By John Murphy
The date was November 17, 2003.
The late Brian Goff – my former colleague whose birthday was today – picked me up at my old house in San Bernardino.
He was driving an SUV and our destination was Candlestick Park in San Francisco. My 49ers were playing Brian’s Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. We had tickets. It was going to be great.
Brian and I worked at the old downtown building of the San Bernardino Sun. The big guy would come in every day with his two sports drinks and plop them down — along with his keys and his coveted Arlington High football championship ring. He loved that ring.
Up I-5 we traveled on this day. Past Kettleman City and Los Banos and all those places. Finally, we arrived in San Bruno where my mom lived. There we met with my brother Jim who also had a ticket. He played high school ball with Steeler Hall-of-Famer Lynn Swann. Brian liked hearing about that.
Well, it was a tough night for Pittsburgh as the 49ers won 30-14. By the fourth quarter disgusted Steeler fans were hurling their black and gold gear off the second deck. I had to laugh.
But Brian was cool – nothing ever seemed to faze him. Buoyed by his strong Christian faith and staunch work ethic I watched him rise in the sports departments of The Sun and later the Southern California News Group. His personal life also soared as he rekindled a romance with an old girlfriend (Tonya) and they married in 2018. She already had three energetic sons, Tyler, Timothy and Trevor. Brian, naturally, treated them as his own.
They lived a fairy-tale existence for about a year. I happily followed it on Facebook until — in a cruel twist of fate – Brian unexpectedly died of a heart attack on April 24, 2019. He was just 45.
Tonya, at times, expresses her grief with Facebook posts such as this: “There’s this hollow/empty pain inside that hurts on a different level than I have ever felt. The tears come and go in waves. My boys need me strong and motivate me. They help me with groceries, and chores, and projects. We grieve together because we miss Brian, but mostly remember the good times.”
So do I, just in a different way. Happy birthday, Brian. We all miss you.
Main Street Dog 