Today, there are stories.



Stories about sitting on Marion Motley’s lap, swiping Hank Stram’s toupee, and partying with Joe Namath. There’s the one about running for more yards in a game than any player in Northwestern history. And going speechless while trying to appeal to Farrah Fawcett. There is the story about being the stand-in for Walter Payton in the only NFL game Sweetness missed.



Mike Adamle can tell stories. He can make you laugh. Maybe make you cry. He can go on and on.



Today.



His stories, so precious, help define the man. But he fears they are not his to keep.



The appearance is deceiving. It would not be an exaggeration to say Adamle looks 20 years younger than his 67 years. He is handsome and fit, smooth skinned with a thick head of deep brown hair. He would look more at home on a football field than in an assisted living facility.



Yet something is very...