NFL hopeful meets biggest fan
Doris Neubauer, 81, of Franklin Township, got to meet one of her favorite college football players Friday, when Scott Orndoff, on right, and his father, Scott Orndoff, paid her a visit Friday.
As he anticipates the NFL Draft in April, Scott Orndoff meets his No. 1 fan in Greene County, where he grew up. Orndoff and Doris Neubauer, 81, are shown in her Franklin Township home.
WAYNESBURG – While waiting for his chance to be drafted in the NFL, Scott Orndoff got a chance to meet his biggest fan back in Greene County, where he grew up.
Orndoff, who played tight end for the University of Pittsburgh, unknowingly grew up less than a mile from Doris Neubauer, 81, of Franklin Township. Until Friday, they had never met.
Neubauer retired as a Central Greene teacher in 1993 – the year Orndoff was born. She’s an avid sports fan, who watches as many Pitt games as she can and has been following Orndoff’s football career.
“I have been following him mainly because he’s a local boy,” she said. “I was impressed with his maturity. I knew where his family lived because they have the Pitt flag hanging up outside their home.”
Orndoff played high school football for Seton-La Salle, a Catholic high school in Mt. Lebanon, before playing for Pitt.
When Neubauer read in the Observer-Reporter last week about Orndoff’s recent trip to the NFL Draft Combine, she mailed him a letter of congratulations, letting him know she was proud of him and she’d be rooting for him in the draft.
“The thing that pleased me the most about you is that you remind me of Heath Miller,” she told Orndoff in person Friday, comparing him to the former Steelers tight end. “That’s what I saw in you. And I was impressed that you knew how to do your own laundry.”
After receiving the letter, and realizing his biggest fan lived just a few blocks away from his family home, Orndoff and his father, Scott Orndoff, decided to pay her a visit Friday afternoon to thank her for her support.
“We just felt that if someone is going to take the time to write a letter and mail it, and they live this close, then we could certainly stop by and meet you in person,” Orndoff’s father said.
The younger Orndoff told her that her letter meant a lot to him, knowing that he had support in his hometown even though he didn’t attend high school there.
“One thing that stood out about your letter is that most people don’t understand what the combine is, but I could tell in your letter that you know a lot about football,” he told her.
The three talked about Greene County, mutual acquaintances and football during their visit. Neubauer said she was thankful for the chance to meet him, calling him a “super nice person.”
“I was so flattered that you even called,” she said. “Well, I’ll be watching and keeping my fingers crossed.”
The draft will be held April 27 to 29, when Orndoff hopes to be picked by an NFL team.