in January 2013.

On March 10, 2015, McPhee signed a five-year contract with the Chicago Bears. In his first press conference with the Bears, McPhee proclaimed, “I’m violent.” McPhee started 12 games in 2015 but only played nine games last year after starting the season on the physically unable to perform  list.

Lighter and healthier, McPhee anticipates a great 2017 season, saying his focus is to “dominate and destroy” every opponent.

I would have worried about the safety of my sister sitting next to a “violent” 6-foot-3, 273-pound man, but she and her family are avid Bears fans. As a Vikings fan, I am not worried about McPhee’s threat to “dominate and destroy.” Joan learned that McPhee planned to get married at city hall on Monday and to enjoy a postseason honeymoon in Bora Bora.

And that’s how I came to learn who Pernell McPhee is and reaffirm my desire to interact with strangers sitting next to me on airplanes.