The legendary Long Island wrestling coach immortalized in an iconic “Seinfeld” scene has died — and everyone from celebrity former students to athletes recalled Tuesday how he went to the mat for them.
“They’re telling me I only have 2 to 2 to 3 minutes to give a eulogy,” said Christopher Bevilacqua, the son of beloved late 85-year-old coach and mentor Al Bevilacqua, to The Post.
“I don’t know how you can describe his life in 2 or 3 minutes.”
Al Bevilacqua, who passed away Sunday, got his 15 minutes of TV fame when superstar funnyman Jerry Seinfeld famously name-dropped his former teacher in an episode of his wildly popular series — even though Al never really watched the “show about nothing,” his family said.
“He would go, ‘Seinfeld?’ What is that? A comedy?’ ” said the former coach’s son Michael.
But Al didn’t need the extra spotlight.
He was a coach overseeing the mats at the town’s high school for nearly 15 years since the early 1960s and later at nearby Hofstra University in the late 1970s.
The Massapequa man was also a 2012 inductee to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, garnering its highest honor, the Order of Merit.
And all of his sports accomplishments were just part of the story.
“Wrestling was really his vessel for who he was as a person,” Christopher said.
“He thought of himself first as an educator who was teaching kids and youth on the subject of life. … He had humanity about him, and his soul was all about, ‘How do I create better people?’ “
Al, who brought the Massapequa Chiefs their first-ever county title in the 1970s, left a lasting impact on some of the school’s most notable alumni.
Hollywood in Massapequa
He taught driver’s ed to Seinfeld, according to family.
Seinfeld name-dropped his former teacher in a 1994 episode of his show called “The Race,’‘ as Jerry’s character readied to re-do a controversial high-school run in which he, admittedly, got a head start.
“Mr. Bevilacqua” was called in to officiate a rematch of the race.
Al’s son Michael recalled, “I was a contractor one time, I was in my bed with plans open, and ‘Seinfeld’ on in the back, and I go, ‘Did they just say Bevilacqua?’
“Then, my phone just started ringing.”
Al Bevilacqua thought of Jerry as “a nice kid,” Michael said.
Then there was Al’s former wrestler the “Born on the Fourth of July” author Ron Kovic.
“He taught about never quitting. … He was the best motivator,” said Kovic, who wrestled for Bevilacqua before becoming paralyzed in the Vietnam War and becoming the subject of the Academy Award-winning movie by the same name.
After Kovic tragically lost use of his legs, he crossed paths with his former coach on Hofstra’s campus, where Al Bevilacqua once again did what he was belovedly known for.
“It was quite emotional. He kept saying encouraging things to me that day, he showed it on his face that he was really sad that one of his boys had been hurt,” recalled Kovic, who wrote about Bevilacqua in his book.
“I’m still here because he taught me to never give up, and I think that was instilled in me and instilled in all the boys he coached…I’m sure when he did pass away, he was fighting until the end.”
When the film’s director Oliver Stone and star Tom Cruise came to the Bevilacqua home to do research for their film adaptation of “Born on the Fourth of July,” Al wasn’t afraid to go a few weight classes above his belt, either.
“My dad goes to Stone, ‘Let me ask you a question: ‘Why do you hate this country so much?’ ” Christopher said of the controversial director, adding that Bevilacqua rejected the idea of being portrayed in the film as a violent-minded coach.
“He’s going to tell you what he thinks of what he believes — and I thought that was a pretty powerful testimony,” the son said of his dad.
Al Bevilacqua also left a deeply resounding impression on actor and former wrestler Billy Baldwin, who described the coach as “definitely a second father to me.”
The Baldwin brothers, including actor Alec, were dear family friends who lived near the Bevilacquas, and their dad, Al Baldwin, worked with Bevilacqua at Massapequa High.
Billy Baldwin described Al as “the one” great inspiration outside of his own family who steered him through the world.
“We would have conversations that would lead to philosophical exchanges … and that would help to guide me,” Baldwin said of the devout Yankee fan who forgave him and Christopher for accidentally buying nearly $100 in scalped tickets for a game from the night before when they were little.
“He was the one for me, and he was the one for thousands of others.”
Going to the mat
Fame meant nothing to get into Al Bevilacqua’s good graces.
After the tragic loss of his father, Al brought Jim O’Rourke, Massapequa class of 1977, under his wing during his school days on the mats.
“He was an amazing character,” O’Rourke recalled.
“He has the most fantastic legacy.”
Al’s daughter, Nora, said her dad’s crowning achievement was launching Beat The Streets Wrestling, a program that brought the sport into the inner city and revolutionized their programs with resources and coaching.
“It shows you the power of one person and then ultimately one person doing what they believe in can achieve great things,” she said.
“I think my father passed that on to each of us.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
