PV graduate Reidl to announce NFL pick

Apr. 30—MADISON TOWNSHIP — A young man whose life started in the most difficult circumstances is on a high note this weekend.

Pymatuning Valley High School graduate Robert Reidl is set to announce the Minnesota Vikings fourth pick at the National Football League draft on Saturday in Cleveland.

Reidl was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at birth and his mother was given a bad prognosis.

"The doctor told my mother that I wouldn't walk or talk ... boy, did he get that wrong," he said.

Sports were a big part of Reidl making it through high school, he said. He was manager of the PV High School basketball team starting in his sophomore till his graduation in 1998.

Reidl credits Bob Hitchcock, varsity coach, and his assistant Robert Faulkner, with helping him through difficult times.

"I was picked on a lot," Reidl said. He said Faulkner would often take him home from games and encouraged him to keep up with his studies.

After graduation from high school, Reidl said he went to Nevada and made some bad decisions. Reidl said he lived with Faulkner for awhile after returning and began putting his life back together.

He said he reached out to find information regarding Special Olympics and started participating in the Ashtabula County Special Olympics program helping change his life.

Reidl eventually got a job through the Ashtabula County Board of Developmental Disabilities as well.

Reidl now works for the Hilltop Growing Center in Perry.He said he works in different areas at the center.

"I do inventory, put them in alphabetical order and put it on the computer," Reidl said.

Plant care and cashier work are also a part of his work.

"It is a year-round job," Reidl said.

After playing basketball in the program, he decided to take up coaching. He has moved up the coaching tree to a "level three" certification which involves a lot of online courses similar to certification for the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Reidl said.

After years of honing his craft, Reidl has been asked to coach a team of Ohio athletes at a national Special Olympics event in June of 2022. The event is scheduled to occur in Florida and he has already put his playbook together.

"I am ready," he said.

Some of his training and coaching ideas go back to his years of manager of the Lakers.

"They [Pymatuning Valley] like to press a lot so I do it with my teams," Reidl said.

Reidl said he even has a play named for his old head coach. The "hitch" is a defensive press named in honor of Bob Hitchcock.

Reidl said he tries to learn from anyone he can and spends hours watching sports on television.

The opportunity to make the NFL pick announcement came through a cooperative relationship between Special Olympics and the NFL, Reidl said.

He will announce the 134th overall pick which is 29th in the fourth round on Saturday evening.

"It is the opportunity of a lifetime," Reidl said. "We have to be there by 10 o'clock on Saturday."

Reidl said he is big Browns fan, but is willing to make the pick for another team.

"I've been really happy with what the Browns have done in the last year," he said.

Reidl said speaks often for Special Olympics. He said he learned a lot from Hitchcock and Faulkner.

Reidl said he learned from specific talks with the coaches but also when they weren't aware.

"I would also listen to what he would tell the players," he said.

Hitchcock said he's happy for Reidl after he came from such a challenging situation and made the best of his opportunities.

"He was just one of those kids you just want to have involved in your program," Hitchcock said.

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