Billy Pappas was a three-sport star and much more
Mar. 29—It would be tough to match athletic resumes with Billy Pappas, who was a three-sport athlete at Manchester High School Central and then a standout in each of those three sports (football, basketball and baseball) at the University of New Hampshire.
Pappas, a Manchester native who died Monday at age 89, was a quarterback, defensive back and kicker on the 1957 UNH football team that went 7-1 overall and won the Yankee Conference with a 4-0 record. He later played football while he was in the Air Force.
Pappas graduated from UNH in 1955, and some say he was better in basketball than he was in football. He is currently 13th on UNH's all-time scoring list (1,228 points) and third in career free throws made (334).
"My mother was Billy's sister," said former Manchester Central football coach Jim Schubert. "We moved up to Manchester from Brooklyn in 1954 and that's all we heard about. The great athlete of the Pappas family in Manchester. We didn't go to his games, but I remember my father taking us to UNH and Billy was trying out for the New York Titans, but I think that was after he played football in the service. That's the only time I ever saw him throw a football.
"Billy was like Mr. Manchester when he came back to the city. I'm sure you would hear that from a lot of different people. Never saw him play anything, but I heard a lot of stories about him.
"I remember out in the back of the house on 432 Hanover Street they had a hoop set up and every once in a while he'd come out of the house and us little rugrats would be throwing the ball up trying to get a basket and he'd come over and start shooting those one-legged shots where you throw your other leg up. He'd never miss."
Toni Pappas, Billy's wife, met her future husband in Germany at a Greek Easter party in 1967. They were married in 1971.
"He was extraordinarily cheerful, optimistic and he had smiling eyes and a smile on his face that captivated people," Toni said. "He had an amazingly quick wit. He loved verbally sparring with people in a good-natured way, and he had a dynamic energy. Always on the move. But the best part about him, I think, is he was always willing to help out whenever needed, in any situation, and he was generous with his time and he loved his family. He loved all the achievements of his nieces and nephews. He was very proud of them.
"He's famous for his dancing. He got along with everyone. I don't think there's anyone who could say a bad word about Billy Pappas."
Pappas is a member of the Manchester Central Hall of Fame, the NHIAA Hall of Fame, the Queen City Athletic Hall of Fame and the UNH Hall of Fame. He was also on the board of directors for the Joe Yukica Football Foundation.
"I don't think I ever heard him talk about how good he was at UNH or at Central," Jim Schubert said. "The stories just preceded him. Everywhere I went in Manchester people would say: 'You're Billy Pappas' nephew? You're Billy Pappas' nephew?' You know how many years I heard that?
"He was cool. He was a cool uncle."
Steve Schubert, Jim's younger brother, said Billy set the bar high in a family full of athletes.
"He was someone for us to all emulate, but more so, as we got going through our sporting careers, someone for us to go after and try to match what he had done," he explained. "We were all athletes in that family."
Pappas ran the Gobbler's Knob, a restaurant in Manhattan. One of his partners was Art Heyman, who played basketball at Duke and was the first overall pick in the 1963 NBA Draft.
"He was a good businessman," Toni said. "He would watch sports occasionally, but not all the time. "He had other interests. He loved to read and he loved keeping fit — running. We used to run marathons together. We ran the Boston Marathon together. New York City Marathon also. No matter what he was doing, he was enjoying it."
Toni said Billy also loved jazz, and would listen to music all day long.
"He was very humble," she said. "He never talked about his athletic background. I didn't really understand it when I first met him because at that point he wasn't playing sports anymore. When we came to Manchester after we were married, I was really surprised what a legend he was. What an icon he was.
"He was our Golden Greek."
