Stuff of Dreams
Lapham was drafted by two leagues (the NFL and World) and played for another, the USFL's New Jersey Generals. His younger brother Roger went another route. He got drafted by two leagues when the NBA Bucks took him in the ninth round, 173 picks after the Lakers took Magic Johnson No. 1 in 1979. The next year, the Bills took Roger, a one-season University of Maine tight end, in the 12th round.
Roger Lapham, a forward who still shares the Black Bears record with a 12-for-12 shooting against Valparaiso in 1978 during the era he and the great Rufus Harris (the Maine Man) led the school to its biggest hoop dreams, remembers a day he was 10 and Dave was 15.
Like they did every Sunday, they were watching an NFL game and the announcers were Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier
"He tells me, 'I'm going to be out there and one day and I'm going to be on TV,'" Roger Lapham says. "Both those guys had played, and now they were announcing and I was saying, 'Wow, really? Wow.' He could have told me he was going to be Neil Armstrong and I would have believed him. But what I didn't know then is that was his passion. It's something he dreamed of even then, and he became committed to it and look how great it worked out."
The three Lapham boys, Dave, Roger, and oldest brother Bruce (all will be in place this weekend with their families), grew up like many a boy in the Boston suburb of Wakefield, Mass in the '60s. They would go out back and be who they saw on TV.
For baseball, it was Yaz and Tony C. For the Celtics, it was Havlicek and Sam Jones. Since the Patriots were blacked out most Sundays, the Giants were big in New England, and Roger would be the receiver Homer Jones and Dave would be quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
But they knew the Patriots stars. When they were kicking, they were suddenly one-time AFL Player of the Year Gino Cappelletti: "And Gino gets the PAT!"
"One time when the Bengals were in New England and I was up in the booth at halftime, we go to a door," Roger Lapham says. "It swings open, and it's Gino Cappelletti. I can't believe it. Gino had become such a long-time radio announcer for the Patriots, and there he was. He was talking to my brother like they were best friends. It's like David and Gino had known each other for years.
"But that's how it is with my brother. He's got that great personality. People gravitate to him."
Then, another door opened, and there was the NBC crew of Dick Enberg and Dan Dierforf. Roger was again struck how they greeted him like a long-lost brother.
"You played in that game, Dave, I remember. I was there," Enberg said of the 59-below wind chill AFC title game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.
"Dierdorf is really a hero of his," Roger Lapham says. "You see the quarterback and the wide receiver being in the booth, not the offensive linemen. But Dierdorf was probably the first one who did it."
On Sunday, Roger Lapham won't be Homer Jones.
"I'm proud to be Dave Lapham's younger brother," he said.
Three ROH Members Advance
Three Bengals Ring of Honor members have advanced deeper into the process for senior candidates in voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Parrish joined all-time passing leader Ken Anderson and four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Isaac Curtis on a list of 34 culled from the original massive ballot of 162 seniors, a category of players who have been retired for more than 25 years.
The next step for The Hall's nine-member Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee, of which Bengals.com is a member, cuts the field to nine semifinalists. Next month, the committee meets virtually to select the three senior nominees for the 2026 Hall ballot that includes nominees from the categories of Modern-Era players, coaches, and contributors.