Backup plan
Salgado’s insurance group gives pros peace of mind
Players will walk across the stage at the NFL Draft on Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall, dressed to the nines, flashing their multi-million dollar smiles, and none of them will be thinking the unthinkable. None of them will be thinking about Sean Taylor, tragically murdered in his home, or Darrent Williams, tragically shot outside a nightclub, or Ben Roethlisberger and Kellen Winslow, who nearly threw away their careers crashing their motorcycles.
But one man — Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado — will be.
Salgado, president and CEO of New York-based Coastal Advisors LLC, should be everyone’s first-round draft choice. Because no one is indestructible. No one is immune to the vicissitudes of fate. No one is promised tomorrow.
Salgado can provide insurance and assurance for that unsettling time when the cheering stops.
Over the last five years, Salgado has insured no fewer than 25 first-round NFL picks for disability and career-ending insurance, as well as life and estate planning.
His clients this year include Oklahoma State offensive tackle Russell Okung, defensive end Corey Wooten, the former Don Bosco Prep star projected as a second-round pick, and Rutgers offensive tackle Anthony Davis, a likely first-rounder.
Salgado has close to 200 clients around the NFL, including Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck, and a host of NHL stars, including Canadien and former Devil Scott Gomez.
“I’m more important than the agent and the financial guy,” Salgado tells the Rumble. “I’m with these guys for the rest of their lives.”
He seemingly is everywhere, and everybody knows him. Strahan and Neil O’Donnell, Salgado’s teammate at Maryland in the late 1980’s, consider him a dear friend, in large part because he has a heart of gold.
In Big Daddy They Trust.
“You’ve seen me at every [Giants and Jets] game,” Salgado says. “I’m in the trenches with them.
“Guys know I’m there all the time. I’m not there for just a smile and then I move on.”
He has sent pregame texts to Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald (his first college client) and Reggie Bush. NFL owners know him and like him.
Over the past two years, Salgado has seen an increase in teams seeking insurance for contracts in case a player is injured and cannot play.
He is now branching out into the entertainment arena, insuring producers and directors. This is a labor of love for Salgado.
“It’s rewarding that you protect people,” he says.
For more details, go to http://www.coastaladvisorsllc.com.
Play-ing Lombardi
Brooklyn-born and Long Island-raised Dan Lauria may be best known as the father on “The Wonder Years,” but his biggest role may be coming this Oct. 21, when he becomes Vince Lombardi in the new play “Lombardi,” a drama about the legendary Fordham graduate and Packers coach.
The play is being produced by former head of Anheuser Busch sports marketing Tony Ponturo and veteran Broadway producer Fran Kirmser and has the support of the NFL as a partner.
Lauria, who played football in high school at Lindenhurst High and captained Southern Connecticut State as a senior linebacker in college, will get a jump on another legendary Italian actor playing Vince as well. Robert DeNiro has been signed to play Lombardi in a 2011 movie.
For details, go to lombardibroadway.com
SNY in full draft mode
SNY Jets reporter Jeane Coakley will be the first to get the draft night scoop from coach Rex Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum after the club makes its first-round pick. SNY’s in-studio lineup next week includes Leon Washington, Shonn Greene, Damien Woody and Joe Klecko.
The No. 1 pick will sit down for an exclusive SNY interview, likely on Friday. . . . Draft guru and former Rams scout Russ Lande will be co-hosting a Web-TV show covering the NFL Draft. It will be streaming live at http://www.gmjrnfldraft.com.
ESPN’s Buttle enters the political arena
Greg Buttle is tackling a different role these days. The former Jets linebacker, already a fixture on SNY, ESPN 1050-AM and WCBS Ch. 2, will be co-hosting a show on WABC 770-AM today from 4-6 p.m with E.D. Hill, a well-informed political analyst, where they will discuss political issues of the day that intrigue them.
“It’s a fun and introspective look at our views of the political landscape, both nationally and statewide, where we have special guest callers trying to explain the skewed logic of agenda-driven politics, and we welcome the views of callers that agree or disagree,” Buttle tells the Rumble.
Liberty looking for few good men
The Liberty will hold a tryout for its official male practice squad tomorrow night at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown. The tryout is open to experienced male basketball players at least 18 years old. The practice squad will train alongside newly acquired two-time WNBA champion and three-time All-Star Cappie Pondexter, WNBA champion and All-Star Nicole Powell, and returning stars Janel McCarville and Essence Carson.
Head coach and Hall of Famer Anne Donovan will run the tryout. For more information, visit nyliberty.com.
Mr. Cub Goes to Mo’s
Mariano Rivera is the last player in the majors to wear No. 42, Jackie Robinson’s number.
On Thursday’s Jackie Robinson Day, every baseball player wore his old number. Ernie Banks, who played against Robinson when Banks starred for the Cubs, was in the area for an autograph show, so the Hall of Famer decided to have dinner Thursday night at Rivera’s restaurant, Mo’s New York Grill in New Rochelle.
Banks arrived at 6 and stayed until 10. He mingled with diners, and at the end of the night Mr. Cub happily signed autographs for the employees.
“It was a special night,” Joe Fosina, whose son Gary is head chef at the restaurant, told The Post’s Kevin Kernan.
When Banks saw Rivera a few years ago at a game, he told the future Hall of Famer, “I really would have liked to have hit against you.”
Mo’s smiling response? “Any time.”