ALLEGANY, N.Y. – While playing college football, Wolf Blitzer
really loved the game until he was supposed to block a huge player
on the field, and instead jumped out of the way.

The bigger player was Floyd Little, who went on to be a
three-time All-American and later played with the Denver Broncos.
The guy he scared, Blitzer, went on to be one of the most
successful television journalists in recent history.

Blitzer, who serves as a program anchor for CNN and has won
numerous awards for his work, shared this story and other tales
Sunday during his keynote address to the Class of 2009 at St.
Bonaventure University.

The commencement exercises at the Reilly Center awarded diplomas
to 351 undergraduates and 259 graduate students. The ceremony also
concluded the celebration of the university’s 150th
anniversary.

Blitzer told the St. Bonaventure graduates that when he was
growing up in Kenmore, he played football at Kenmore West High
School.

“I was a linebacker because with a name like Blitzer, what else
could you do,” he said.

While attending college at the University of Buffalo, he also
tried his hand at the game during his freshman year. He recalled a
scrimmage against Syracuse University that changed his mind about
his involvement with the sport.

“During the second quarter, the coach said ‘Blitzer, go in,'” he
said. “I go out there and I see a big guy, a very big guy.”

As it turned out, the big guy was Floyd Little and he had set
his sites on the much smaller player (Blitzer) by pointing his
finger at him and making threatening gestures.

“He gets the ball and he comes running right at me,” Blitzer
said. He said the only thing he could think to do was fall and get
out of the way of the charging running back. In doing so, Blitzer
effectively ended his football career.

“The lesson here is if at first you don’t succeed, try something
else,” Blitzer said, noting he then put his energies into
journalism.

That career path led him to a job after graduate school with
Reuters News Agency in Tel Aviv in 1972, followed by correspondence
work in Washington for the Jerusalem Post. In 1990, he joined CNN
as the network’s military affairs correspondent at the Pentagon. He
also served as the network’s White House correspondent, and
provided coverage for variety of national incidents including the
Oklahoma City bombing which earned him an Emmy.

He also won additional awards for coverage of events that
included the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, the tsunami disaster in
Southeast Asia and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He
currently anchors CNN’s political news program “The Situation Room
With Wolf Blitzer” and serves as the network’s lead political
anchor. In addition, he moderated several of CNN’s presidential
debates in 2008, and anchored primary, convention and Election
Night coverage.

“I settled into a career that I really, really love,” he said.
“I love having a front row seat to history … it has really been a
fascinating career.”

He told the graduates that they, also, should try to pursue
careers that they are passionate about.

“If you love what you are doing, you will do a better job,” he
said.

Blitzer said the disasters he has covered have shown him how
fleeting life can be and how dangerous the world is. He noted that
his coverage of the presidential campaign last year showed him how
far-reaching television coverage can be. During his Election Night
reporting, he said his broadcast was viewed by as many as a billion
people worldwide.

He said that when he was a kid growing up in Buffalo, he never
would have believed that he “would be reporting to the world about
what was going on” as an adult.

During her comments to the class, Sister Margaret Carney,
president of St. Bonaventure, announced the recipients of the
honorary doctorate degrees for their accomplishments, one of whom
was Blitzer.

“Wolf, welcome to our (St. Bonaventure) story, and thanks for
being a part of it,” Carney said to Blitzer. Also receiving
honorary doctorate degrees were Marcia Marcus Kelly, an author and
community activist, and John B. “Jack” Butler, NFL/Blesto (scouting
service) executive and former Pittsburgh Steelers player.

Other highlights of the day included an address to the graduates
by Eileen Grimes, marketing major and vice president of the Class
of 2009.

“The amount of growth and transition that we have all made
during our time here is truly amazing,” Grimes said. “We all love
Bonaventure and are not afraid to show our love to the world.”

– The Times Herald